The morphodynamic modelling of tidal sand waves on the shoreface

An artificial sand wave on the Dutch shoreface of the North Sea has been studied in conditions with relatively strong tidal currents in the range of 0.5 to 1 m/s and sediments in the medium sand size range of 0.2 to 0.5 mm. The sand wave is perpendicular to the tidal current and has a maximum height and length of the order of 5 m and 1 km, respectively. The sand wave is dynamically active and shows migration rates of the order of a few metres per year. A numerical morphodynamic model (DELFT3D model) has been used to simulate the morphological behaviour of the sand wave in the North Sea. This model approach is based on the numerical solution of the three-dimensional shallow water equations in combination with a surface wave propagation model (wind waves) and the advection–diffusion equation for the sediment particles with online bed updating after each time step. The model results show that the sand wave grows in the case of dominant bed-load transport (weak tidal currents; relatively coarse sediment; small roughness height; low waves) and that the sand wave decays in the case of dominant suspended transport (strong currents, relatively fine sediment, large roughness height; storm waves).     

Rare species, habitat diversity and functional redundancy in marine benthos

Macro-ecological theories relating species richness, abundance, range size, biological traits and environmental tolerance have rarely been tested in marine soft-sediments, despite the spatial extent of these habitats and the inherent richness of resident communities. This study examines the contribution of rare species to marine soft-sediment communities from New Zealand, focussing on the relationships of range size with abundance, environment, habitat diversity and life history traits. 54% of the 351 species sampled exhibited restricted ranges (found at ≤ 2 sites). In contrast to many terrestrial systems, we observed only a weak positive relationship between abundance and frequency of occurrence. Restricted-range species were not randomly distributed, with their distribution related to habitat characteristics, suggesting an important link between habitat diversity and rarity. They exhibited a similar range of traits to the total observed species pool, suggesting that they are not only important to biodiversity but could play a role in stability. Restricted range species were generally not small and this, together with the number of different biological traits represented, suggests that rare species are important to the functioning of marine systems. Thus, our results highlight the importance of considering rare species in habitat-based approaches to conservation.     

Assessment of the effects of hydrocarbon contamination on the sedimentary bacterial communities and determination of the polar lipid fraction purity: Relevance of intact phospholipid analysis

This in situ study reports on the relevance of intact phospholipids as new biomarkers and highlights the limits of the classical fatty acid analysis after the hydrolysis of the polar lipid fraction. The analysis of polar lipid fractions revealed significant contributions of marine macrophytes with either non-phospholipid compounds (sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol) or with both non-bacterial phospholipid classes (phosphatidylcholine) and non-bacterial phospholipid molecular species (some molecular species of phosphatidylglycerol). The analysis of intact phospholipids showed also the predominance of gram-negative bacteria in sediments whereas the analysis of fatty acids alone cannot confirm such information. Lastly, as regard to the effects of petroleum hydrocarbons on the sedimentary bacterial communities, we observed a higher degree of saturation of the fatty acyl chains of the phospholipids extracted from sediment exposed to a massive and chronic crude oil contamination. Such a result was interpreted as an adaptive response resulting in higher membrane rigidity of the bacterial communities.     

南沙海区中生界岩相分布及构造特征

为了了解南中国海南部南沙群岛陆架-陆坡区中生代地层发育情况,作者通过综合分析该海区钻井、拖网及1987年以来采集的20000多公里的多道反射地震勘探等资料,得到了对该区中生界基本特征的如下新认识:空间分布上,南沙的中生界具有从北部的郑和-礼乐隆起南缘向南增厚的趋势;沉积岩相方面,东部三叠纪时为深海相,侏罗纪为浅海与三角洲相,白垩纪为浅海-内浅海相,而往西南部中生代的海水深度有变深的趋势;中-新生代变形上,在南沙西部的曾母盆地,中生界褶皱为复式的、非协调性的,南沙中部多为舒缓褶皱,东部仅在近巴拉望海槽地带出现小幅度的褶皱。结合围区中生界及特提斯构造域的发育特征,作者提出南沙地块上的海相中生界在大地构造上归属于残留在中特提斯洋北部减薄陆缘地壳上的中特提斯期海相沉积地层,是该海域油气资源勘探不可忽视的对象。     

Analysis and prediction of vortex-induced vibrations of variable-tension vertical risers in linearly sheared currents

