Modeling erosion of sedimentary coasts in the western Russian Arctic

Morphodynamic modeling is employed in the present work to predict the long-term evolution (over the next 100 years) of typical sedimentary coasts in the western Russian Arctic. The studied objects are the coasts of Varandey (the Barents Sea), Baydaratskaya Bay and Harasavey (the Kara Sea). The model developed takes into account both the short-term processes (storm events) and long-term factors (for example, changes in sea level, inter-annual variations in gross sediment flux, lack or excess of sediment supply). Predicted and observed morphological changes in coastal profiles are shown to agree well for time scales ranging from weeks to decades. It is revealed that under given environmental conditions, the morphological evolution is strongly influenced by storm surges and associated wind-driven circulation. The water level gradient created by a surge generates a seaward flow at the bed. This outflow is shown to be an important destructive mechanism contributing to the erosion and recession of Arctic coasts. The rate of change is found to depend on both the exposure of the coast (relative to the direction of dominant winds) and its height above the sea. The open coast of Varandey is expected to retreat as much as 300–500 m over 100 years, while recession of the less exposed coasts of Baydaratskaya Bay would not exceed about 100 m/century. If long-term sediment losses are insignificant, the rate of erosion decays with time and the morphodynamic system may tend toward equilibrium. It is concluded that the expected relative sea-level rise (up to 1 m over the nearest 100 years) is non-crucial to the future coastal evolution if an erosion activity is already high enough.     

Shallow-Water Gasohydrothermal Vents of Ushishir Volcano and the Ecosystem of Kraternaya Bight (The Kurile Islands)

Abstract. A marine ecosystem in the crater of the Ushishir Volcano (Kraternaya Bight, Yankich Island, the Kuriles) showing gasothcrmal activity was studied for hydrographical, hydrochemical, and biological characteristics. Maximal changes in chemical and biological characteristics were observed in the surface water layer of 0–5 m. This layer had higher water temperature, was saturated with volcanogcnic carbon dioxide (up to 2000 10^-6 torr), ovcrsaturatcd with oxygen (up to 200 %), and contained high concentrations of chlorophyll a. Hydrogen sulfide was found in the surface water layer and at a depth of 15 m in the area of maximal effect of volcanic effluents.
The planktonic community is characterized by high rates of production and destruction of organic matter only in the 0–5 m layer. Daily vertical migrations of the ciliatc Mesodinium rubrum were observed, which caused "red tides".
Bacterial, algobacterial, and diatom mats developed on the bottom of the bight in the zone of gasohydrothermal vents and in areas of volcanic water seeping. The rate of organic matter production in algobacterial mats reached 33.4g C-rrr²-d^-l, chcmolithotrophy predominating. Bottom settlements had high population density and great animal biomass, which reached 10 kg m^-2 in gasohydrothermal fields. They obtain sufficient energy from primary production of microphy-tobenthos, algobacterial, and bacterial mats. Bcnthic species dominant in the bight were not found off the Ushishir Islands.
Some species of macrobenthos inhabiting the Kraternaya Bight differ markedly in size and biomass from the same species found beyond the bight.     

Manganese and iron distributions off central California influenced by upwelling and shelf width

In July 2002, a combination of underway mapping and discrete profiles revealed significant along-shore variability in the concentrations of manganese and iron in the vicinity of Monterey Bay, California. Both metals had lower concentrations in surface waters south of Monterey Bay, where the shelf is about 2.5 km wide, than north of Monterey Bay, where the shelf is about 10 km wide. During non-upwelling conditions over the northern broad shelf, dissolvable iron concentrations measured underway in surface waters reached 3.5 nmol L⁻¹ and dissolved manganese reached 25 nmol L⁻¹. In contrast, during non-upwelling conditions over the southern narrow shelf, dissolvable iron concentrations in surface waters were less than 1 nmol L⁻¹ and dissolved manganese concentrations were less than 5 nmol L⁻¹. A pair of vertical profiles at 1000 m water depth collected during an upwelling event showed dissolved manganese concentrations of 10 decreasing to 2 nmol L⁻¹, and dissolvable iron concentrations of 12–20 nmol L⁻¹ in the upper 100 m in the north, compared to 3.5–2 nmol L⁻¹ Mn and 0.6 nmol L⁻¹ Fe in the upper 100 m in the south, suggesting the effect of shelf width influences the chemistry of waters beyond the shelf.These observations are consistent with current understanding of the mechanism of iron supply to coastal upwelling systems: Iron from shelf sediments, predominantly associated with particles greater than 20 μm, is brought to the surface during upwelling conditions. We hypothesize that manganese oxides are brought to the surface with upwelling and are then reduced to dissolved manganese, perhaps by photoreduction, following a lag after upwelling.Greater phytoplankton biomass, primary productivity, and nutrient drawdown were observed over the broad shelf, consistent with the greater supply of iron. Incubation experiments conducted 20 km offshore in both regions, during a period of wind relaxation, confirm the potential of these sites to become limited by iron. There was no additional growth response when copper, manganese or cobalt was added in addition to iron. The growth response of surface water incubated with bottom sediment (4 nmol L⁻¹ dissolvable Fe) was slightly greater than in control incubations, but less than in the presence of 4 nmol L⁻¹ dissolved iron. This may indicate that dissolvable iron is not as bioavailable as dissolved iron, although the influence of additional inhibitory elements in the sediment cannot be ruled out.     

