Seasonally Hypersaline Estuaries in Mediterranean-climate Regions

Data collected in three Californian estuaries indicate that hypersaline conditions exist during the dry summers typical of a Mediterranean climate. The generalised seasonal and longitudinal hydrographic structures are described and explained. It is argued that this seasonal hypersalinity is common and that it represents a major class of estuaries. The observed accumulation of salt indicates surprisingly long residence times in small basins which have free exchange with the ocean. This semi-isolation of the inner basin leads to a large build-up or severe depletion of nutrients, pollutants and plankton in these systems. Of concern are the trends to increase pollutant loading in the same systems that are experiencing an increase in residence times owing to freshwater extraction in the watershed.     

琼州海峡铁路轮渡新海湾港区泥沙淤积问题

海南省拟建琼州海峡铁路轮渡。本文通过对海峡南岸新海湾轮渡港址附近自然条件、岸滩演变和输沙特征的分析研究，对不同类型港区布置方案港内开挖区和航道的淤积强度、淤积量等进行了计算，并对不同防护建筑物的有效拦沙时间等进行了探讨和计算，提出了港区类型推荐方案。     

Geochemical and hydrodynamic constraints on the distribution of trace metal concentrations in the lagoon of Nouméa, New Caledonia

Seawater samples were collected in the lagoon of Nouméa (southwest New Caledonia) along two transects from eutrophic coastal bays to the oligotrophic barrier reef. Land-based emissions to the lagoon were measured with dissolved and particulate concentrations of chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni), used as tracers of both terrigenous and industrial (Ni ore treatment) activities, as well as dissolved and particulate concentrations of zinc (Zn), used as a tracer of urban effluents. The spatial variability of metal concentrations was related to geochemical and hydrodynamic conditions, i.e., respectively: (1) natural and anthropogenic emission sources, and chemical processes occurring in the water column; and (2) water residence times. The parameter used to describe the residence time of water masses was the local e-flushing time, i.e. the time required for a tracer mass contained within a given station to be reduced by a factor 1/e. High metal concentrations were found in coastal areas (up to 9000 ng dissolved Ni L⁻¹), and steeply decreased with distance from the coast (down to 101 ng dissolved Ni L⁻¹ near the barrier reef) to reach levels similar to those found in remote Pacific waters, suggesting a rapid renewal of waters close to the barrier. Distributions of metals in the lagoon are controlled upstream by land-based emission sources and later chemical processes. Then hydrodynamics constrain metal distributions, as shown by the observed relationship between local e-flushing times and the spatial variability of metal concentrations. In addition, a change in the direction of prevailing winds yielded a decrease of dissolved metal concentrations at the same site by a factor of 2.5 (Cr and Ni) and 2.9 (Zn). It is suggested that the residence time is a key parameter in the control of elemental concentrations in the lagoon waters, as much as land-based emission sources.     

近海工程环境应用中各种风资料的平均时间分析

本文从近海工程设计应用的需要出发，对于通常使用的不同来源的测风资料平均时间进行了分析，这些资料来源包括：岸边及近海探查与生产设施上的气象台站、天气观测船、浮标、商船气象报、从受灾情况估计出的极大风速以及动力诊断模型估计出的海面风速。     

Coupling of life cycles of the copepods Calanus chilensis and Centropages brachiatus to upwelling induced variability in the central-southern region of Chile

A time series of zooplankton sampling carried out at Station 18 off Concepción (36°S, 73°W) from August 2002 to December 2003 allowed the study of annual life cycles of the copepods Calanus chilensis and Centropages brachiatus in association with environmental variability in the coastal upwelling zone. Changes in the abundance of eggs, nauplii, and copepodids were assessed from samples taken at a mean time interval of ca. 20 days. Upwelling variability in near-surface waters was reflected in seasonal changes in salinity, water column stratification, and oxycline depth, as well as a weak seasonal signal in sea surface temperature (1-2 °C). Both copepods exhibited similar life cycles, characterized by continuous reproduction throughout the year. Estimates of generation times, as a function of temperature, were 25-30 days for C. chilensis and 27-35 days for C. brachiatus, predicting about 12 and 10 generations a year, respectively. These estimates were consistent with reproduction pulses observed in the field. It was thus suggested that copepods may grow under non-limiting food conditions in this upwelling area. However, despite continuous reproduction, there were abrupt changes in population sizes along with the disappearance of early naupliar and copepodid stages taking place even during the upwelling season (spring/summer). These changes were attributed to sudden increases in mortality taking place in spring or early summer, after which the populations remained at low levels through the fall and winter. It is thus suggested that, in addition to variability in the physical environment, biological interactions modulating changes in copepod mortality should be considered for understanding copepod life cycles in highly productive upwelling systems.     

