Impact of macrozoobenthic structures on near-bed sediment fluxes

Sandy sediments in shallow coastal waters of the Baltic Sea are often characterised by large numbers of biogenic structures which are produced by macrozoobenthos species. A series of experiments was devised to quantify how the interaction of such structures with the near-bed flow regime affects the sediment flux. Most experiments were done with simplified replicates of structures generated by typical species commonly found in the Mecklenburg Bight, starting with solitary structures and regularly-spaced arrays in a range of characteristic population densities, followed by a complex benthic macrofauna community, both artificial and alive. A laboratory flume channel, equipped with an acoustic Doppler flow sensor and a topography scanning laser, was used for high-resolution measurements (2 mm horizontal step size and 0.3 mm vertical resolution) of sand erosion (220 µm median grain size, at 20 cm s^− 1) and fine particle deposition (8 µm grain size, at 5 cm s^− 1). Sediment transport threshold values were measured for each layout. As a rule-of-thumb, both the erosion fluxes and the deposition of suspended matter increased considerably at low population densities (below 2%, expressed as percent of the sediment surface covered, i.e. roughness density RD). Above densities of 4%, erosion almost stopped inside the test arrays, and deposition remained well below the level of unpopulated areas. An attempt to extrapolate these findings to field conditions (using field current velocity data from 2001) showed that the net flux switched from erosion to deposition for densities above 5%. These parameters can now be integrated into a numerical sediment transport model coupling waves, currents, sediment dynamics and biological processes, which is currently under construction at the Baltic Sea Research Institute (IOW), Rostock, Germany.     

The importance of oceanographic fronts to marine birds and mammals of the southern oceans

During the last 30 years, at-sea studies of seabirds and marine mammals in the oceans south of the Subtropical Front have described an association with major frontal areas. More recently, the advancement in microtechnology has allowed the tracking of individuals and investigations into how these marine predators actually use the frontal zones. In this review, we examine 1) the relative importance to apex predators of the different frontal zones in terms of spatial distribution and carbon flux; 2) the processes that determine their preferential use; and 3) how the mesoscale dynamics of frontal structures drive at-sea foraging strategies of these predators. We review published results from southern waters and place them in a broader context with respect to what has been learned about the importance of fronts in oceans farther north.Some fronts constitute important boundaries for seabird communities in southern waters. At a mesoscale the maximum values of seabird diversity and abundance correspond to the location of the main fronts. At-sea surveys show a strong curvilinear correlation between seabird abundance and sea surface temperatures. High mean species richness and diversity for whales and seabirds are consistently associated with the southern water mass boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Subtropical Front and the Subantarctic Front; in the case of the Polar Front mean seabird densities are more variable. At small-scales, variation in seabird occurrence has been directly related to the processes at fronts in a limited number of cases. A significant positive relation was found between some plankton feeding species and frontal temperature gradient–phytoplankton variables.Telemetric studies have revealed that several apex predators (penguins, albatrosses, seals) perform long, directed foraging trips either to the Subtropical front or Polar Front, depending on locality. Seabirds with low flight costs, such as albatrosses, are able to reach fronts at long distances from colonies, showing variable foraging strategies as a function of the distances involved. Diving birds such as King penguins, that travel at a higher cost and lower speed, rely on the predictable spatial distribution of mesopelagic fish found close to the Polar Front. They may use the currents associated with eddies as oceanographic cues in the active search for frontal zones. Once in these areas they dive preferentially in and below the depth of the thermocline where catches per unit effort are high. Elephant seals concentrate foraging activity principally inside or at the boundary of cyclonic eddies. These mesoscale features appear to offer exceptional productivity favourable for foraging by various diving top predators.The connection between biophysical parameters at fronts and predators is likely to be made through biological enhancement. Top predators appear to forage at locations where prey are advected by physical processes and others where prey are produced locally. Long-term research on at-sea distributions and demographic parameters of top predators are essential to assess the consequences of potential shift in front distributions in relation to global warming. Such environmental changes would add to the impact of fish extraction by the industrial fisheries on the southern food webs.     

Sidescan sonar survey of a dumping site in the Mecklenburg Bight (south-western Baltic Sea)

Two dumping test sites of dredged sediment (glacial till, mixed sediment with sand) in the south-western Baltic Sea were repeatedly investigated with sidescan sonar. The first survey was conducted before dumping, the second survey 1 week after dumping, and eight more surveys were run during the following three and a half years. Sidescan mosaics were calculated from raw data. Comparing the mosaics, it becomes obvious that the initial strong microrelief of the dumping sites vanishes with time. The heaps of dumped material were eroded. Coarse material remains at the surface, fine material fills in the gaps between the heaps. Fine sediment structures (filaments and aureoles) created by the dumping process, and elongated traces of dumped material outside the dumping places disappeared with time.     

Influence of the slice position on chloride migration tests for concrete in marine conditions

Chloride migration tests are used to measure the concrete capacity to inhibit chloride attack. Many researchers carry out this test in a slice of concrete extracted from the central part of cylindrical specimens, discarding about 75% of the concrete used to mold the specimens. This fact generated the question: would it be possible to extract more slices from a same specimen without losing the confidence in the results? The main purpose of this work is to answer this question. Moreover, another aim of this study was to show the difference of chloride penetration between finished faces and the formwork surfaces of concrete beams and slabs. The results indicated that it is possible to use more slices of a single specimen for a chloride migration test. Moreover, it was demonstrated that there is a significant difference of chloride penetration between the finished surface and the formwork surface of the specimens.     

