Effects of crab–halophytic plant interactions on creek growth in a S.W. Atlantic salt marsh: A Cellular Automata model

The Bahía Blanca Estuary (38° 50′ S, and 62° 30′ W) presents salt marshes where interactions between the local flora (Sarcocornia perennis) and fauna (Chasmagnathus granulatus) generate some kind of salt pans that alter the normal water circulation and condition its flow and course towards tidal creeks. The crab–vegetation dynamics in the salt marsh presents variations that cannot be quantified in a reasonable period of time. The interaction between S. perennis plant and C. granulatus crab is based on simple laws, but its result is a complex biological mechanism that causes an erosive process on the salt marsh and favors the formation of tidal creeks. To study it, a Cellular Automata model is proposed, based on the laws deduced from the observation of these phenomena in the field, and then verified with measurable data within macroscale time units. Therefore, the objective of this article is to model how the interaction between C. granulatus and S. perennis modifies the landscape of the salt marsh and influences the path of tidal creeks. The model copies the basic laws that rule the problem based on purely biological factors.The Cellular Automata model proved capable of reproducing the effects of the interaction between plants and crabs in the salt marsh. A study of the water drainage of the basins showed that this interaction does indeed modify the development of tidal creeks. Model dynamics would likewise follow different laws, which would provide a different formula for the probability of patch dilation. The patch shape can be obtained changing the pattern that dilates.     

The Record of an Extreme Flood in the Sediments of Montane Lillooet Lake, British Columbia: Implications for Paleoenvironmental Assessment

Severe rainfall in mid October, 2003 produced the largest floods in almost a century of record on rivers in the Cordillera of southwestern British Columbia. Sediment deposited in Lillooet Lake as a result of this event is clearly distinguished by stratigraphy, colour, texture, magnetic properties, and organic content. Each of these physical properties is related to the lacustrine processes, especially turbid underflow, that distributed the sediment through the lake. The flood, which lasted less than a week, delivered 8–12 times the amount of sediment that accumulates in most entire years in the deepest, central parts of the lake. Recognition of events of this type in the stratigraphic record offers a means of assessing the changing nature of extreme hydroclimatic events, and their relation to more ubiquitous, lower-energy processes.     

Quantitative analysis of variations in depositional sequence thickness from submarine channel levees

Abstract Thickness variations across‐levee and downchannel in acoustically defined depositional sequences from six submarine channel‐levee systems show consistent and quantifiable patterns. The thickness of depositional sequences perpendicular to the channel trend, i.e. across the levee, decreases exponentially, as characterized by a spatial decay constant, k. Similarly, the thickness of sediment at the levee crest decreases exponentially down the upper reaches of submarine channels and can be characterized by a second spatial decay constant, λ. The inverse of these decay constants has units of length and defines depositional length scales such that k^?1 is a measure of levee width and λ^?1 is a measure of levee length. Quantification of levee architecture in this way allowed investigation of relationships between levee architecture and channel dimensions. It was found that these measures of levee e‐folding width and levee e‐folding length are directly related to channel width and relief. The dimensions of channels and levees are thus intimately related, thereby limiting the range of potential channel‐levee morphologies, regardless of allocyclic forcing. A simple sediment budget model relates the product of the levee e‐folding width and e‐folding length to through‐channel volume discharge. A classification system based on the quantitative downchannel behaviour of levee architecture allows identification of a ‘mid‐channel’ reach, where sediment is passively transferred from the through‐channel flow to the levees as an overspilling flow. Downstream from this reach, the channel gradually looses its control on guiding turbidity currents, and the resulting flow can be considered as an unconfined or spreading flow.     

Lateral tidal mixing in the Antarctic marginal seas

Tidal mixing plays an important role in the modification of dense water masses around the Antarctic continent. In addition to the vertical (diapycnal) mixing in the near-bottom layers, lateral mixing can also be of relevance in some areas. A numerical tide simulation shows that lateral tidal mixing is not uniformly distributed along the shelf break. In particular, strong mixing occurs all along the Ross Sea and Southern Weddell Sea shelf breaks, while other regions (e.g., the western Weddell Sea) are relatively quiet. The latter regions correspond surprisingly well to areas where indications for cross-shelf exchange of dense water masses have been found. The results suggest that lateral tidal mixing may account for the relatively small contribution of Ross Sea dense water masses to Antarctic Bottom Water.     