Toward a generic method for studying water renewal, with application to the epilimnion of Lake Tanganyika

We present a method, based on the concept of age and residence time, to study the water renewal in a semi-enclosed domain. We split the water of this domain into different water types. The initial water is the water initially present in the semi-enclosed domain. The renewing water is defined as the water entering the domain of interest. Several renewing water types may be considered depending on their origin. We present the equations for computing the age and the residence time of a certain water type. These timescales are of use to understand the rate at which the water renewal takes place. Computing these timescales can be achieved at an acceptable extra computer cost.The above-mentioned method is applied to study the renewal of epilimnion (i.e. the surface layer) water in Lake Tanganyika. We have built a finite element reduced-gravity model modified to take into account the water exchange between the epilimnion and the hypolimnion (i.e. the bottom layer), the water supply from precipitation and incoming rivers, and the water loss from evaporation and the only outgoing river. With our water renewal diagnoses, we show that the only significant process in the renewal of epilimnion water in Lake Tanganyika is the water exchange between the epilimnion and the hypolimnion, other phenomena being negligible.     

A phase-averaged Boussinesq model with effective description of carrier wave group and associated long wave evolution

From the phase-resolving improved Boussinesq equations (Beji and Nadaoka, Ocean Engineering 23 (1996) 691), a phase-averaged Boussinesq model for water waves is derived by more effectively describing carrier wave groups and accompanying long wave evolution with less CPU time. Linear shoaling characteristics of carrier wave equations are investigated and found to agree exactly with the analytical expression obtained from the constancy of energy flux for the improved Boussinesq equations themselves, showing that the present model equations are the results of a consistent derivation procedure regarding energy considerations. Numerical simulations of the derived equations for the single wave group and narrow-banded random waves show the validity of the present model and its high performance, especially on the CPU time.     

近58a来影响和登陆浙江的热带气旋统计特征分析

本文利用1949-2006年热带气旋资料,对58a来影响和登陆浙江热带气旋的登陆位置、登陆时间的年际、月际和日变化、登陆后的移速及路径变化与降水中心分布的关系、登陆后维持和衰减情况等进行了统计分析.统计结果表明：影响和登陆浙江的热带气旋有较明显的年际、月际和日变化特征;登陆浙江的热带气旋陆上维持时间与登陆时的强度正相关,登陆后12h内热带气旋衰减较快;登陆后移向偏北分量大的或移速加快的热带气旋,主要降水区出现在路径右侧的可能性大.     

High parallelization efficiency in barotropic-mode computation of ocean models based on multi-grid boundary ghost area

In general, barotropic-mode computation requires the largest communication time in ocean models because of its iterative nature, when parallel computation is performed based on regional partitioning. In this study, reduction in the overhead time included in the communication in the parallel computation of the barotropic mode is considered to achieve a high parallelization efficiency of ocean models. We verify that the reduction in the communication frequency based on the multi-grid boundary ghost area reduces the total communication time. We find that this is because the sum of several kinds of overhead time for communication occupies a fairly large part of the total communication time. We discuss the trade-off between the decrease in communication time and the increase in computation time due to increased boundary area in such cases, leading to a determination of a suitable width of the multi-grid boundary that minimizes the total required time. We also discuss the efficiencies of the one- and two-dimensional partitioning of the model domain, when a multi-grid boundary is used. In general, two-dimensional partitioning is more efficient than one-dimensional for large partitioning numbers.