A novel time-series station in the Wadden Sea (NW Germany): First results on continuous nutrient and methane measurements

In autumn 2002 a time-series station was installed in the tidal inlet between the Islands of Langeoog and Spiekeroog (Southern North Sea, NW Germany) to continuously measure physical, chemical, and meteorological parameters, even during extreme weather conditions (gale-force storms, drifting ice). Inside the pole of the station sensor tubes are installed in direction of the prevailing tidal currents. The tubes are equipped with hydrographic sensors (pressure, temperature, conductivity) and allow retrieval of water for nutrient analysis by automated instruments located inside the pole. Dissolved methane and the nutrients ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate are measured at the station.     

Numerical modeling of long waves in shallow water using Incremental Differential Quadrature Method

Incremental Differential Quadrature Method (IDQM) as a rapid and accurate method for numerical simulation of Nonlinear Shallow Water (NLSW) waves is employed. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first endeavor to exploit DQM in coastal hydraulics. The one-dimensional NLSW equations and related boundary conditions are discretized in space and temporal directions by DQM rules and the resulting system of equations are used to compute the state variables in the entire computational domain. It was found that the splitting of total simulation time into a number of smaller time increments, could significantly enhance the performance of the proposed method. Furthermore, results of this study show two main advantages for IDQM compared with other conventional methods, namely; unconditional stability and minimal computational effort. Indeed, using IDQM, one can use a few grid points (in spatial or time direction) without imposing any stability condition on the time step to obtain an accurate convergent solution.     

Summer distribution and geochemical composition of suspended-particulate matter in the east china sea

The distribution and geochemical composition of suspended-particulate matter (SPM) in the East China Sea (ECS) were investigated during the summer period of high continental runoff to elucidate SPM sources, distribution and cross-shelf transport. The spatial variability of SPM distribution (0.3–6.5 mg l⁻¹) and geochemical composition (POC, Al, Si, Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg and K) in the ECS was pronounced during summer when the continental fluxes of freshwater and terrestrial materials were highest during the year. Under the influences of Changjiang runoff, Kuroshio intrusion, surface production and bottom resuspension, the distribution generally showed strong gradients decreasing seaward for both biogenic and lithogenic materials. Particulate organic carbon was enriched in surface water (mean ∼18%) due to the influence of biological productivity, and was diluted by resuspended and/or laterally-transported materials in bottom water (mean 9.4%). The abundance of lithogenic elements (Al, Si, Fe, Mn) increased toward the bottom, and the distribution correlations were highly significant. Particulate CaCO₃ distribution provided evidence that the SPM of the bottom water in the northern part of the study area was likely mixed with sediments originally derived from Huanghe. A distinct benthic nepheloid layer (BNL) was present in all seaward transects of the ECS shelf. Sediment resuspension may be caused by tidal fluctuation and other forcing and be regarded as the principal agent in the formation of BNL. This BNL was likely responsible for the transport of biogenic and lithogenic particles across or along the ECS shelf. Total inventories of SPM, POC and PN are 46, 2.8 and 0.4 Tg, respectively, measured over the total area of 0.45 × 10⁶ km² of the ECS shelf. Their mean residence times are about 27, 13 and 11 days, respectively. The inventory of SPM in the water column was higher in the northernmost and southernmost transects and lower in the middle transects, reflecting the influences of terrestrial inputs from Changjiang and/or resuspended materials from Huanghe deposits in the north and perhaps from Minjiang and/or Taiwan’s rivers in the south. The distribution and transport patterns of SPM and geochemical elements strongly indicate that continental sources and cross-shelf transport modulate ECS particulate matter in summer.     

Changes in distribution patterns of 0-group bivalves in the Wadden Sea: Byssus-drifting releases juveniles from the constraints of hydrography

The large-scale (km) distributional patterns of juvenile bivalves are established by larval settlement and subsequently changed due to actively initiated postlarval migrations (byssus-drifting), resuspension during sediment disturbance, and local differences in mortality. Repeated mapping of 0-group bivalve distribution during two summers was combined with simultaneous registrations of the numbers of drifting specimens. Species differed in their susceptibility to passive resuspension and their activity in byssus-drifting, but the two ways of entry into the water column were independent of each other. As a result, the relative magnitude of byssus-drifting and passive resuspension varied with the species. While hydrographical conditions always determined the changes in the distributional patterns of passively eroded species, this was not the case in active migrations of byssus-drifting bivalves. A comparison of the distributional patterns of juveniles over two consecutive years showed similar patterns in the tellinid clam Macoma balthica and the razor clam Ensis americanus. In these two species spatfall mainly occurred around mean low-tide level. Subsequently, juvenile M. balthica rapidly accumulated in the upper intertidal, whereas juvenile E. americanus accumulated subtidally. In mussels Mytilus edulis the distribution of juveniles only changed in a longshore direction, not in the tidal level occupied. The spatial pattern of cockles Cerastoderma edule changed from aggregation of the early spat in the mid and lower intertidal towards a more uniform distribution of recruits over these tidal flats. There were only a few patches of high abundance left at the end of summer. Finally, in juvenile clams Mya arenaria the spatial patterns of both spatfall and redistribution were unpredictable.On a km-scale, abundance of some species correlated with sediment granulometry. Presumably, this does not reflect a causal relationship but is a consequence of the correlation between grain size distribution and tidal level within the area studied. On a scale of hundreds of metres, there were no consistent correlations between juvenile abundance and sediment granulometry in any species. In summary, it seems that hydrography ruled the initial settlement of larvae to the sediment and strongly influenced the subsequent redistribution of juveniles caused by passive resuspension. The outcome of actively initiated migrations, on the other hand, was only weakly influenced by hydrography. Therefore it is suggested that hydrography plays a dominant role in the initial development of km-scale distributional patterns of just-settled bivalves in the Wadden Sea, while habitat selection is delayed to the byssus-drifting postlarvae phase.     