厚油层内部夹层特征及在剩余油挖潜中的应用

以岩芯、测井、分析化验和生产动态等资料为基础,通过静态和动态研究相结合的方法,对东濮凹陷古近系沙河街组厚油层内部夹层类型、成因和展布特征,对剩余油的控制作用及其在挖潜中的应用进行了研究。结果表明：东濮凹陷厚油层的夹层类型主要有泥质、物性和钙质夹层三类,以泥质夹层为主,前两者属沉积成因,而钙质类层主要属成岩成因。从厚油层内部夹层的空间分布特征来看,可将其分为层状连续分布夹层、片状不稳定分布夹层和不规则冲刷一充填夹层3种。统计结果表明：横向延展非常稳定且井间对比性较强的夹层数量约占30％,而横向延展稳定性较差且连片程度不高,具空间随机性分布特征的夹层数量约占70％。夹层空间分布特征与注采配置方式共同控制了厚油层内部的不同剩余油分布模式,对夹层的深入研究有效提高了对厚油层内部剩余油的认识精度。从不同空间分布夹层所控制的剩余油分布特征出发,采用水平井、井网整体调整、补孔等方法和措施可获得较好的挖潜效果。     

Development and Extension of An Aggregated Scale Model: Part 1 – Background to ASMITA

Whilst much attention has been given to models that describe wave, tide and sediment transport processes in sufficient detail to determine the local changes in bed level over a relatively detailed representation of the bathymetry, far less attention has been given to models that consider the problem at a much larger scale (e.g. that of geomorphological elements such as a tidal flat and tidal channel). Such aggregated or lumped models tend not to represent the processes in detail but rather capture the behaviour at the scale of interest. One such model developed using the concept of an equilibrium concentration is the Aggregated Scale Morphological Interaction between Tidal basin and Adjacent coast (ASMITA). In this paper we provide some new insights into the concepts of equilibrium, and horizontal and vertical exchange that are key components of this modelling approach. In a companion paper, we summarise a range of developments that have been undertaken to extend the original model concept, to illustrate the flexibility and power of the conceptual framework. However, adding detail progressively moves the model in the direction of the more detailed process-based models and we give some consideration to the boundary between the two.     

Topographical Mapping of a Bare Tidal Flat Outside a Mangrove Area based on the Waterline Method and an Iterative Hydrodynamic Model: A Case Study of Yingluo Bay,South China

A change in the elevation of bare tidal flats outside a mangrove area is an indispensable factor for the sustainable development of mangroves. Waterline extraction, as an effective and economical tool used in reconstructing the terrain of an intertidal zone, has been widely applied to open-coast tidal flats by constructing a digital elevation model (DEM). However, mangrove wetlands are usually located in wave-sheltered sites, such as estuaries and bays that have narrow tidal channels flanked by tidal flats. Changes in water level are affected by the dry-wet processes of complex landforms caused by tides. This article takes as a study case the area of Yingluo Bay, which covers the core region of the Zhanjiang and Shankou National Mangrove National Nature Reserve in southwestern China. Waterline extraction based on seventeen multisource and multispectral satellite images obtained from December 2014 to April 2015, combining the finite-volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM) hydrodynamic model in an iterative process, was used to generate a topographical map of the bare tidal flat outside the mangrove area in Yingluo Bay. The quality of the iterative DEMs was evaluated via six transects of a ground-based survey using Real - time kinematic (RKT) GPS in May 2015. The mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the DEM decreased with an increase in the number of iterations. In this study, the DEM in the third iteration was used as the final output because the difference from the previous iterative DEM satisfied an inversion-stopping criterion. The MAE and RMSE of the final DEM with the measured data were 0.072 and 0.09?m, respectively, without considering small tidal creeks. The method used in this study can be an effective and highly precise approach for detecting and reconstructing the historical terrain of a bare tidal flat outside a mangrove area. This work also has great importance regarding intertidal resource management and the sustainable development of mangroves facing the vulnerable coastal ecological environment.