Deep‐water dunes on drowned isolated carbonate terraces (Mozambique Channel,south‐west Indian Ocean)

Subaqueous sand dunes are common bedforms on continental shelves dominated by tidal and geostrophic currents. However, much less is known about sand dunes in deep‐marine settings that are affected by strong bottom currents. In this study, dune fields were identified on drowned isolated carbonate platforms in the Mozambique Channel (south‐west Indian Ocean). The acquired data include multibeam bathymetry, multi‐channel high‐resolution seismic reflection data, sea floor imagery, a sediment sample and current measurements from a moored current meter and hull‐mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. The dunes are located at water depths ranging from 200 to 600 m on the slope terraces of a modern atoll (Bassas da India Atoll) and within small depressions formed during tectonic deformation of drowned carbonate platforms (Sakalaves Seamount and Jaguar Bank). Dunes are composed of bioclastic medium size sand, and are large to very large, with wavelengths of 40 to 350 m and heights of 0·9 to 9·0 m. Dune migration seems to be unidirectional in each dune field, suggesting a continuous import and export of bioclastic sand, with little sand being recycled. Oceanic currents are very intense in the Mozambique Channel and may be able to erode submerged carbonates, generating carbonate sand at great depths. A mooring located at 463 m water depth on the Hall Bank (30 km west of the Jaguar Bank) showed vigorous bottom currents, with mean speeds of 14 cm sec^?1 and maximum speeds of 57 cm sec^?1, compatible with sand dune formation. The intensity of currents is highly variable and is related to tidal processes (high‐frequency variability) and to anticyclonic eddies near the seamounts (low‐frequency variability). This study contributes to a better understanding of the formation of dunes in deep‐marine settings and provides valuable information about carbonate preservation after drowning, and the impact of bottom currents on sediment distribution and sea floor morphology.     

井地2.5维DC反演研究

开展了不同观测方式的井地2.5D直流电阻率反演研究。①从2.5维直流电阻率满足的边值问题出发,采用变分原理结合节点线性基函数推导了2.5维井地DC满足的积分弱解形式;②构建了二阶最大平滑稳定泛函的2.5维井地直流电阻率正则化目标函数,采用共轭梯度算法对正则化目标函数进行最优化求解,并采用逐步衰减正则化因子的求解策略来提高反演的稳定性;③设计了均匀半空间模型得到的数值解与解析解对比,电位的相对误差在2%以内,阐述正演算法的正确性和高精度。另外,分析了不同观测装置的2.5维井地直流电阻率异常体特征,并对不同观测方式对2.5维井地DC理论数据进行反演研究。研究结果表明,井中数据的引入提高了2.5DC对纵向探测的分辨率能力,同时提高了2.5DC反演有效性以及准确性。     

厚碳酸盐覆盖区RVSP三维地震勘探应用效果分析

该文以中国南方一厚碳酸盐岩覆盖区的RVSP三维地震勘探实例,对RVSP三维地震勘探观测系统和数据采集参数的确定、地面等效处理和波场分离等关键处理技术及地质效果进行了阐述和分析,说明了RVSP在克服表浅层复杂地质条件及环境条件对资料的影响及提高地震资料的分辨率有其特定的优势,同时也提出了RVSP三维地震在采集和处理过程中的难点。     

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘桌子山地区石峡谷剖面中奥陶统克里摩里组下段等深流深水水道沉积

