The onset of biological winter in the eastern Weddell Gyre (Antarctica) planktonic community

Data on hydrography, phyto- and zooplankton, obtained on a transect along the 0° meridian during the Winter Weddell Gyre Study, June 1992, revealed peculiarities of the early winter situation in the eastern Weddell Gyre. The vertical distribution and developmental stage composition of Rhincalanus gigas, Calanoides acutus, Calanus propinquus and krill, Euphausia superba larvae, were a good index for a general assessment of the seasonal condition of the plankton communities. There were five zones differing in seasonal situation: (1) The Polar Front and the southern ACC (not studied in detail), (2) The Weddell Front, (3) The Weddell Gyre interior, (4) The Maud Rise area, and (5) The Coastal Current zone. In the Weddell Front, the planktonic community resembled an autumnal situation with moderate phytoplankton biomass; the overwintering stock of copepods was not completely formed and the occurrence of calyptopes larvae of E. superba indicated that krill continued to reproduce until May. In the Weddell Gyre interior, a typical winter plankton community was found even before sea ice had formed. The specific hydrographic regime of the Maud Rise (governed by the mesoscale circulation over the seamount) support the late autumn conditions similar to the Weddell Front (but without early krill larvae). The plankton of the Coastal Current was a winter community. We conclude that in the eastern part of the Weddell Front (compared to the western part) seasonal development of both phytoplankton and herbivorous zooplankton is delayed in spring but prolonged in late autumn. Furthermore, it appears that the Weddell Sea ecosystem exhibits a much higher degree of spatial and temporal variability than thought before. This may have an impact on seasonal pattern of organic carbon transport from the pelagic realm to deeper water layers and to the sediment.     

Railway Vehicles With Generic Bogies Capable of Perfect Steering

The general form of the equations of motion of a symmetric railway vehicle with two unsymmetric two-axle bogies is derived. The equations include a generic elastic stiffness matrix that describes the nature and configuration of the structural connections between the various components of the vehicle. This matrix satisfies the condition for perfect steering (without generating creep forces) on uniform curves and the necessary condition for dynamic stability derived in previous work. The paper shows the application of these basic conditions to a class of generic unsymmetric bogies. The analysis has as its objective the derivation of the simplest rather than the most general configuration that meets the conditions imposed. The results are related to past and current practice. It is shown that perfect steering, with stability at low speeds, can be achieved by means of passive suspension elements not employing linkages, and that it is possible to simplify existing steering arrangements.     

Spatial and Temporal Variability in Shipping Traffic Off San Francisco,California

Shipping traffic poses a worldwide threat to many large whale species. Spatially explicit risk assessments are increasingly being used as a tool to minimize ship-strike risk. These assessments often use static representations of shipping patterns. We used Automatic Identification System data to quantify variability in cargo shipping traffic entering and exiting San Francisco Bay, which contains some of the busiest ports in the United States, at three temporal resolutions: (1) before and after implementation of the California Air Resources Board's Ocean-Going Vessels Fuel Rule, (2) among seasons, and (3) day versus night. We used the nonparametric Mood's Median test to compare median daily distance traveled because the data were not normally distributed and the variance was not homogeneous. Our analyses show that shipping traffic off San Francisco is dynamic at both interannual and daily temporal resolutions, but that traffic was fairly consistent among the seasons considered. Our analyses emphasize the importance of economic and regulatory drivers on interannual shipping traffic patterns. Shipping traffic is expected to continue to change off the U.S. West Coast and to increase globally. These changes in shipping traffic could have implications for the risk of ships striking whales and should be included in risk assessments.     

Solving Nonlinear Differential Equation Governing on the Rigid Beams on Viscoelastic Foundation by AGM

In the present paper a vibrational differential equation governing on a rigid beam on viscoelastic foundation has been investigated. The nonlinear differential equation governing on this vibrating syst...     

An Epsilon Bargaining Game-Theoretic Formulation Between Carrier and Container Terminal Operators for Servicing Vessels During Unloading Operations

Due to globalization trends and the increasing competition between ports, the maritime policy for container shipments has witnessed a change in operations that resulted in less reliance on direct freight flows and higher transshipment operations. Motivated to investigate a soft intelligent decision-making approach using game theory in the context of servicing vessels during unloading operations in transshipment, we propose an epsilon bargaining approach between the carrier and the container terminal operator (CTO). The objective of the game is to maximize the carrier service level while minimizing operation costs for the CTO. The players' utilities, which depend on the service level and the fees for the carrier, as well as the revenues generated and the cost incurred for the CTO, are uniquely formulated and evaluated in a bargaining scenario using an ordinal ranking approach. The negotiation process is further improved between the two players based on our proposed Epsilon Bargaining Equilibrium, which to the best of our knowledge has not been used in maritime transportation problems. Results from a risk aversion case illustrate the value of the soft computing mathematical model that we formulated and motivate follow-up research.     