Numerical Simulation of Advanced Geological Forecasting Based on Multi- Source Seismic Interferometry北大核心CSCD

For existing advanced geological forecasting, the forecast distance is short and the test frequency is high, increasing test and construction risks. Since various methods have different requirements for the test environ-ment, preparation work can be tedious and result in a long construction time thereby affecting normal construction.A new advanced geological forecast technique based on multi-source seismic interferometry for tunnels is proposed.This technique uses the blast at one end of tunnel as a centrum and receives the signal at the other end of the tun-nel, therefore allowing advanced geological forecasting of the unexcavated tunnel part by relative processing and im-aging. A numerical simulation of this kind of geological forecasting using the finite difference method to simulate two kinds of unfavorable geological bodies (karst and a fault) predicted them accurately and verified the effective-ness and accuracy of this geological forecasting method. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Impact of ICT access on personal activity space and greenhouse gas production: evidence from Quebec City, Canada

This paper presents an approach to investigating the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on travel behaviour and its environmental effects. The paper focuses on the spatial dispersion of out-of-home activities and travel (activity space) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) at the level of the individual. An original method, combining spatial analysis in a geographic information system with advanced regression techniques, is proposed to explore these potentially complex relationships in the case of access to mobile phones and the internet, while taking into account the influence of socio-economics and built environment factors. The proposed methodology is tested using a 7-day activity-based survey in Quebec City in 2003?C2004, a juncture of particular interest because these ICTs had recently crossed the threshold of 40?% (mobile phone) and 60?% (home-based internet) penetration at the time. The study period also largely pre-dates the era of mobile internet access. Among other results, socio-demographic factors were found to significantly affect both ICT access and travel out-comes. The built environment, represented by neighbourhood typologies, also played an important role. However, it was found that after controlling for the self-selection effect, built environment and socio-demographics, those who had a mobile phone available produced 30?% more GHGs during the observed week than those who did not. This higher level of GHG pro-duction was accompanied by a 12?% higher measure of activity dispersion. On the other hand, having internet access at home was associated with lower GHGs (?19?%) and lesser activity dispersion (?25?%). Possibly, mobile phones enable individuals to cover more space and produce more emissions, while the internet provides opportunities to stay at home or avoid motorized travel thus reducing emissions. The estimated effects of having a mobile phone were not only negative but also larger in magnitude from the environmental point of view than those of fixed internet access. However, the results of this study also suggest that access to mobile phones and internet may have substantial and compensatory effects at the individual level that are undetected when using model structures that do not take into account that unobserved factors may influence both ICT choices and travel outcomes.     

Home-to-work commuting,urban form and potential energy savings: A local scale approach to regional statistics

The link between transport energy consumption and land use patterns has been the focus of a considerable amount of academic works over the past decades. While many empirical researches are backed up with solid statistical techniques, most of them do not fully consider the influence of scale underlying empirical quantitative investigations. Using fine-scale home-to-work commuting data for Wallonia (Belgium), this paper re-evaluates Breheny’s (1995) assertion that urban structure should hold the characteristics of major cities if substantial energy savings are to be achieved. A local scale approach highlights efficient settlements in terms of transport energy consumption not only within major towns, but also within remote rural areas. Furthermore, results suggest that influencing the urban form following local energy efficient examples rather than regional ones could also yield significant gains, without an extreme policy stance of re-urbanisation in major cities.     

Developing a Spatially Enabled Inventory of Recreational Boats Using Vessel Registration Data

Effective waterway management requires information on the characteristics and locations of boats. A field-based boat census—a traditional method to obtain spatially accurate information—is relatively expensive, time-consuming, and restrictive in scope. Vessel registration data, maintained by all U.S. states, is potentially a more robust information source. This research evaluated the accuracy and reliability of vessel registration data to supply location and attribute information for boats. The study premise was to use vessel registration data, which includes the mailing address of registered boat owners, to develop a spatially enabled inventory of boats. The study area comprised 12,064 salt-water accessible property parcels in two Florida counties. An on-water census (OWC) provided location and characteristics for 5,023 vessels, which were compared to 8,681 vessel registration records linked to the study area. Discrepancies between the OWC and vessel registration data were explained by a stratified, random sample of 485 telephone survey respondents. Study results show that vessel registration data accurately located and characterized roughly 81% of the boat population; in contrast, the OWC accurately located less than 56%. A conclusion is that state vessel registration data is a better alternative than an OWC for locating and characterizing boats kept along waterways.     

The visual impact of development in coastal zone areas

Abstract

The focus of this paper is theoretical, as well as methodological. It reviews previous studies of visual impact and reports research by the author on people's evaluation of the appropriateness of different man‐made facilities in different coastal‐area contexts and other environments. In this study, subjects were asked to react to slides developed through the use of landscape models and experimental facilities to simulate the appearance of a building in the landscape, while systematically varying the visual relatedness between the two. Specific interest centered on the variable of congruity vs. contrast between the appearance of the building and its landscape context, manipulated by co‐varying the attributes of color and size to create a five‐point scale of contrast/obtrusiveness. The hypothesis was that judgments of appropriateness, and to a lesser extent judgments of liking, would vary inversely with level of contrast. The role of two further variables, the functional significance of the building in its setting, and the character of the setting itself, was also investigated. The author reviews methodological issues involved where subjects respond to visual stimuli for purposes of judging change in visual quality. These methodological issues include: stimulus‐selection and problems of simulation, choice of response measures, and choice of respondents, and the treatment of individual differences. The author calls for development of standardized scales and indices such as “perceptually‐relevant environmental quality indicators.”