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘桌子山地区中奥陶统克里摩里组下段以深灰色薄—中层石灰岩夹灰黑色极薄层泥岩为特征,石灰岩单层略显透镜状且基本未受后期成岩作用改造,其中石峡谷剖面垂向上特征变化明显,是研究该组沉积过程的理想剖面。本次研究在详细的野外观察基础上,依据岩石特征和沉积构造进一步确认克里摩里组深水斜坡沉积背景和等深流沉积,同时详细研究了薄—中层石灰岩的充填特征和形态特征,探讨其水动力特征和沉积机制。结果表明: (1)在粉晶石灰岩和灰泥石灰岩中,晶粒呈散点状分布,粉晶之间为灰泥充填,同时岩层内部具有不均一性,粗粉晶、细粉晶和灰泥呈相间分布;(2)石灰岩主要发育和单层内粒度(方解石晶粒)变化有关的沉积构造,包括具有双向递变特征的粒序层、条带状构造和水平层—均匀层—水平层序列;(3)石灰岩层中透镜体发育,包括薄层中的小型连续透镜体、中层(一般小于30^cm)中的长透镜体以及由多个石灰岩层组成的透镜体,后者侧向上尖灭于页岩或地形高处,其内部单个岩层可呈对称性尖灭;(4)剖面上发育单层石灰岩厚度向上变薄的垂向序列以及由该序列组成的石灰岩叠置层。结合已有研究成果认为: 克里摩里组下段薄—中层石灰岩沉积于深水底流发育环境,其水动力具有低速、弱—强—弱周期变化和空间上受限的特征,应为等深流水道沉积,其沉积机制可分为3个阶段,即等深流作用前的清水钙质沉积、等深流作用期间对沉积物的改造和等深流作用后的浑水泥质沉积。     

珊瑚岛礁海岸多尺度波流运动特性研究新进展

珊瑚岛礁海岸波流动力复杂、地貌形态特殊、工程响应未知, 波浪传播变形和波生环流对建筑物安全、地形地貌演变、防灾减灾和生态环境保护都有重要影响。本文从大范围大洋海脊导波与岛礁波浪俘获、中等尺度的礁坪-潟湖-裂口系统波流特性、建筑物前沿的局部波流特性及工程响应等三种不同空间尺度上综述了波流运动特性研究的新进展, 主要包括深水大范围的海脊波浪引导与岛礁波浪俘获的理论解析、礁坪-潟湖-裂口系统整体物理模型实验、基于大水槽实验的建筑物影响下波流演化过程及越浪量和波浪力计算方法, 并提出亟需深入研究的重点内容。     

Stormwater capture and antecedent moisture characteristics of permeable pavements

An approach based on individual rainfall events is introduced to mathematically describe the hydrologic responses and estimate the stormwater capture efficiencies of permeable pavement systems (PPSs). A stochastic model describing the instantaneous dynamic water balance of a PPS is established, from which the probability distribution of the antecedent moisture content of the PPS at the beginning of a rainfall event is analytically derived. Based on this probability distribution and the event‐based approach, an analytical equation that can be used for estimating the stormwater capture efficiencies of PPSs is also derived. The derived analytical equation is verified by comparing its results with those from continuous simulations for a wide range of PPSs with different sizes and underlying soils and operating under various climate conditions. It was found that the antecedent moisture contents of PPSs at the test locations are usually fairly close to zero, suggesting that PPSs at these locations are always almost empty at the start of a rainfall event. The derived analytical equation accounts for many key processes influencing the behaviour and operation of PPSs; it may serve as an easy‐to‐use tool that is essential for the planning and design of PPSs.     

Intercomparison of measurements of bulk snow density and water equivalent of snow cover with snow core samplers: Instrumental bias and variability induced by observers

Manually collected snow data are often considered as ground truth for many applications such as climatological or hydrological studies. However, there are many sources of uncertainty that are not quantified in detail. For the determination of water equivalent of snow cover (SWE), different snow core samplers and scales are used, but they are all based on the same measurement principle. We conducted two field campaigns with 9 samplers commonly used in observational measurements and research in Europe and northern America to better quantify uncertainties when measuring depth, density and SWE with core samplers. During the first campaign, as a first approach to distinguish snow variability measured at the plot and at the point scale, repeated measurements were taken along two 20 m long snow pits. The results revealed a much higher variability of SWE at the plot scale (resulting from both natural variability and instrumental bias) compared to repeated measurements at the same spot (resulting mostly from error induced by observers or very small scale variability of snow depth). The exceptionally homogeneous snowpack found in the second campaign permitted to almost neglect the natural variability of the snowpack properties and focus on the separation between instrumental bias and error induced by observers. Reported uncertainties refer to a shallow, homogeneous tundra-taiga snowpack less than 1 m deep (loose, mostly recrystallised snow and no wind impact). Under such measurement conditions, the uncertainty in bulk snow density estimation is about 5% for an individual instrument and is close to 10% among different instruments. Results confirmed that instrumental bias exceeded both the natural variability and the error induced by observers, even in the case when observers were not familiar with a given snow core sampler.     

