Multiple longshore sand bars in the upper Chesapeake Bay

In the upper Chesapeake Bay (Maryland, U.S.A.) field surveys were conducted at 18 multiple longshore sand bar sites. The multiple bar systems were found in water depths less than approximately 2 m (mean sea level), and exhibited mild bottom slopes of 0·0052 or less. The number of bars composing each system ranged from four to 17 and the spacing between the crests typically increased in the offshore direction, ranging from 12 to 70 m. Bar height also typically increased with distance offshore and ranged from 0·03 to 0·61 m. A grain size analysis of crest and trough sediment did not reveal any significant differences and the sediment was categorized as ‘fine sand’. A review of the literature data indicated that the Chesapeake Bay multiple bars possessed similar characteristics to those found in Gelding Bay (Baltic Sea); similarities in fetch, wave height and tidal range between the two bays may account for this finding. The surf-scaling parameter indicated that the multiple bar systems were extremely dissipative with regard to wave energy, and wave height appeared to be an important factor in controlling bar spacing and bar height. A multiple wave break point hypothesis was discussed as a possible mechanism for the formation of Chesapeake Bay multiple longshore bars, and limited observational evidence appeared to support such a mechanism.     

Transient electromagnetic responses in seafloor with triaxial anisotropy

Electrical anisotropy of young oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges is detectable by observation of the rate and geometry of the diffusion of electromagnetic fields. The anisotropy in electrical properties arises from the presence of conductive seawater in an interconnected network of mostly ridge-parallel cracks. In this paper, we first justify the choice of a triaxial model to represent young oceanic crust, with three distinct electrical conductivities in the vertical, strike and spreading directions. We then present an algorithm to calculate the transient electromagnetic responses generated by an electric dipole source over such a triaxially anisotropic seafloor. We show that if the transient passages are measured with three distinct electric dipole-dipole configurations, it is possible to discern all three unknown conductivities independently of each other.     

南极威德尔海冬季冰脊形拖曳力

利用2006年南极威德尔海冬季科学考察期间由机载激光高度计测得的海冰上表面形态数据,以拖曳分割理论为基础研究了冰脊形拖曳力及其对冰-气总拖曳力的贡献以及中性条件下对应10 m高度处风速的冰-气拖曳系数C_dn(10)。结果显示,在密集冰区,冰脊形拖曳力及其对总拖曳力的贡献随冰脊强度(脊高/脊距)的增大呈递增趋势,而随粗糙长度的增大而减小,对应于威德尔海冬季典型冰脊强度和粗糙长度,占总拖曳力的35%,说明了冰脊形拖曳力在冰-气界面动量交换中的重要作用。C_dn(10)随冰脊强度的增大而增大,但冰脊强度较小时,C_dn(10)随粗糙长度增大而增大;而对较大的冰脊强度,C_dn(10)则随粗糙长度增大而减小。     

沙滩休闲旅游价值影响因素分析——以青岛海水浴场为例

沙滩休闲游乐价值受到沙滩的物理、化学、生物学特征及人口统计因素等各种社会、经济因素的影响,特别是游客的个体因素对沙滩休闲游乐价值具有重要的影响。通过对影响游客沙滩选择的因素进行评估,结合沙滩的游客支付意愿和环境保护意愿调查,系统地对不同自然及人口统计因素对沙滩游憩成本、沙滩使用支付意愿及环境保护意愿的影响及关联程度进行了统计分析,得出环境质量、家庭收入、沙滩游览次数等因素对沙滩休闲旅游价值具有显著影响。     

Physical determinants of intertidal communities on dissipative beaches: Implications of sea-level rise

