Stratigraphic spatial variation on the inner shelf of a high-yield river,Waiapu River,New Zealand: Implications for fine-sediment dispersal and preservation     

Heidi M. Wadman  Jesse E. McNinch 《Continental Shelf Research》2008

The inner shelves of active, energetic continental margins are frequently defined as regions of sediment segregation and fine-sediment bypassing. The Waiapu River, North Island, New Zealand presents an opportunity to study fine-sediment segregation and strata formation in a spatially constrained, highly energetic, aggradational setting, with one of the highest sediment yields on earth. We present evidence that the inner shelf of the Waiapu River plays a significant role in both the fate of fine-grained (<63 μm) riverine sediments and the formation of continental margin stratigraphy. Results obtained from high-resolution interferometric bathymetry and high-frequency seismic mapping ground-truthed by cores show significant stratigraphic spatial variation preserved on the Waiapu inner shelf. This spatial variation is likely controlled by spatially-distinct sediment deposition and resuspension processes as well as antecedent geology. Two distinct depositional regions are interpreted as: (1) surface plume-dominated with partial resuspension, characterized by acoustically transparent seismic reflection profiles and muddy sands; and (2) event-layer dominated, characterized by thickly laminated sediments. A modern-day bathymetric low overlying an observed paleochannel may influence the fate of hyperpycnal flows transiting the shelf via bathymetric steering. Fining-upward sequences found over the entire shelf are interpreted to represent deforestation-induced sedimentation that has overwhelmed the ability of the energetic system to resuspend and segregate fine sediments. We conclude that the primary control on strata formation on the inner shelf of the Waiapu River is local sediment supply.  相似文献   

Heat budget for a shallow,sinuous salt marsh estuary     

Paul McKay  Daniela Di Iorio 《Continental Shelf Research》2008

An experimental study of temperature cycles and the heat budget in the Duplin River, a tidal creek bordered by extensive intertidal salt marshes, was carried out in late summer of 2003 and spring of 2004 near Sapelo Island on the central Georgia coast in the southeastern US. Three water masses are identified with differing temperature and salinity regimes, the characteristics of which are dictated by channel morphology, tidal communication with the neighboring sound, ground water hydrology, the extent of local intertidal salt marshes and side channels and the spring–neap tidal cycle (which controls both energetic mixing and, presumably, ground water input). For the first experiment, heat budgets are constructed for the upper (warmer) and lower (cooler) areas of the Duplin River showing the diminishing importance of tidal advection away from the mouth of the creek along with the concomitant increase in the importance of both direct atmospheric fluxes and of interactions with the marsh and side creeks. The second experiment, in the spring of 2004, reexamines the heat budget on seasonal and daily averaged scales revealing the decreased importance of advective fluxes relative to direct atmospheric fluxes on this scale but the constant importance of marsh/creek interactions regardless of time scale or season. Short period temperature fluctuations which affect larval development are examined and analogies are drawn to use heat to understand the marsh as a source of sediment, carbon and other nutrients.  相似文献   

Comparison of hypoxia among four river-dominated ocean margins: The Changjiang (Yangtze), Mississippi,Pearl, and Rhône rivers     

C. Rabouille  D.J. Conley  M.H. Dai  W.-J. Cai  C.T.A. Chen  B. Lansard  R. Green  K. Yin  P.J. Harrison  M. Dagg  B. McKee 《Continental Shelf Research》2008