Winkler model for dynamic response of composite caisson–piles foundations: Seismic response

A simplified method with a dynamic Winkler model to study the seismic response of composite caisson–piles foundations (CCPF¹) is developed. Firstly, with the dynamic Winkler model, the kinematic response of the CCPF subjected to vertically propagating seismic S-wave is analyzed by coupling the responses of caisson part and pile part. Secondly, a simplified model for the foundation–structure system is created with the structure simplified as a lumped mass connected to the foundation with an elastic column, and through the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) this model is enabled to solve transient seismic problems. Thirdly, the proposed method for the seismic response of CCPF-structure systems is verified by comparison against 3D dynamic finite element simulation, in which the Domain Reduction Method (DRM²) is utilized. Lastly, the mechanism and significance of adding piles in improving the earthquake resistance of the foundation and structure is analyzed through an example with different soil conditions. Discovered in this study is that adding piles under the caisson is an efficient way to increase seismic resistant capability of the soil–foundation–structure system, and the main mechanism of that is the elimination of the pseudo-resonance.     

Conditional statistics of Reynolds shear stress in flow over 2D dunes in the presence of surface waves

This study presents the analysis of the velocity fluctuations to describe the conditional statistics of Reynolds shear stress in flow over two‐dimensional dunes in the presence of surface waves of varying frequency. The flow velocity measurements over the dunes are made using a 16‐MHz 3D acoustic Doppler velocimeter. The joint probability distributions of the normalized stream‐wise and vertical velocity fluctuations at different vertical locations are calculated in the trough region of a selected dune in quasi‐steady region of the flow. Third‐order moments of the stream‐wise and vertical velocity components over one dune length are also calculated throughout the flow depth for understanding the effect of surface waves on relative contributions to the Reynolds shear stress due to the four quadrant events. The structure of instantaneous Reynolds stresses is analysed using quadrant analysis technique. It has been shown that the contributions of second and fourth quadrant events to the Reynolds shear stress increase with increase in the frequency of surface waves. In fact, the largest contribution to turbulent stresses comes from the second quadrant. The cumulant discard method is applied to describe the statistical properties of the covariance term u′w′. Conditional statistics and conditional sampling are used to compare the experimental and theoretical relative contributions to the Reynolds shear stress from the four quadrant events. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamical Control of Asymmetrically Oblique Tidal Currents to the Sedimentary Characteristics and Development of Linear Sand Ridges in the Liaodong Shoal,East Bohai Sea

The Liaodong Shoal is a group of linear sand ridges located in the east Bohai Sea of China.In this study,54 surface sediment samples have been collected,current measurements at 4 stations have been carried out and bathymetric data were obtained.The current directions are rightward deflected relative to the strikes of the sand ridges.Affected by the narrowing effect of the ridge,the current velocities exhibited an anti-‘C’type vertical profile.The velocities of the lower currents linearly correlate with the water depths.The near-bed current velocities over the troughs are estimated to be higher than those over the ridges,and this feature could be explained by the loss of kinetic energy together with the conversion between kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy.The sedimentary characteristics that are compatible with the tidal dynamics are developed across the ridges and troughs,including grain size compositions,grain size parameters,mineral compositions and Dhm indexes.The existence of the angles between the current directions and the strikes of the sand ridges is the key factor for the growth of the sand ridges.The asymmetric hydrodynamic features between the flood and ebb currents lead to the differences in the topographical and sedimentary characteristics on both sides of a sand ridge.Insufficient material supply led to the degradation of the sand ridges,and the reduction of the tidal current intensity has led to the development of the subordinate sand ridges in the troughs.Sand ridges are migrating.