Multiple bipolar structure of normal magnetic field at the magnetopause

We describe how a local plasma structure can be changed by a transverse shear flow using numerical simulation to investigate the disturbance process near the magnetopause. The results show that magnetic field lines are bent by transverse shear flow disturbance near the current sheet region. There are multiple bipolar structures of the normal magnetic field in the numerical simulation. We term this new feature as K-point magnetic reconnection, realistic for discussing space observations.     

Multi-decadal synthesis of benthic–pelagic coupling in the western arctic: Role of cross-shelf advective processes

Using geographic information systems (GIS) software and geostatistical techniques, we utilized three decades of water-column chlorophyll a data to examine the relative importance of autochthonous versus allochthonous sources of reduced carbon to benthic communities that occur from the northern Bering to the eastern Beaufort Sea shelf. Spatial trend analyses revealed areas of high benthic biomass (>300 g m⁻²) and chlorophyll (>150 mg m⁻²) on both the southern and northern Chukchi shelf; both areas are known as depositional centers for reduced organic matter that originates on the Bering Sea shelf and is advected northward in Anadyr and Bering shelf water masses. We found a significant correlation between biomass and chlorophyll a in the Chukchi Sea, reflective of the strong benthic–pelagic coupling in a system that is utilized heavily by benthic-feeding marine mammals. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between biomass and chlorophyll in the Beaufort Sea, which by comparison, is considerably less productive (biomass and chlorophyll, <75 g m⁻² and <50 mg m⁻², respectively). One notable exception is an area of relatively high biomass (50–100 g m⁻²) and chlorophyll (80 mg m⁻²) near Barter Island in the eastern Beaufort Sea. Compared to other adjacent areas in the Beaufort Sea, the chlorophyll values in the vicinity of Barter Island were considerably higher and likely reflect a long-hypothesized upwelling in that area and close coupling between the benthos and autochthonous production. In the Bering Sea, a drop in benthic biomass in 1994 compared with previous measurements (1974–1993) may support earlier observations that document a decline in biomass that began between the 1980s and 1990s in the Chirikov Basin and south of St. Lawrence Island. The results of this study indicate that the benthos is an excellent long-term indicator of both local and physical advective processes. In addition, this work provides further evidence that secondary production on arctic shelves can be significantly augmented by reduced carbon advected from highly productive adjacent shelves.     

Descriptive Analysis and Classification of Benthic Communities in Some Mediterranean Coastal Lagoons (Central Italy)

Abstract. Benthic samples were taken seasonally at 32 stations in five coastal lagoons of Central Italy (Fogliano, Monaci, Caprolace, Fondi, and Lungo) during a two-year period (1982–1984). Composition and distribution of benthic populations in each lagoon as well as seasonal trends of species richness, density, diversity, and redundancy are presented and discussed.
The faunal differentiation appeared to be mainly due to the different degree of water exchange, both with marine and continental systems.     

中尺度地形扰动的非线性问题半解析解

将大气和海洋中f-平面上中尺度地形的扰动问题统一起来作为一个地球物理流体力学问题，应用涡度、能量和经圈动量守恒条件，将原来高度非线性方程变成一个二阶椭园型非线性方程，用数值模拟方法分析了大气中的过山运动和海洋中的沿岸上升流，给出了与观测接近的模拟结果以及运动过程对内部物理参数和外界条件的敏感性分析。所提方法可供进一步的动力学分析和数值研究参考。     

冲绳海槽北部表层沉积物中底栖有孔虫分布及其与海洋环境的关系

对1999年6月采自冲绳海槽北部的62个表层沉积物样品进行了底栖有孔虫分析。研究表明，该区属种多为中外陆架和上部陆坡常见底栖有孔虫，其中Cibicides pseudoungerianus在研究区域内广泛分布。底栖有孔虫群落明显受研究区水团的制约，该区底栖有孔虫Q型因子分析反映的4个组合分别对应不同的水团影响：组合1以Cibicides pseudoungerianus、Uvigerina sp.、Ammonia ketienziensis、Textularia pseudocarinata为主，代表陆架混合水团影响环境；组合2以Uvigerina peregrina、Beregrina、Bulimina mexicana、Bulimina submarginata、Globocassidulina subglobosa为主，代表黑潮暖流中层水影响下的环境；组合3以喜营养分子Bulimina marginata和Bolivina robusta为主，代表冷涡沉积和上升流沉积区的环境；组合4以Cibicides pseudoungerianus、Globocassidulina subglobosa为主，代表了对马暖流水团影响下的环境，其中水团的氧含量水平和营养状况是影响底栖有孔虫组合变化的主要因素。底栖有孔虫的丰度从西往东依次出现两个丰度高值带，一个位于研究区西部100—140m水深的陆架区，另一个位于400—600m水深的上陆坡，后者可能反映了冲绳海槽大陆坡普遍发育的陆坡上升流现象。     

