Flood threat anomaly for the low coastal areas of the English Channel based on analysis of recent characteristic flood occurrences

In the English Channel, extreme surge heights did not occur at the time of extreme high tides during the last decades and maximum recorded heights usually do not exceed the maximum astronomical tide by more than a few decimetres. To understand whether this lack of coincidence may be due to specific phenomena or only to chance, we have studied hourly tide records lasting a few decades from nine English and nine French stations as well as air pressure and wind data from nearby meteorological observatories. Among the case studies of moderate flooding at several coastal stations occurring during spring tide, we have selected those of 24–25/10/1980 and of 30/01/1983 to 02/02/1983 as representative of a normal situation without any special chance. The third case study 26–28/02/1990 was potentially more dangerous because of the storm intensity and duration; however, by chance, surge peaks occurred near the low tide. Finally, the propagation of the surge peak of 15–16/10/1987, which reached the maximum height recorded during all the instrumental period at several stations, has been followed all along the English Channel, using the hourly records of 12 tide-gauge stations and of 16 meteorological stations. The surge peak of this great storm, probably the strongest in the last two centuries, occurred everywhere at high tide and spread with the same velocity of the tidal wave. Fortunately, no major flooding occurred because it was the day after a neap tide. In conclusion, some good fortune has saved the low coastal areas of the English Channel from major floods during the last decades. However, the occurrence of the peak of a strong storm surge arriving near the western entrance of the Channel at the time of a great astronomical high tide is a possible event that could be devastating along both sides of the Channel coasts. Main parts of this paper have been presented orally in June 2005 at the joint INQUA–IGCP 495 Meeting “Dunkerque 2005” and in February 2006 at the ASLO-TOS-AGU “Ocean Sciences Meeting” (Honolulu, HI).     

Influence of advection on scales of ecological studies in a coastal equilibrium flow

Spatial patterns are generated as a result of the coupling between biogeochemical and physical processes and the ability to capture and reproduce patchiness is crucial for the better comprehension of an ecosystem and its response to external perturbations. A 1D reaction–diffusion–advection equation is used to investigate the formation of patterns and relevant time and spatial scales and thus define an approach for the determination of a critical domain size that allows differentiation of the role of local and internal cycling from advective fluxes across the open boundaries in a shallow coastal ecosystem. By using a 3D numerical model, in conjunction with an extensive field data set, it is shown that domain sizes must be larger than this critical value in order to capture the patterns generated within the system. For smaller domains, the evolution of the system is controlled by transport processes across the boundaries misleading the interpretation of the internal ecological dynamics. The study of the influence of boundary fluxes on ecological patchiness was motivated by the need to define the size of the domain necessary for the assessment of the impact of a sewage outflow on a coastal regime.     

Suppressing bias and drift of coastal circulation models through the assimilation of seasonal climatologies of temperature and salinity

Recently Thompson et al. (2006. A simple method for reducing seasonal bias and drift in eddy resolving ocean models. Ocean Modelling 13, 109–125.) proposed a new method for suppressing the bias and drift of ocean circulation models. The basic idea is to nudge the model toward gridded climatologies of observed temperature and salinity in prescribed frequency–wavenumber bands; outside of these bands the model's dynamics are not directly affected by the nudging and the model state can evolve prognostically. Given the restriction of the nudging to certain frequency–wavenumber bands, the method is termed spectral nudging. The frequency–wavenumber bands are chosen to capture the information in the climatology and thus are centered on the climatological frequencies of zero, one cycle per year and its harmonics, and also low wavenumbers (reflecting the smooth nature of gridded climatologies). The new method is applied in this study to a fully nonlinear, 3D baroclinic circulation model of the continental shelves and inland seas of Atlantic Canada and the northeast US. It is shown that the scheme can suppress drift and bias in a nine month integration (February–October, 2002) while still allowing realistic evolution of tides, surges and wind and tide-driven coastal upwelling. It is also shown that density stratification can affect significantly tidal elevations in some regions. The implications for ocean hindcasting and short-term forecasting are discussed.     

Spatial and temporal characteristics of precipitation using an extensive network of ground gauge in the Korean Peninsula

The aim of the present study is to investigate the spatial and temporal structures of precipitation over the Korean Peninsula using extensive AWS (automatic weather stations) observation network data for the summertime from May to September. Additionally TRMM/PR precipitation data in the southern part of peninsula was used to investigate the vertical structure. For the spatial and temporal scales of hourly precipitation, the e-folding threshold approach was employed to cut off the correlation in terms of distance in km and time in hours. From a correlation analysis of AWS precipitation in terms of time and space, it was found out that the e-folding distance and e-folding time in correlation coefficients ranged from 50 km–110 km and 1 h–2 h. The shortest distance and time in e-folding values were found to be in July and August. Precipitation structures in May and September tended to be isotropic, a cell-type structure, and those of July and August had an apparent band type, from the southwest to northeast. In the case of the vertical feature of precipitation, the correlation with height showed that the vertically efficient height was within 5 km as convective rain cells with a monthly difference of 1.2 km. In this study, the coastal effect tended to slightly increase threshold values.     