Pursuing maritime education: an empirical study of students’ profiles,motivations and expectations

This study reveals the profiles, motivations, and expectations of students pursuing undergraduate maritime programmes. Although a number of tertiary institutions offer maritime programmes, the characteristics and structures of the demands for such programmes remain under-researched. This paper illustrates and discusses the results of a survey completed by students pursuing undergraduate programmes in maritime business and management at three universities in Asia and Europe, and compares them with the findings of a database examining similar issues towards postgraduate students within the same institutions. Research highlights include the tendency of undergraduate students to combine studies and work, considering real-world experiences as a vital contributor to career prospects. Shipping (notably tankers, dry bulks and containers) stands out as the ideal professional paths within the maritime industries. Another key finding is that the current marketing strategies of the institutions are rather irrelevant. This paper provides a solid foundation for understanding the profile students pursuing maritime programmes and contributes to the effective planning and management of maritime programmes, thus to the overall professional quality of the maritime industries.     

Experimental study of the flow induced by a vehicle fan and the effect of engine blockage in a simplified model

Fans are often tested without downstream blockage and, thus, the performance is considerably different when the fan is mounted in a vehicle as part of a cooling system and where high blockage effect is present downstream. The aim of the present work is to analyze by laser Doppler velocimetry LDV measurements the topology of the flow induced by a fan incorporated in a simplified underhood model reproducing engine blockage and to study the blockage effect of the engine positioning on the flow induced by the fan. The distance between the fan and the engine block affects the mean flow axial velocity U. The vertical velocity component W is greatly influenced by the variation of the distance between the fan and the engine block, both in magnitude and topology.     

Hydrological changes in the Mediterranean Sea in relation to changes in the freshwater budget: A numerical modelling study

The response of the Mediterranean Sea and the various sub-basins to changes in the freshwater budget are investigated in a process-oriented study, using the POM model. The model is first integrated using values of the Nile and Ebro rivers runoff, as well as of the Dardanelles freshwater input, typical of the fifties. The model reaches a steady state representative of that existing in the Mediterranean prior to the major damming period after 90 years of integration. Then the model is integrated using the reduced river runoff values typical of the after-damming period. The additional impact of decadal scale trends in the precipitation rate as well as of intense surface cooling periods/events on the thermohaline circulation during the last 40 years were also examined. The model results show that the dramatic reduction of the Nile freshwater input and to a lesser extent the reduction of the freshwater input from the Dardanelles Straits induced a large increase in the sea surface salinity in the Aegean and Levantine basins in the late sixties/early seventies, in agreement with observations. Furthermore, the Ebro runoff reduction during the same period further enhanced the salinity increase in the Levantine basin as higher salinity surface waters of the western basin reached the eastern basin via the Atlantic Water circulation. This saltier surface layer in the vicinity of the Rhodes Gyre favoured the preconditioning for the formation of the Levantine Intermediate Water, resulting in about 40% increase of its formation rate. This in turn resulted in the production of saltier and larger amounts of deep waters in the various deep-water formation sites. According to the model, the river damming and decreased precipitation since the eighties explain about 95% of the observed salinity increase in the Western Mediterranean Deep Water over the last 40 years. The major contributor to this increase was proved to be the Nile damming. The salt increase in the surface layer is proved to be insufficient to produce alone the two climatic transient events in the deep waters of the Eastern Mediterranean in the late sixties and early nineties, respectively. Surface cooling was found to be important, resulting in large deep water formation and thus allowing the propagation of the increased surface salinity signal to the deep layers. However, model results demonstrate that the river damming played an important role in the long-term salt preconditioning of the surface/intermediate layers, thus contributing in triggering the two events.     

Marine engineers’ training: Educational assessment for an engine room simulator

Qualitative upgrading of the educational process at university level marine education depends largely on the instructive value of the trainers’ educational software. Marine education software has developed out of a certain initial implementation in an equivalent manner to which the programs of practice and training have been applied in cases of simulations and programming environments. In most cases, educational software categories have developed without taking into consideration any special pedagogical theory.     

Lights, camera and acoustics: Assessing macrobenthic communities at a dredged material disposal site off the North East coast of the UK

This study presents the results of a trial assessment based on a combination of sampling techniques at a dredged material disposal site located off the North East coast of the UK, over 2001 to 2004. The site was surveyed with a high-resolution sidescan sonar system producing a mosaic with 100% coverage of the survey area. Benthic communities and sediments were ground-truthed using a Hamon grab with a video camera. Additionally, the area was also sampled in 2003 with a Sediment Profile Imaging (SPI) camera, which complemented other techniques by providing in situ information on sediment quality, and biogenic activities. An assessment is made of the benefits of combining the results from conventional methods, principally using grab samples, with those from acoustic techniques and optical imaging devices to determine seafloor and macrobenthic conditions. This information has the potential to contribute to the enhancement of routine monitoring programmes within UK waters.