A DEVICE FOR MEASURING GULLY HEADWALL MORPHOLOGY

This paper describes a low-cost device for measuring the three-dimensional morphology of a gully headwall. The device was designed to operate in a gully system with the following characteristics: overhanging banks caused by a thick, dense root mat; retreat of the underlying unconsolidated sediments through small slab failures, leading to a considerable variation in retreat rate at each point on the headwall; and changes in the orientation of the headwall owing to changes in sediment properties and the topographical and hydrological controls of gully growth. The device is used to measure a series of closely spaced vertical profiles of the headwall, and the collected data are combined to draw a contour map showing the distance from the plane of the instrument to the headwall. Comparing maps for sequential times enables retreat rates for the diffferent proportions of the headwall to be quantified.     

Stability Study of a Tide Embankment Subjected to Sea Level Variations Using Centrifugal Model Tests

To investigate the behavior of dredged-sea-sand fill compacted inside tide embankments with a damaged geosynthetic mat, centrifugal model tests and numerical simulation were conducted, both considering variations in sea level. The results from the three centrifugal model tests demonstrate that the subsidence of the dredged-sea-sand fill inside tide embankments with a damaged geosynthetic mat was strongly affected by the loss of dredged-sea-sand into the filter layers with large particles and a decrease in the bearing capacity of the filter layers with small particles. In addition, a comparison of the test and simulation results confirms that the loss of sand into the filter layer and the subsidence of the dredged-sea-sand fill were well reproduced by the numerical simulation.     

Physico-chemical and nutrient variable stratifications in the water column and in macroalgal thalli as a result of high biomass mats in a non-tidal shallow-water lagoon

A field study to check parameter stratification during high density growth of four opportunistic macroalgae was carried out in Orbetello lagoon (Italy). The effects of macroalgal masses were compared with a seagrass meadow and two lagoon areas with bare bottoms as controls for pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, nitrite, nitrate ammonium and orthophosphate. The nutrient content of thalli and sediment redox were measured. Macroalgae showed differences in stratification of thalli nutrient content. Mat with low density and high volume produced stratifications in the water column, but it did not produce nutrient release by sediment. In contrast, high density and low and high volume mats led to sharp falls in dissolved oxygen, with negative values of sediment Eh and anoxic trigger processes that presumably led to release of sediment nutrients. This depended on thallus type: heavy thalli compacted the mat and light ones distributed more widely in the water column.     

青藏公路黑马河试验段碎石垫层路基工程效果初步分析

基于青藏公路黑马河试验段碎石垫层路基近1 a的温度、水分监测资料,初步分析了碎石垫层路基温度,水分的发展与分布特征以及造成这些差异的原因,并与传统的砂砾垫层比较.结果表明：碎石垫层加隔水土工布能够更好的削弱毛细水自下而上的迁移,起到了一定的隔水排水效果,对于防治季节性冻土路基冻胀病害具有积极作用.     

Microbial mats implicated in the generation of intrastratal shrinkage (‘synaeresis’) cracks

