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.     

On the numerical accuracy of the prediction of resistance coefficients in ship stern flow calculations

This article presents a study on the accuracy of the numerical determination of the friction and pressure resistance coefficients of ship hulls. The investigation was carried out for the KVLCC2 tanker at model- and full-scale Reynolds numbers. Gravity waves were neglected, i.e., we adopted the so-called double-model flow. Single-block grids with H–O topology were adopted for all the calculations. Three eddy viscosity models were employed: the one-equation eddy viscosity and the two-equation models proposed by Menter and the TNT version of the two-equation k-ω model. Verification exercises were performed in sets of nearly geometrically similar grids with different densities in the streamwise, normal, and girthwise directions. The friction and pressure resistance coefficients were calculated for different levels of the iterative error and for computational domains of different size. The results show that on the level of grid refinement used, it is possible to calculate the viscous resistance coefficients in H–O grids that do not match the ship contour with a numerical uncertainty of less than 1%. The differences between the predictions of different turbulence models were larger than the numerical uncertainty; however, these differences tended to decrease with increases in the Reynolds number. The pressure resistance was remarkably sensitive to domain size and far-field boundary conditions. Either a large domain or the application of a viscous–inviscid interaction procedure is needed for reliable results. This work was presented in part at the International Conference on Computational Methods in Marine Engineering—MARINE 2007, Barcelona, June 3–4, 2007.     

Water entry of a bow-flare ship section with roll angle

The two-dimensional water entry of a bow-flare ship section with constant roll angle, or heel angle, was studied by using a boundary element method. The fully nonlinear free surface conditions and exact body boundary conditions were satisfied. Nonviscous flow separation from the knuckles of the section or from the curved bottom could be simulated. The numerical calculations were compared with existing experimental results. First, the effects of roll angle were investigated and then the characteristics associated with large roll angles were examined in particular. The evolution of the free surfaces and the pressure distributions on the section surface are illustrated and the influence of nonviscous flow separation from the leeward section surface is discussed.     

Characteristic flow patterns generated by macrozoobenthic structures

A laboratory flume channel, equipped with an acoustic Doppler flow sensor and a bottom scanning laser, was used for detailed, non-intrusive flow measurements (at 2 cm s^− 1 and 10 cm s^− 1) around solitary biogenic structures, combined with high-resolution mapping of the structure shape and position. The structures were replicates of typical macrozoobenthic species commonly found in the Mecklenburg Bight and with a presumed influence on both, the near-bed current regime and sediment transport dynamics: a worm tube, a snail shell, a mussel, a sand mound, a pit, and a cross-stream track furrow. The flow was considerably altered locally by the different protruding structures (worm tube, snail, mussel and mound). They reduced the horizontal approach velocity by 72% to 79% in the wake zone at about 1–2 cm height, and the flow was deflected around the structures with vertical and lateral velocities of up to 10% and 20% of the free-stream velocity respectively in a region adjacent to the structures. The resulting flow separation (at flow Reynolds number of about 4000 and 20,000 respectively) divided an outer deflection region from an inner region with characteristic vortices and the wake region. All protruding structures showed this general pattern, but also produced individual characteristics. Conversely, the depressions (track and pit) only had a weak influence on the local boundary layer flow, combined with a considerable flow reduction within their cavities (between 29% and 53% of the free-stream velocity). A longitudinal vortex formed, below which a stagnant space was found. The average height affected by the structure-related mass flow rate deficit for the two velocities was 1.6 cm and 1.3 cm respectively (80% of height and 64%) for the protruding structures and 0.6 cm and 0.9 cm (90% and 127% of depth) for the depressions. Marine benthic soft-bottom macrozoobenthos species are expected to benefit from the flow modifications they induce, particularly in terms of food particle capture due to altered particle pathways and residence times, but also for the exchange of gases, solutes and spawn. The present results confirm previous studies on flow interaction effects of various biogenic structures, and they add a deeper level of detail for a better understanding of the fine-scale effects.     

