Numerical study of enhanced energy dissipation near a seamount

Using a two-dimensional primitive equation model, we examine nonlinear responses of a semidiurnal tidal flow impinging on a seamount with a background Garrett-Munk-like (GM-like) internal wavefield. It is found that horizontally elongated pancake-like structures of high vertical wavenumber near-inertial current shear are created both in the near-field (the region over the slope of the seamount) and far-field (the region over the flat bottom of the ocean). An important distinction is that the high vertical wavenumber near-inertial current shear is amplified only at mid-latitudes in the far-field (owing to a parametric subharmonic instability (PSI)), whereas it is amplified both at mid-and high-latitudes (above the latitude where PSI can occur) in the near-field. In order to clarify the generating mechanism for the strong shear in the near-field, additional numerical experiments are carried out with the GM-like background internal waves removed. The experiments show that the strong shear is also created, indicating that it is not caused by the interaction between the background GM-like internal waves and the semidiurnal internal tides. One possible explanation is proposed for the amplification of high vertical wavenumber near-inertial current shear in the near-field where tide residual flow resulting from tide-topography interaction plays an important role in transferring energy from high-mode internal tides to near-inertial internal waves.     

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.     

On the “rotational angular momentum” of the oceans and the corresponding polar motion

Periodic polar motions caused by ocean tides are predicted. In the Liouville equations for rotational motion the complete excitation functions for the ocean tides have to be used. This does not depend on the fact that hydrodynamical ocean tide models do not consider the centrifugal acceleration. The observable polar motion of the Celestial Ephemeris Pole CEP (more exactly: the terrestrial location of the CEP) is tabulated for the ten ocean tides M₂, S₂, N₂, K₁, O₁, P₁, M f, M f′, M m, Ssa. Typical amplitudes for the largest ocean tides are 0.4 milliarcseconds. This is within the reach of geodetic VLBI and SLR observations.     

自转微椭、非均匀地球的潮汐变形

鉴于当前国际上关于自转微椭、非均匀地球（ＳＲＥＨＩ）的固体潮汐响应的结果之间存在明显分歧,特别是Ｌｏｖｅ数ｋ及重力潮汐因子δ对纬度的依赖情况截然不同,本文借助于摄动法与张量正则分量的广义球谐展开建立起来的侧向非均匀、自转微椭、粘弹地球的潮汐模拟理论,计算了ＳＲＥＨＩ地球的潮汐形变及相应的引力位变化．结果表明,描述径向位移的Ｌｏｖｅ数的纬度依赖部分系数ｈ＋与球对称部分ｈ０＋δｈ０之比不大于１．０‰;对Ｏ１波为０．２７‰;对Ｍ2波为０．１９‰;对Ｍ3波为０．４９‰;对Ｍ4波为０．８８‰．描述地球引力位变化的Ｌｏｖｅ数的纬度依赖部分系数ｋ＋与球对称部分ｋ０＋δｋ０之比小于３．０‰;对Ｏ１波为２．６７‰;对Ｍ２波为１．８９‰;对Ｍ３波为２．２４‰;对Ｍ４波为２．７０‰．     

液核地球的周日固体潮响应

本文研究了液核地球对日月引潮力位球谐函数项的变形响应,即周日固体潮。作为数值结果,计算了1066A地球模型的周日潮汐勒夫数。所建立的周日固体潮理论模型改进了Molodensky液核动力学理论模型。为了比较两者之间的差异,还根据Molodensky理论模型计算了1066A地球模型的周日潮汐勒夫数。     

Bivalves,Tributyltin and Green Tides: Ecosystem-Level Impact?

Filter feeders such as bivalves are increasingly being shown to control phytoplankton blooms in eutrophic estuaries. The possibility of such a top-down effect on macroalgae, however, has not been considered previously even though most green tide algal species reproduce by pelagic swarmers that are equivalent to phytoplankton. This work presents circumstantial evidence from an oyster-culturing French embayment where, despite eutrophication since the mid-1970s, macroalgae did not proliferate until 1982. This was also the year when tributyltin pollution from antifouling paints dropped substantially following a world-wide prime ban that was implemented to save the shellfish industry. From the recorded evolution of the oyster stock, it is shown how tributyltin reduced the bivalve filter capacity within those years and resulted in Enteromorpha swarmers being much more likely to germinate and bloom. This suggests that the green tides had been successively contained by the biological activity and the chemical pressure. The effects of the latter on the former would thus have cascaded to ecosystem-level changes, and so the functional role of bivalves should be evaluated and preserved wherever relevant.     

Diurnal variation of nitric oxide emission flux from a mangrove wetland in Zhangjiang River Estuary,China

The diurnal variation of nitric oxide (NO) emission fluxes from a Kandelia obovata and Avicennia marina mangrove wetland were studied in the Zhangjiang River Estuary Mangrove National Nature Reserve using a dynamic chamber-based technique and a chemiluminescent analyzer. Results from field experiments show that NO emission from K. obovata and A. marina sampling sites reached maximal values of 1.07 ng N m⁻² s⁻¹ and 1.23 ng N m⁻² s⁻¹, respectively after the night tide. Meanwhile NO emission maintained at a steady lower level in daytime for both wetland sites. In laboratory experiments, NO emission from the mangrove wetland soil samples treated with simulated tides in the darkness exhibited higher values than those in the light, therefore it seems that tides and darkness could increase NO emission from mangrove wetlands, while intensive light, high temperature, and dryness in the daytime decreased NO emission. Compared with K. obovata soil samples, the diurnal average NO emission rate of the A. marina site was significantly higher, which was closely related to relatively higher diurnal average CO₂ emission rate, soil available nitrogen content and soil net nitrification rate of the A. marina site. Moreover, soil samples of the A. marina site were more responsive to simulated tides and the addition of nitrogen than those of the K. obovata site.