Intrastratal shrinkage (often termed ‘synaeresis’) cracks are commonly employed as diagnostic environmental indicators for ancient salinity‐stressed, transitional fluvial‐marine or marginal‐marine depositional environments. Despite their abundance and use in facies interpretations, the mechanism of synaeresis crack formation remains controversial, and widely accepted explanations for their formation have hitherto been lacking. Sedimentological, ichnological, petrographic and geochemical study of shallow marine mudstone beds from the Ordovician Beach Formation of Bell Island, Newfoundland, has revealed that crack development (cf. synaeresis cracks) on the upper surface of mudstone beds is correlated with specific organic, geochemical and sedimentological parameters. Contorted, sinuous, sand‐filled cracks are common at contacts between unbioturbated mudstone and overlying sandstone beds. Cracks are absent in highly bioturbated mudstone, and are considered to pre‐date firmground assemblages of trace fossils that include Planolites and Trichophycus. The tops of cracked mudstone beds contain up to 2·1 wt% total organic carbon, relative to underlying mudstone beds that contain around 0·5 wt% total organic carbon. High‐resolution carbon isotope analyses reveal low δ¹³C_org values (?27·6‰) on bed tops compared with sandy intervals lacking cracks (?24·4 to ?24·9‰). Cracked mudstone facies show evidence for microbial matgrounds, including microbially induced sedimentary structures on bedding planes and carbonaceous laminae and tubular carbonaceous microfossils in thin section. Non‐cracked mudstone lacks evidence for development of microbial mats. Microbial mat development is proposed as an important prerequisite for intrastratal shrinkage crack formation. Both microbial mats and intrastratal shrinkage cracks have broad palaeoenvironmental distributions in the Precambrian and early Phanerozoic. In later Phanerozoic strata, matgrounds are restricted to depositional environments that are inhospitable to burrowing and surface‐grazing macrofauna. Unless evidence of synaeresis (i.e. contraction of clay mineral lattices in response to salinity change) can be independently demonstrated, the general term ‘intrastratal shrinkage crack’ is proposed to describe sinuous and tapering cracks in mudstone beds.     

硅质碎屑岩中的微生物席相关构造——联接现代与过去的纽带

微生物通过自身生命活动可以在硅质碎屑物上形成微生物席.微生物席具有黏结性、柔韧性、抗剥蚀性等特征,与物理营力相互作用可以形成一系列独特的原生沉积构造,即微生物诱发的沉积构造(MISS).形成和保存MISS的基本条件包括经历较低的变质程度、发育于海退—海侵的转折点、出现在有利的“微生物席沉积相”中.微生物席本身很难保存在岩石序列中,所以识别石化MISS具有一定难度.与现代环境中发育的MISS具有相似的几何形态和包含古代微生物席组构是识别石化MISS的有效途径.微生物生长、稳化、障积、捕获和黏结作用可以形成形态各异的MISS,根据这些作用和特征可以将其划分为5大类17小类.对保存在硅质碎屑岩中的微生物诱发的原生沉积构造和现代潮坪中发育的MISS进行综合对比研究,有利于微生物席沉积学的发展,也为进一步理解古代硅质碎屑岩沉积环境提供重要线索.     

末次冰期低纬度西太平洋硅藻席沉积与生态特征

硅藻在全球碳循环中发挥着重要的作用。"树荫种"硅藻在次表层水体中的勃发成席,并迅速埋藏成为硅藻席沉积,使人们逐渐意识到次表层生产在整个生产力及输出生产中起着重要作用。介绍了首次在低纬度西太平洋区域发现的硅藻席沉积的分布特征,硅藻席发现站位呈带状分布,大致呈北西-南东向展布,大部分散布在17.5°～20°N之间。采集到硅藻席沉积物的站位其水深在碳酸钙补偿深度(CCD)以下4837～6150m的深水区,多分布在较平坦的海底,且受风力和陆源物质输入影响相对较强的区域。该区域硅藻席的形成可能是由于末次冰期时该海区有大洋锋面的形成所致。该区域的成席硅藻Ethmodiscus rex(Wallich)Hendey为典型的"树荫种"硅藻,可以通过自身调节浮力的作用,在水体相对稳定的贫氧大洋中生存并勃发成席。末次冰期低纬度西太平洋硅藻席沉积的发生,可能使该区成为CO2的汇。     

Welcome mats? The role of seagrass meadow structure in controlling post-settlement survival in a keystone sea-urchin species