Many studies have tackled the problem of vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) of a vertical riser with a constant tension and placed in uniform currents. In this study, attention is focused on the cross-flow VIV modelling, time-domain analysis and prediction of variable-tension vertical risers in linearly sheared currents. The partial-differential equation governing the riser transverse motion is based on a flexural tensioned-beam model with typical pinned-pinned supports. The hydrodynamic excitation model describing the modulation of lift force is based on a distributed van der Pol wake oscillator whose nonlinear equation is also partial-differential due to the implementation of a diffusion term. The variation of empirical wake coefficients with system parameters and the water depth-dependent Reynolds number is introduced. Based on the assumed Fourier mode shape functions obtained by accounting for the effect of non-uniform tension, the Galerkin technique is utilized to construct a low-dimensional multi-mode model governing the coupled fluid-riser interaction system due to VIV. Numerical simulations in the case of varying sheared flow profiles are carried out to systematically evaluate riser nonlinear dynamics and highlight the influence of fluid-structure parameters along with associated VIV aspects. In particular, the effects of shear and tensioned-beam (tension versus bending) parameters are underlined. Some comparisons with published experimental results and observations are qualitatively and quantitatively discussed. Overall parametric analysis and prediction results may be worthwhile for being a new benchmark against future experimental testing and/or numerical results predicted by an alternative model and methodology.     

On the long-term response of marine structures

This paper addresses some important issues related to the estimation of long-term extreme responses of marine structures. Several convolution models to establish the long-term distribution of a marine structure response parameter are available in the literature. These methods are typically based either on all short-term peaks, all extreme short-term peaks or all short-term upcrossing rates. The main assumptions and simplifications of the five models most usually found in the literature are discussed in this paper. A linear single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system along with a bi-lognormal probability model for significant wave heights and zero-crossing wave periods have been used for numerical tests. An improved approach to efficiently evaluate the long-term convolution integrals is also proposed in this paper. It is shown that a combination of the Inverse First Order Reliability Method (IFORM) and an Importance Sampling Monte Carlo Simulation (ISMCS) approach can be used to obtain a very good result for the exact solution of long-term integrals.     

A straightforward approach for using single time domain simulations to assess characteristic extreme responses

Short-term wave design approach of marine structures, using nonlinear time domain simulations, is a design procedure that is recognized by various modern standard codes. One of the most challenging points of this approach is the evaluation of the characteristic extreme values for response parameters used in the design check equations. The most straightforward and recommended way to evaluate a response characteristic value is by fitting an extreme value probability distribution to the N-sample of extreme values extracted from N independent time domain simulations with duration equal to the short-term period indicated by the code, which is usually taken as 3 h. However, this procedure would not be practical for some types of marine structures, such as risers and mooring lines, under numerous design load cases and demanding huge finite element models. A more feasible approach would be to assess the response extreme value distribution using only a single short-term time domain simulation with duration shorter than 3 h. But reduced time simulations always introduce some additional statistical uncertainty into the extreme values estimates. This paper discusses a workable way of properly taking into account the statistical uncertainty associated with the simulation length in the assessment of a characteristic short-term extreme response value based on a single time series.     

几种海洋蓝藻生长条件的研究

对Ｓｙｎｅｃｈｏｃｏｃｃｕｓ ｂａｃｉｌｌａｒｉｓ，Ｏｓｃｉｌｌａｔｏｒｉａ ｌｕｄ，Ｓｃｈｉｚｏｔｈｒｉｘ ｃａｌｃｉｃｏｌａ，Ｓｐｉｒｕｌｉｎａ ｐｌａｔｅｎｓｉｓ等４各海洋蓝藻的生长条件的研究表明，除Ｓ．ｐｌａｔｅｎｓｉｓ外，其他３种蓝藻在“ｆ／２”培养基中生长良好，外源生长因子对生长有不同程度的促进作用。Ｓ．ｂａｃｉｌｌａｒｉｓ适应较高光强，其温度和ｐＨ最适范围较窄，Ｓ．ｃａｌｃｉｃｏｌａ     

French marine technology policy : Industrializing ocean depths

This paper outlines the structure of the institutions involved in scientific and technological development in France. It points to new trends in French marine policy, and gives details of the country's offshore petroleum technology and nodule mining.     

海洋钢筋混凝土结构牺牲阳极保护系统电极行为的研究

于１９８９－１９９０年在室内条件下，用牺牲阳极保护浸泡于海水中的多种钢筋凝土试件测试不同试件中钢筋极化与阳极布局、涂层质量，涂层厚度及试件浸水情况的关系。结果表明，牺牲阳极能有效地保护全浸海水中的混凝土试件，对间断浸淋海水的试件也有一定的保护作用，通过改善阳极安装工艺，保护作用可望提高；电偶电流在各阴阳极上的分布将随涂层质量，涂层厚度和试件浸水情况不同而异，回路中电阻和电极极化情况是影响电流分布的