We examined the occurrence of seasonal hypoxia (O₂<2 mg l⁻¹) in the bottom waters of four river-dominated ocean margins (off the Changjiang, Mississippi, Pearl and Rhône Rivers) and compared the processes leading to the depletion of oxygen. Consumption of oxygen in bottom waters is linked to biological oxygen demand fueled by organic matter from primary production in the nutrient-rich river plume and perhaps terrigenous inputs. Hypoxia occurs when this consumption exceeds replenishment by diffusion, turbulent mixing or lateral advection of oxygenated water. The margins off the Mississippi and Changjiang are affected the most by summer hypoxia, while the margins off the Rhône and the Pearl rivers systems are less affected, although nutrient concentrations in the river water are very similar in the four systems. Spring and summer primary production is high overall for the shelves adjacent to the Mississippi, Changjiang and Pearl (1–10 g C m⁻² d⁻¹), and lower off the Rhône River (<1 g C m⁻² d⁻¹), which could be one of the reasons of the absence of hypoxia on the Rhône shelf. The residence time of the bottom water is also related to the occurrence of hypoxia, with the Mississippi margin showing a long residence time and frequent occurrences of hypoxia during summer over very large spatial scales, whereas the East China Sea (ECS)/Changjiang displays hypoxia less regularly due to a shorter residence time of the bottom water. Physical stratification plays an important role with both the Changjiang and Mississippi shelf showing strong thermohaline stratification during summer over extended periods of time, whereas summer stratification is less prominent for the Pearl and Rhône partly due to the wind effect on mixing. The shape of the shelf is the last important factor since hypoxia occurs at intermediate depths (between 5 and 50 m) on broad shelves (Gulf of Mexico and ECS). Shallow estuaries with low residence time such as the Pearl River estuary during the summer wet season when mixing and flushing are dominant features, or deeper shelves, such as the Gulf of Lion off the Rhône show little or no hypoxia.  相似文献   

Optimizing fixed observational assets in a coastal observatory     

Sergey Frolov  António Baptista  Michael Wilkin 《Continental Shelf Research》2008

Proliferation of coastal observatories necessitates an objective approach to managing of observational assets. In this article, we used our experience in the coastal observatory for the Columbia River estuary and plume to identify and address common problems in managing of fixed observational assets, such as salinity, temperature, and water level sensors attached to pilings and moorings. Specifically, we addressed the following problems: assessing the quality of an existing array, adding stations to an existing array, removing stations from an existing array, validating an array design, and targeting of an array toward data assimilation or monitoring.  相似文献   

Water Quality of the River Yamuna in the Delhi Stretch: Key Determinants and Management Issues   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Chaman Trisal  Tanveera Tabassum  Ritesh Kumar 《洁净——土壤、空气、水》2008,36(3):306-314

The assessment of water quality of the River Yamuna in the Delhi stretch was carried out by determining changes in the concentration levels of 19 physico‐chemical parameters. It was observed that vegetation plays an important role in acting as a biological sink for mineral nutrients, thereby restoring the water quality. It is proposed that restoration of the inundation pattern of floodplains would greatly help in re‐aeration of the overlying water and re‐absorption of pollutants through mud/water exchanges.  相似文献   

黄河下游标准化堤防纵向裂缝成因与防治     

沈细中  张慧  杨文丽 《岩土力学》2008,29(4):973-978

因放淤固堤导致河南、山东堤防多处出现纵向裂缝,严重影响了黄河下游标准化堤防工程建设的质量与进度。通过开展现场调研与室内试验,基于饱和-非饱和渗流-应力耦合及湿化变形理论,探讨黄河大堤纵向裂缝的形成原因,据此制定相应的预防与治理对策。研究表明,淤背施工过快是导致大堤开裂的根本原因,堤身湿化变形、淤区排水不畅、堤顶堆载、堤顶重载车辆作用等加剧了堤身裂缝的形成与扩展;控制淤背施工速率、加速淤区排水、避免堤顶堆载等是预防裂缝的有效措施;锥探灌浆、开挖回填等方法可用于治理裂缝。  相似文献   

Mathematical Analysis of a Model of River Channel Formation     

J. I. Díaz  A. C. Fowler  A. I. Muñoz  E. Schiavi 《Pure and Applied Geophysics》2008,165(8):1663-1682

The study of overland flow of water over an erodible sediment leads to a coupled model describing the evolution of the topographic elevation and the depth of the overland water film. The spatially uniform solution of this model is unstable, and this instability corresponds to the formation of rills, which in reality then grow and coalesce to form large-scale river channels. In this paper we consider the deduction and mathematical analysis of a deterministic model describing river channel formation and the evolution of its depth. The model involves a degenerate nonlinear parabolic equation (satisfied on the interior of the support of the solution) with a super-linear source term and a prescribed constant mass. We propose here a global formulation of the problem (formulated in the whole space, beyond the support of the solution) which allows us to show the existence of a solution and leads to a suitable numerical scheme for its approximation. A particular novelty of the model is that the evolving channel self-determines its own width, without the need to pose any extra conditions at the channel margin.  相似文献   