Sediment Deposition and Resuspension in Mouth Bar Area of the Yangtze Estuary

—A comprehensive analysis is conducted based on observations on topography.tidal current.salinity.suspended sediment and bed load during the years of 1982.1983.1988.1989.1996 and 1997 in theYangtze Estuary.Results show that the deformation of tidal waves is distinct and the sand carrying capaci-ty is large within the mouth bar due to strong tidal currents and large volume of incoming water and sedi-ments.Owing to both temporal and spatial variation of tidal current.deposition and erosion are extremelyactive.In general a change of up to 0.1 m of bottom sediments takes place during a tidal period.The maxi-mum siltation and erosion are around 0.2 m in a spring to neap tides cycle.The riverbed is silted duringflood when there is heavy sediment load.eroded during dry season when sediment load is low.The annualaverage depth of crosion and siltation on the riverbed is around 0.6 m.In particular cases.it may increaseto 1.4 m to 2.4 m at some locations.     

风暴潮灾与月相

本文以实测资料为依据,统计分析了风暴潮灾、风暴潮、登陆台风、天文高潮等与月相的关系。统计资料表明,登陆台风和台风风暴潮发生在大(小)潮期的次数相对较多,略大于平均数,但它们与月相没有明显的因果关系,它们相对于月相的分布大致上是随机的,如果台风在天文大潮期间登陆,台风引起的暴潮与天文潮叠加后成灾的概率明显增大,但也不一定成灾;成了灾的,往往是风暴潮峰值适逢当日的天文高潮所致。     

长江口三维潮流数值计算及动力分析

采用三维动力学数学模型对长江口潮流场进行了计算，对长江口潮流流态在一个潮周期内逐时进行了分析，并对长江口南支盐水倒灌从动力学角度进行了初步探讨。计算结果表明：文中模型较好地重演长江口潮流场，可以用于大型复杂河口工程实际中的潮流场的计算和分析。     

Observations of resuspended diatoms in the turbid tidal edge

Observations of resuspended diatoms in the shallow waters (<60 cm) of the turbid tidal edge are described for single sites on two tidal flats–the Molenplaat in the Westerschelde estuary, and the Hond in the Ems-Dollard estuary, The Netherlands. High concentrations of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) were observed in the trailing edge of the ebbing tide in water depths of <20 cm, after which concentrations decreased markedly. Peak mean values were 19 μg chl-a l⁻¹ in 10 cm of water at the Molenplaat, and 45 μg chl-a l⁻¹ in 5 cm of water at the Hond. Similar trends were observed on the flooding tide, although peak values were far less pronounced (6 and 30 μg chl-a l⁻¹ respectively). Microscopic examination of the diatom community within the turbid tidal edge at the Molenplaat revealed that peaks in biomass were caused by suspended benthic diatoms, as well as the large centric diatom Coscinodiscus sp., particularly on the ebb tide. Planktonic diatoms other than Coscinodiscus sp. were more randomly distributed and did not appear to follow any particular trend. It would seem that as the tide recedes, resuspended benthic diatoms and large Coscinodiscus sp. cells become concentrated in the shallow water. However, the virtual absence of Coscinodiscus sp. from the leading edge of the flooding tide suggests that most of the resuspended cells do not settle to the seabed, but are washed away into the channels. The small peak of benthic diatoms at the leading edge of the flood tide is most likely resuspended locally from the sediment, along with large numbers of diatom frustules.     

Semidiurnal Dynamics of Salinity, Nutrients and Suspended Particulate Matter in an Estuary in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, during a Spring Tide Cycle

The physical and chemical variability of the water column at subtidal station of an estuary in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, was studied over a 24-hour period during a spring tide (tidal range ca. 2 m) in May 1995. Surface water and several depths through the water column were monitored every one and two hours, respectively. At each occasion, water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen concentration were measured and water samples were collected for the determination of nutrients and suspended particulate matter (SPM). Disruptive changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of the water was produced by the tidal cycle and the mixing of water masses of different origin. These changes were highly significant both spatially and temporally, yet with varying effects on physical parameters, nutrients and the different components of SPM. Significant differences in nutrient concentrations were also observed when the data-set was divided into ebb and flood components, irrespective of the depth. Nitrate and nitrite rose to 1.8 times higher during the flood. Spatial differences of SPM were less marked than those of nutrients, only particulate organic carbon (POC) being significantly higher at the surface than in the intermediate and the lower layer. Both POC and pheopigment concentrations increased markedly through the water column, being highest shortly before the lower low tide. In contrast, suspended solid (SS) content increased sharply after the lower low tide (>40 mg l⁻¹) and this coincided with a marked decrease of the C/SS content (<20 mg g⁻¹). The lagtime between POC and SS tidal transport was caused by particle resuspension from the exposed intertidal sediments as the tidal level rose, and particle transport selection in relation to the tidal state. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.