Angélica Copper Deposit: Exotic Type Mineralization in the Tocopilla Plutonic Complex of the Coastal Cordillera, Northern Chile

The Angélica copper deposit is situated at the southernmost sector of the Jurassic Tocopilla plutonic complex in the North Chilean Coastal Cordillera. This deposit occurs in monzonitic to monzodioritic rocks, and has platelike orebodies with no appreciable hydrothermal alteration nor sulfide mineralization. The mineralized zones are located in the western side of the two main normal faults with NE and NW orientations, and are characterized principally by impregnation of supergene copper products of atacamite and minor amounts of chrysocolla, lavendulan and “black copper”. Generally, chrysocolla is more abundant at a distal NE sector of the deposit. The black copper is Cu‐Fe‐Mn‐Si‐Cl‐rich multimineral aggregates composed of atacamite with minor amounts of quartz, pseudomalachite, dioptase, neotocite, gypsum, paratacamite and melanothallite, and its surface exhibits nanometer‐sized cylindrical morphologies. All these characteristics suggest an exotic origin for the Angélica copper deposit. A few vein‐type copper deposits situated at the southwestern sector along the NE‐oriented fault are inferred as the possible source of the Angélica copper deposit.     

The relationship between soft-bottom macrobenthic communities and environmental variables in Singaporean waters

Univariate and multivariate methods were used to study soft-bottom macrobenthos collected in December 2002 from the coastal waters of Singapore. The univariate parameters and community structure of benthic communities were related to environmental variables. Three samples were taken with a 0.1 m² Van Veen grab (33 × 30 × 15 cm) at each station from 12 sampling stations of two different geographical areas. The water depth ranged from 6.5 m to 34.0 m. The mean values of species number, abundance and species diversity (H′) were 24 species/grab, 77 animals/grab and 3.35/grab, respectively. A total of 172 species was recorded. Total petroleum hydrocarbons were strongly negatively related to species number, abundance and species diversity, suggesting that petroleum hydrocarbons have harmful effects on macrobenthic communities. The BIO-ENV analyses for all stations identified median particle size, silt–clay content, salinity and Zn as the major environmental variables influencing the infaunal patterns. However, separate analyses for two areas produced stronger correlations and different best-correlated environmental variable combinations. Total petroleum hydrocarbons were the only common factor in both areas, showing the importance of petroleum contamination in determining the community structure of benthic infauna in Singaporean waters.     

Holocene Vegetation History and Palaeoenvironmental Conditions on the Temperate Atlantic Coast of Argentina,as Inferred from Multi-Proxy Lacustrine Records

Holocene vegetation history and palaeoenvironmental conditions are investigated at the south coast of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. La Olla 1 and Laguna del Sauce Grande sediment sequences are analysed for pollen, calcareous microfossil (ostracods and foraminifers) and plant macrofossil remains (mainly seeds and charophyte oospores). Supplementary information is provided by sedimentological analysis. Modern surface sample data are used to assist in the interpretation of the fossil records. La Olla 1 sequence covers the period 7890 to 7630 cal. BP. The microfauna recovered is characteristic of a shallow marginal-marine environment such as a coastal lagoon. The microfossils indicate a marine connection between 7850 and 7800 cal. BP. Plant macrofossil remains and pollen analyses indicate an extension of the water body after 7780 cal. BP. The pollen record reveals the development of a halophytic plant community in a coastal environment. The sediment record from Laguna del Sauce Grande comprises the last 3000 years. Microfossils and macrofossil remains indicate that the lake history begins with a temporary brackish-water phase. More stable conditions and higher salinity values occur between 1940 and 900 cal. BP. Periods of water level fluctuations occur after 900 cal. BP, with high water levels between 660 and 270 cal. BP. The uppermost samples of the sequence show similar conditions to present day. Pollen spectra indicate a relatively stable vegetation composition throughout the last 3000 years. Pollen assemblages reflect the present regional grassland vegetation with taxa characteristic of the surrounding dune communities.     

辽东湾海岸地貌近代演化特征

辽东湾海岸类型及其分布受区域地质构造控制。海岸类型可分为:港湾型基岩海岸、岛礁型基岩海岸、岬湾型沙质海岸、平原型淤泥质海岸等4类;潮间带地貌分为海滩、潮滩、岩滩3类;水下堆积地貌主要有水下三角洲及潮下浅滩。受河流输沙影响,淤积先从河口开始,然后向外围扩散。在湾顶部,地貌及内、外动力条件利于海岸淤涨,但受滨岸海洋水文条件制约,发展不均衡,可出现局部短时间的侵蚀后退现象。海岸工程可控制海岸的演化过程,滩涂地带引种植物可促进海岸持续淤涨。     

城市人防工程信息管理系统的设计与实现

根据人防工程信息的特点，利用计算机技术、地理信息系统技术，对人防工程信息管理及其应用进行了研究，并实现了软件系统，使其成为人防工程日常管理的得力工具，并且构成指挥自动化系统的重要组成部分。     

An experimental simulation of a coastal fog-stratus case using COAMPS(tm) model

This paper presents an experimental simulation of a summer season marine fog-stratus case along the west coast of California using the US Navy COAMPS(tm) model. The purpose is to show the potential usefulness of mesoscale models in forecasting this type of marine boundary weather phenomenon. The role of data assimilation and the impacts of solar radiation, microphysics, and vertical resolution in improving the forecasts are examined. The model capability in forecasting the burn-off process over the San Francisco Bay area is also tested with very high horizontal resolution (2-km grid size) using the model's one-way nesting technique. The model demonstrates promising capacity in this case to replicate the temporal and spatial cloud coverage over the San Francisco Bay and surrounding area, shown in satellite imagery, despite a 2-h lag to complete clearing over the bay. This study also suggests that a better microphysics parameterization and proper representation of microphysics in the solar radiation scheme are both important for COAMPS(tm) to produce more realistic simulations and to improve the burn-off forecast.