Sediment-activation depth values for gentle and steep beaches

This paper analyzes methods and terminologies used in literature for the determination and characterization of vertical distribution of sediment-activation depth, which is bottom sediment layer affected by hydrodynamic processes. Studies on this topic include assessments carried out during short time spans, from minutes to few hours or longer periods, from a tidal cycle to several days. In the first case, activation is generally named “mixing depth” and is calculated by evaluating vertical distribution of fluorescent tracers. In the second case, it is referred to as “disturbance depth” and is generally evaluated using plugs of marked sand and rods, or rods with a loose-fitting washer. Vertical cross and longshore distribution of mixing and disturbance depth values, recorded in different works with different techniques, were also analyzed highlighting the conceptual differences between used methods and obtained results. In a further step, a data set from literature on this topic was gathered to obtain new formulations between disturbance depth and beach and wave characteristics as well as morphodynamic beach state, expressed throughout the surf scaling parameter and the surf similarity index. Good linear regressions were observed between these variables, obtaining expressions that can be easily used in a wide range of beach states, from dissipative and intermediate to reflective ones.     

大地形对正压扰动演变影响

本文着重研究大地形对正压大气迭加在非均匀纬向基本气流上挑动演变的影响。用WKBJ方法推导了正压扰动的频率和频散关系以及波作用量所满足的方程。当基本流场定常且存在无限长的东西向山脉时,则有波作用量守恒。据此,获得了正压不稳定的必要条件:即在所考察的平面域内至少在某点或某些点上含地形效应的某一物理量等于零,扰动就可能得到发展。对波包动能的倚时变化的讨论得知,在无摩擦正压纬向非均匀基流的情形,地形对扰动动能并无直接影响,即导波和曳波分别在西风急流的南侧和北侧得到加强,并分别在西风急流的北侧和南侧强度减弱。扰动的发展由扰动的结构所决定。导波和曳波的波长缩短总伴同其轴线倾向于东西向相联系,而它们的波长伸长总是与其轴线倾向于南北向同时发生。还指出,正压扰动的加强(或减弱)与波长的伸长(或缩短)不是必然的联系,它的成立是有条件的。     

Sample Disturbance in Soft and Sensitive Clays: Analysis and Assessment

Despite the sophisticated methods employed to obtain high quality samples, they are prone to disturbance, due to stress release, let apart, due to sampling tools and techniques adopted. Critical reappraisal of different methods suggest that any method of sample quality assessment involving strength and deformation parameters would enable easier implementation and correct other engineering parameters for estimated sample disturbance. In this technical paper, sample disturbance index, using merely the slopes of compression paths, (representing mechanical response), in the pre- and post-yield stress regimes under odeometric loading conditions is proposed. This method is based on single oedometer test results on samples of unknown degrees of disturbance during sampling and handling. The unique feature of this approach is that the ideal rigid plastic material behavior is taken as reference. This eliminates the need for any additional experimental data or any calculations from the relationships formulated with any set of assumptions.     

A case study of mollusc and polychaete soft-bottom assemblages submitted to sedimentary instability in the Mediterranean Sea

In the Strait of Messina (Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea) strong tidal currents, very irregular hydrological regime and related solid load, and local seismic activity cause sediment instability; this area represents therefore a case‐study of a naturally disturbed soft‐bottom environment. In this paper, mollusc and polychaete assemblages of the northern part of the Strait were described. Composition, community structure, eco‐ethological features, trophic guilds and sediment‐type relationships were studied in 64 stations sampled located between 3.5 and 50 m depth in October 1992 by means of a Van Veen grab. A total of 131 species (65 molluscs and 66 polychaetes) were identified. A dense population of the tubicolous polychaete Ditrupa arietina was recognized, together with the occurrence of other species tied to a high sedimentation rate, such as Corbula gibba and Tellina distorta, as well as widespread, mud‐tolerant species (e.g.Chone spp., Hyalinoecia tubicola). Diversity (H′) showed a peak at intermediate depths (10/20 m) and a clear decrease beyond this depth, corresponding to the Ditrupa core population. Multivariate comparison between sediment features and community composition throughout the bathymetric gradient showed a narrow ecocline between two environments subjected to opposite hydrodynamic constraints. In the shallower zone, a wide typology of trophic‐ethological guilds was related to community patchiness, in contrast to a greater functional uniformity of the deeper assemblage, dominated by sessile, semi‐infaunal suspension feeders. A possible role played by a phase of increased rainfall to increase bottom instability, locally emphasized by a previous human activity, is also discussed.