Sea-level rise is likely to cause significant changes in the morphodynamic state of beaches in the higher latitudes, resulting in steeper beaches with larger particle sizes. These physical changes have implications for beach invertebrate communities, which are determined largely by sediment particle size, and hence for ecosystem function. Previous studies have explored the relationships between invertebrate communities and environmental variables such as particle size, beach slope and exposure to wave action, and often these physical variables can be integrated in various indices of morphodynamic state. Most of these studies incorporated a full range of beach types that included wave-dominated surf beaches, where the wave action is harsh enough to enable reliable estimates of breaker height, a parameter included in several of the indices, and concluded that more dissipative beaches with gentler slopes and finer particle sizes often support a higher number of species and greater abundance than more reflective beaches. Whether these predictions remain valid for less wave-dominated beaches, where breaker height is more difficult to determine, is uncertain. In the present study, the abundance of meio- and macrofauna was quantified across a range of beaches in the UK, which are generally towards the lower energy end of the morphodynamic gradient, and their relationships with beach physical properties explored. No significant relationships were found between abundance and the standard morphodynamic indices, but significant relationships were found for both macro- and meiofaunal abundance when these indices were combined with an exposure index (derived from velocity, direction, duration and the effective fetch). All the relationships identified between abundance and combined morphodynamic indices indicated a higher abundance of both macro- and meiofauna on the more dissipative beaches. The reverse was however found for species richness. If predictions that accelerated sea-level rise will move beaches towards a more reflective morphodynamic state are correct, this could lead to declines in the abundance of meio- and macrofauna, with potential adverse consequences for ecosystem functioning.     

Global Correlations of Ocean Ridge Basalt Chemistry with Axial Depth: a New Perspective

The petrological parameters Na₈ and Fe₈, which are Na₂O andFeO contents in mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) melts correctedfor fractionation effects to MgO = 8 wt%, have been widely usedas indicators of the extent and pressure of mantle melting beneathocean ridges. We find that these parameters are unreliable.Fe₈ is used to compute the mantle solidus depth (P_o) and temperature(T_o), and it is the values and range of Fe₈ that have led tothe notion that mantle potential temperature variation of T_P= 250 K is required to explain the global ocean ridge systematics.This interpreted T_P = 250 K range applies to ocean ridges awayfrom ‘hotspots’. We find no convincing evidencethat calculated values for P_o, T_o, and T_P using Fe₈ have anysignificance. We correct for fractionation effect to Mg^# = 0·72,which reveals mostly signals of mantle processes because meltswith Mg^# = 0·72 are in equilibrium with mantle olivineof Fo_89·6 (vs evolved olivine of Fo_{88·1–79·6}in equilibrium with melts of Fe₈). To reveal first-order MORBchemical systematics as a function of ridge axial depth, weaverage out possible effects of spreading rate variation, local-scalemantle source heterogeneity, melting region geometry variation,and dynamic topography on regional and segment scales by usingactual sample depths, regardless of geographical location, withineach of 22 ridge depth intervals of 250 m on a global scale.These depth-interval averages give Fe₇₂ = 7·5–8·5,which would give T_P = 41 K (vs 250 K based on Fe₈) beneathglobal ocean ridges. The lack of Fe₇₂–Si₇₂ and Si₇₂–ridgedepth correlations provides no evidence that MORB melts preservepressure signatures as a function of ridge axial depth. We thusfind no convincing evidence for T_P > 50 K beneath globalocean ridges. The averages have also revealed significantcorrelations of MORB chemistry (e.g. Ti₇₂, Al₇₂, Fe₇₂,Mg₇₂, Ca₇₂, Na₇₂ and Ca₇₂/Al₇₂) with ridge axial depth. Thechemistry–depth correlation points to an intrinsic linkbetween the two. That is, the 5 km global ridge axial reliefand MORB chemistry both result from a common cause: subsolidusmantle compositional variation (vs T_P), which determines themineralogy, lithology and density variations that (1) isostaticallycompensate the 5 km ocean ridge relief and (2) determine thefirst-order MORB compositional variation on a global scale.A progressively more enriched (or less depleted) fertileperidotite source (i.e. high Al₂O₃ and Na₂O, and low CaO/Al₂O₃)beneath deep ridges ensures a greater amount of modal garnet(high Al₂O₃) and higher jadeite/diopside ratios in clinopyroxene(high Na₂O and Al₂O₃, and lower CaO), making a denser mantle,and thus deeper ridges. The dense fertile mantle beneath deepridges retards the rate and restricts the amplitude of the upwelling,reduces the rate and extent of decompression melting, givesway to conductive cooling to a deep level, forces melting tostop at such a deep level, leads to a short melting column,and thus produces less melt and probably a thin magmatic crustrelative to the less dense (more refractory) fertile mantlebeneath shallow ridges. Compositions of primitive MORB meltsresult from the combination of two different, but geneticallyrelated processes: (1) mantle source inheritance and (2) meltingprocess enhancement. The subsolidus mantle compositional variationneeded to explain MORB chemistry and ridge axial depth variationrequires a deep isostatic compensation depth, probably in thetransition zone. Therefore, although ocean ridges are of shalloworigin, their working is largely controlled by deep processesas well as the effect of plate spreading rate variation at shallowlevels. KEY WORDS: mid-ocean ridges; mantle melting; magma differentiation; petrogenesis; MORB chemistry variation; ridge depth variation; global correlations; mantle compositional variation; mantle source density variation; mantle potential temperature variation; isostatic compensation     