Processes acting on the early-life histories of marine organisms can have important consequences for the structuring of benthic communities. In particular, the degree of coupling between larval supply and adult abundances can wield considerable influence on the strength of trophic interactions in the ecosystem. These processes have been relatively well described in rocky systems and soft-sediment communities, and it is clear that they are governed by very different bottlenecks. Seagrass meadows make interesting study systems because they bear structural affinities to both soft sediments as well as rocky substrates. We examined the early-life history of Paracentrotus lividus, one of the dominant herbivores in Mediterranean seagrass meadows, to identify the drivers of population dynamics in this species. We measured spatial and temporal variability in sea urchin post-settlement in 10 Posidonia oceanica meadows in the North-Western Mediterranean over a period of two years, and compared the numbers with the one-year old cohort a year later (i.e. the new population recruitment) as well as between successive size–age groups. Urchin post-settlers differed substantially between meadows but were present in both years in all meadows surveyed, suggesting that larval supply was not limiting for any of the studied sites. However, in six of the studied meadows, the one-year cohort of urchins was absent in both years, indicating that post-settlement processes strongly affected urchins in these meadows. In contrast, in four of the studied meadows, there was a strong coupling between post-settlers and one-year cohort individuals. These meadows were structurally different from the others in that they were characterised by an exposed matrix of rhizomes forming a dense seagrass mat. This mat apparently strongly mediates post-settlement mortality, and its presence or absence dictates the successful establishment of urchin populations in seagrass meadows. As the population aged, the relationship between size–age groups decreased evidencing the action of other processes. Yet, these results indicate that differences in physical structure are a vital bottleneck for sea urchin populations in seagrass meadows. Exploring the interaction between ecosystem structure and early-life history may provide a broader and more unified framework to understand the dynamics of a range of benthic habitats, including rocky substrates, soft sediments and seagrass meadows.     

绿潮生物学机制研究

绿潮发生机制极其复杂,但其核心机理是绿潮暴发时漂浮"藻席"中的浒苔快速形成巨大生物量,涉及浒苔生物学过程对环境的响应及其生理生化基础。为此,本文在已有研究报道的基础上,对浒苔生活史研究进行了充分的理论补遗;分析了漂浮"藻席"中浒苔生长与繁殖过程,认为该过程是绿潮生物量形成的关键;阐述了浒苔孢子囊形成是对富营养化背景下海水溶解无机氮(DIN)中硝态氮高占比的响应,认为一氧化氮分子可促进浒苔营养细胞向孢子囊的转化;解析了浒苔细胞对逆境因子的响应途径与机制。基于已有的研究成果,本文对浒苔引发绿潮的生物学过程进行了理论推定。人为或自然因素使固着浒苔处于漂浮状态,形成小规模"藻席";富营养化背景下海水DIN中硝态氮占比的升高赋予了浒苔巨大的繁殖潜能,漂浮过程溶解无机碳(DIC)"充裕"和"不足"两个阶段的交替以及食藻动物啃食产生的藻片段使孢子囊形成比例大幅提升;孢子原位萌发等使释放的孢子在"藻席"中获得了附着基,个体数目随之指数增长;结合漂浮浒苔的高生长速率,"藻席"规模不断扩大,短时间内形成巨大生物量。同时,本文还对今后的绿潮研究提出一些建议,认为啃食动物在浒苔生物量消长过程中发挥重要作用,在漂浮"藻席"系统中扮演着"生态引擎"的功能,同时系统阐明浒苔孢子的原位萌发等现象的生物学机理应该是未来绿潮的重要研究内容。     

An Engineering Computational Method of Calculating Wave Forces on the Mat and Platform''''s Sit-on-Bottom Stability

- In this paper, an engineering method is employed to calculate the horizontal and vertical wave forces on the mat of the submersible platform under Froude-Krylov hypothesis. According to some model tests, appropriate diffraction coefficients are selected. And the results of the formulae given in the paper agree satisfactorily with those experimental data now available. The proposed computational method is effective and convenient to use in evaluating the horizontal and vertical wave forces on the mat. An exmaple is also given in this paper. Finally, the effects of the vertical wave force on the platorm's sit-on-bottom stability are analyzed.