Circulation and Brackish Water Dispersal in a Coastal Lagoon of Southwest Taiwan

Modest observations and numerical experiments were conducted to investigate circulation and brackish water dispersal in a coastal lagoon southwest of Taiwan. The Chi-Ku Lagoon, partially shielded from the sea by a string of sandbar barriers with two entrances among them, receives modest and episodic runoff from Chi-Ku Stream. Flood and ebb tidal streams entering and leaving the two entrances are found to converge and diverge in a flow stagnation area inside the lagoon. Under weak wind conditions, brackish water is preferentially retained in the flow stagnation area. Besides the observations, scenario runs using a three-dimensional numerical model also indicate strong modulation by monsoon winds. Both summer southwest monsoon and winter northeast monsoon reduce brackish water retention; the latter is found to be more effective. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stakeholder consultation during the planning phase of scientific programs

Stakeholder consultation is being adopted as standard practice in the planning and management of natural resource management programs. While the utility of stakeholder participation has been investigated for the evaluation and implementation phases of natural resource management programs, few studies have examined the utility of stakeholder consultation during the initial phases of developing such programs. This paper presents a case study from a project developing a marine and coastal monitoring program for the Pilbara and Kimberley region of northern Western Australia. Via a series of workshops held in the region, stakeholders were asked to prioritise future research needs using several voting procedures. During the analyses of the results from the different voting procedures, it became apparent that there were high levels of inconsistency, poor correlation, and contradiction, between participants’ responses. Despite the rigour of the selection process used to identify ‘suitable’ stakeholders for the workshops, these results show that stakeholders did not have the technical or broader contextual knowledge about marine ecosystems to effectively and objectively contribute to the research prioritisation and planning process. Based on the outcomes of this study, we argue that project designers need to be clear about why they are involving stakeholders in a project, particularly in light of the costs involved (financial, time, resources, costs to the stakeholder) in stakeholder consultation. Stakeholder involvement may be appropriate in later stages of developing natural resource management programs (implementation and management), however, stakeholder involvement is not appropriate in the initial phases of such programs, where scientific expertise is essential in formulating scientific concepts and frameworks.     

Some statistical characteristics of large deepwater waves around the Korean Peninsula

The relationship between significant wave height and period, the variability of significant wave period, the spectral peak enhancement factor, and the directional spreading parameter of large deepwater waves around the Korean Peninsula have been investigated using various sources of wave measurement and hindcasting data. For very large waves comparable to design waves, it is recommended to use the average value of the empirical formulas proposed by Shore Protection Manual in 1977 and by Goda in 2003 for the relationship between significant wave height and period. The standard deviation of significant wave periods non-dimensionalized with respect to the mean value for a certain significant wave height varies between 0.04 and 0.21 with a typical value of 0.1 depending upon different regions and different ranges of significant wave heights. The probability density function of the peak enhancement factor is expressed as a lognormal distribution, with its mean value of 2.14, which is somewhat smaller than the value in the North Sea. For relatively large waves, the probability density function of the directional spreading parameter at peak frequency is also expressed as a lognormal distribution.     

Reconstructing tsunami run-up from the characteristics of tsunami deposits on the Thai Andaman Coast

Tsunamis can leave deposits on the land surface they inundate. The characteristics of tsunami deposits can be used to calculate tsunami run-up height and velocity. This paper presents a reconstruction of tsunami run-up from tsunami deposit characteristics in a simple mathematical model. The model is modified and applied to reconstruct tsunami run-ups at Ao Kheuy beach and Khuk Khak beach, Phangnga province, Thailand. The input parameters are grain-size and maximum run-up distance of the sediment. The reconstructed run-up heights are 4.16–4.91 m at Ao Kheuy beach and 5.43–9.46 m at Khuk Khak beach. The estimated run-up velocities (maximum velocity) at the still water level are 12.78–19.21 m/s. In the area located 70–140 m inland to the end of run-up inundation, estimated mean run-up velocities decrease from approximately 1.93 m/s to 0 m/s. Reasonably good agreements are found between reconstructed and observed run-up heights. The tsunami run-up height and velocity can be used for risk assessment and coastal development programs in the tsunami affected area. The results show that the area from 0 to 140 m inland was flooded by high velocity run-ups and those run-up energies were dissipated mainly in this area. The area should be designated as either an area where settlement is not permitted or an area where effective protection is provided, for example with flood barriers or forest.     

Improving marine environmental health through marine citizenship: A call for debate

This paper presents an evaluation of the role of marine citizenship in improving marine environmental health and marine governance. Marine citizenship describes the rights and responsibilities of an individual towards the marine environment, which support the achievement of marine policy objectives at the national level. It is argued that marine citizenship requires an enhanced awareness of marine environmental issues, an understanding of the role of personal behaviour in creating and resolving marine environmental issues, and a shift in values to promote marine pro-environmental behavioural choices. It is concluded that the value shift is likely to be produced by the development of an altered relationship between the state and the individual, in which the expectations placed on citizens by the state are extended to include marine pro-environmental behaviour. The paper is intended to stimulate debate and the authors invite and encourage replies to the ideas contained within the paper.     

Progress in application of MODIS for remote sensing in Polar Regions

The remote sensing technique is widely used in Polar Regions, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiomete (MODIS) is one of the most important satellite sensors in the domain of remote sensing. In this article, MODIS sensor, including the information of its satellites, its system constitutes, its hardware characteristic, its large spectra and usual applications are briefly introduced first. Then, there is a particular introduction of MODIS's use in Polar Regions, which refers to the polar physiognomy, polar atmosphere and polar ocean, with citing many examples. At last, views about the development of MODIS and its series sensors in the future, including the improved applications in Polar Regions are given.     

Searches for bright-rimmed clouds with IRAS point sources

We have carried out systematic surveys for small bright-rimmed clouds associated with IRAS point sources in/around HII regions. They are candidate sites for star formation due to radiation-driven implosion.