The structure of dissipation in the western Irish Sea front

We report on an intensive campaign in the summer of 2006 to observe turbulent energy dissipation in the vicinity of a tidal mixing front which separates well mixed and seasonally stratified regimes in the western Irish Sea. The rate of turbulent dissipation ε was observed on a section across the front by a combination of vertical profiles with the FLY dissipation profiler and horizontal profiles by shear sensors mounted on an AUV (Autosub). Mean flow conditions and stratification were obtained from a bed mounted ADCP and a vertical chain of thermistors on a mooring. During an Autosub mission of 60 h, the vehicle, moving at a speed of ~ 1.2 m s^− 1, completed 10 useable frontal crossings between end points which were allowed to move with the mean flow. The results were combined with parallel measurements of the vertical profile of ε which were made using FLY for periods of up to 13 h at positions along the Autosub track. The two data sets, which show a satisfactory degree of consistency, were combined to elucidate the space–time variation of dissipation in the frontal zone. Using harmonic analysis, the spatial structure of dissipation was separated from the strong time dependent signal at the M₄ tidal frequency to yield a picture of the cross-frontal distribution of energy dissipation. A complementary picture of the frontal velocity field was obtained from a moored ADCP and estimates of the mean velocity derived from the thermal wind using the observed density distribution. which indicated the presence of a strong (0.2 m s^− 1) jet-like flow in the high gradient region of the front. Under neap tidal conditions, mean dissipation varied across the section by 3 orders of magnitude exceeding 10^− 2 W m^− 3 near the seabed in the mixed regime and decreasing to 10^− 5 W m^− 3. in the strongly stratified interior regime. The spatial pattern of dissipation is consistent in general form with the predictions of models of tidal mixing and does not reflect any strong influence by the frontal jet.     

Quasi-two-dimensional flow on the polar β-plane: Laboratory experiments

Geophysical turbulence is strongly affected by the variation of the Coriolis parameter with latitude. This variation results in the so-called β-effect, which forces energy from small-scales to be transferred preferentially into zonal motions. This effect results in the formation of narrow jet-like zonal flows that dominate the dynamics and act as transport barriers. Here, laboratory experiments are used to reproduce this effect in decaying turbulent flows. An electromagnetic cell is used to generate an initial field of vorticity in a rotating tank. Under conditions of quasi-geostrophic flow, the β-effect is produced by depth variation of the flow instead of variation of the Coriolis parameter. The effects of changing the container geometry and the overall fluid depth on the production of jets are investigated. The results suggest that this laboratory configuration can be used to model jet formation in the oceans and that increasing fluid depth is a practical way to decrease viscous effects.     

Non-local simulation of the stable boundary layer with a third order moments closure model

A new higher order closure model for the stable boundary layer is presented and compared with Large Eddy Simulation data. The model includes numerical solutions for the mean values, second and third order moments equations. A satisfactory agreement is found between the calculated vertical profiles of the turbulent quantities with those provided by the LES. Furthermore the new model results are compared with profiles obtained with a lower order closure model in order to verify the effective importance of including third order dynamical equations in the model.     

An algorithm for oceanic front detection in chlorophyll and SST satellite imagery

An algorithm is described for oceanic front detection in chlorophyll (Chl) and sea surface temperature (SST) satellite imagery. The algorithm is based on a gradient approach: the main novelty is a shape-preserving, scale-sensitive, contextual median filter applied selectively and iteratively until convergence. This filter has been developed specifically for Chl since these fields have spatial patterns such as chlorophyll enhancement at thermohaline fronts and small- and meso-scale chlorophyll blooms that are not present in SST fields. Linear Chl enhancements and localized (point-wise) blooms are modeled as ridges and peaks respectively, whereas conventional fronts in Chl and SST fields are modeled as steps or ramps. Examples are presented of the algorithm performance using modeled (synthetic) images as well as synoptic Chl and SST imagery. After testing, the algorithm was used on > 6000 synoptic images, 1999–2007, to produce climatologies of Chl and SST fronts off the U.S. Northeast.     

Unsteady finite-depth effects during resistance tests on a ship model in a towing tank

This paper covers an extension of the study of Doctors et al. (J Ship Res 52(4):263–273, 2008) on oscillations in wave resistance during the constant-velocity phase of a towing-tank resistance test on a ship model to the case of relatively shallow water. We demonstrate here that the unsteady effects are very prominent and that it is essentially impossible to achieve a steady-state resistance curve in a towing tank of typical proportions for a water-depth-to-model-length ratio of 0.25. This statement is particularly true in the speed region near a depth Froude number of unity. However, on the positive side, we show here that an application of unsteady linearized wave-resistance theory provides an excellent prediction of the measured total resistance, when one accounts for the form factor in the usual manner. Finally, a simple application of the results to the planning and analysis of towing-tank tests is presented.