Source-area controls on the composition of beach and fluvial sands on the southern side of the Gibraltar Strait and Western Alboran Sea (Flysch Basin, Internal and External, Domains, Northern Rif Chain)

The southern side of Gibraltar and the Western Alboran Sea of the northern Rif coasts and rivers provide a natural field laboratory for sampling modern sand at different scales: small catchment basins (first order) and rivers draining mountain belts (second order). The Rifian chain represents a deformed and uplifted thrust-belt and related forelands composed of Palaeozoic nappes, metamorphic and plutonic basement, and their sedimentary Mesozoic and Cenozoic siliciclastic and carbonate cover, respectively. The present physiography of the Rif Chain is shaped by a rugged mountainous relief drained by different scale catchment basins that supply the nearby coastal and marine deep-sea environments. The analysis of the composition of modern fluvial and beach sands is useful for the interpretation of transported sediments by surface processes from the continent toward coasts and later to deep-water environments.Modern beach and fluvial sands of the southern side of Gibraltar and the Western Alboran Sea display three distinct petrologic littoral provinces, from the east to the west and from the north to the south, respectively, designated as: (i) the Tangier–Bel Younech Littoral Province with 90% of sand derived from erosion of Flysch Nappes (Flysch Basin Domain); (ii) the Bel Younech–Sebta Littoral Province with 64% of sand fed mainly by the metamorphic Units of Upper Sebtides and (iii) the Sebta–Ras Mazari Littoral Province with 74% of sand supplied from the epimetamorphic Palaeozoic Ghomaride Nappes and Alpine cover rather than Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary successions of the “Dorsale Calcaire” Units. Comparison of detrital modes of fluvial and coastal marine environments highlights their dispersal pathways and drainage patterns of actualistic sand petrofacies.     

Formation of arcs and backarc basins inferred from the tectonic evolution of Southeast Asia since the Late Cretaceous

Results of the geological and geophysical surveys in the Daito ridges and basin in the northern West Philippine Basin suggest that the Daito Ridge was an arc facing toward the south from the Late Cretaceous to the Early Tertiary. The Late Cretaceous and Tertiary history of Southeast Asia is evaluated based on these data in the Daito ridges and basins and reconstructed based on overall plate kinematics that have operated in this area. During the Late Cretaceous, the Daito Ridge and the East Philippine Islands were positioned along the boundary between the Indian and Pacific Plates. The western half of the Philippines setting on the Indian Plate approached from the south and collided with the East Philippine–Daito Arc either during the latest Paleocene or the earliest Eocene. It is inferred that the bulk of the Philippine archipelago rotated clockwise and Borneo spun counterclockwise during the Tertiary.From the reconstruction, the formation of backarc basins and their spreading direction are assessed. As a result, some primary causes and significant characteristics are suggested for the opening of backarc basins in Southeast Asia. First, opening of some backarc basins commenced with or was triggered by collisions. Second, backarc basins opened approximately parallel to oceanic plate motion. Third, the formation of some backarc basins was triggered by the approach of a hot spreading center. Fourth, the spreading mode or direction of backarc basins was greatly affected by the configuration of the surrounding continent and was also rearranged to spread approximately parallel to oceanic plate motion.The formation of backarc basins and their spreading direction can be reasonably explained by plate kinematics. However, the generative force responsible for their formation is possibly within the subduction system, particularly to form horizontal tensional force in backarc side.