Observation of the seasonal evolution of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass in 1996–1998     

S.W. Zhang  Q.Y. Wang  Y. Lü  H. Cui  Y.L. Yuan 《Continental Shelf Research》2008

We use the hydrographic data obtained during the joint survey of the Yellow Sea by the First Institute of Oceanography, China and the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Korea, to quantify the spatial structures and temporal evolution of the southern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM). It is indicated that the southern YSCWM is a water mass that develops in summer and decays in fall. In winter, due to the intrusion of the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC), the central area (approximately between 34°N and 35°N, 122°E and 124°E) of the Yellow Sea is mainly occupied by relatively high temperature water (T>10 °C). By contrast, from early summer to fall, under the seasonal thermocline, the central area of Yellow Sea is occupied by cold water (T<10 °C). In summer, the southern YSCWM has two cold cores. One is formed locally southeast of Shandong Peninsula, and the other one has a tongue-like feature occupying the area approximately between 34°N and 37°N, 123°E and 126°E. The bottom layer temperature anomalies from February to July in the cold tongue region, along with the trajectories of the bottom floaters, suggest that the cold water mass in the northeast region has a displacement from the north to the central area of the Yellow Sea during the summer.  相似文献   

Estimating the contribution of the authigenic mineral component to the long-term reactive silica accumulation on the western shelf of the Mississippi River Delta     

Massimo Presti  Panagiotis Michalopoulos 《Continental Shelf Research》2008

Previous studies have shown how biogenic silica particles undergo conversion to aluminosilicate phases in large tropical deltaic systems, thus affecting the world ocean budget of major seawater cations. This study tackles the important question of the silica budget in the coastal zone of the Mississippi River Delta, providing evidence for the role of biogenic silica diagenesis in this subtropical system from direct examination of individual diatom particles, sediment leachates and pore-water composition. The estimated reactive silica stored in the study area (5990 km²) is based on operational leaches that account for altered biogenic silica particles and other authigenic aluminosilicate phases in addition to fresh biogenic silica. Early diagenesis of silica in the delta front occurs mainly where more siliceous material is deposited. An inner-shelf area, where hypoxic conditions are found, significantly contributes to the formation of authigenic products of Si alteration. Data suggest that the limiting factor of silica alteration processes is the availability of detrital phases such as Al and Fe. The estimated total reactive silica accumulation in the study area is 1.45×10¹⁰ mol Si year⁻¹, representing ∼2.2% of the long-term bulk sediment accumulation. On the basis of a conservative appraisal, the authigenic mineral components account for ∼40% of the long-term reactive silica storage. This study shows that non-tropical deltaic systems are significantly more important sinks of silica than previously thought and that, where conditions are favourable, a consistent portion of reactive silica not leaving the shelf is stored within the delta in the form of authigenic components.  相似文献   

Runoff reduction due to environmental changes in the Sanchuanhe river basin   总被引：10，自引：1，他引：9  

Guoqing WANG Jianyun ZHANG Ruimin HE Naiqian JIANG Xin＇ai JING 《国际泥沙研究》2008,23(2):174-180

Recently, runoff in many river basins in China has been decreasing. Therefore, the role that climate change and human activities are playing in this decrease is currently of interest. In this study, we evaluated an assessment method that was designed to quantitatively separate the effects of climate change and human activities on runoff in river basins. Specifically, we calibrated the SIMHYD rainfall runoff model using naturally recorded hydro-meteorologic data pertaining to the Sanchuanhe River basin and then determined the effects of climate change and human activities on runoff by comparing the estimated natural runoff that occurred during the period in which humans disturbed the basin to the runoff that occurred during the period prior to disturbance by humans. The results of this study revealed that the S1MHYD rainfall runoff model performs well for estimating monthly discharge. In addition, we found that absolute runoff reductions have increased in response to human activities and climate change, with average reductions of 70.1% and 29.9% in total runoff being caused by human activities and climate change, respectively. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that human activities are the primary cause of runoff reduction in the Sanchuanhe River basin.  相似文献