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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > The hydrosphere > Oceanography (seas)
nd This book collects the scientific contributions from the lecturers at the 2 edition of the "International School on Marine Chemistry" held in Ustica (Palermo, Italy) from 5 to 12 September 1998. The School was planned with the aim of giving an overview about the chemical processes occurring in the marine environment and the more recent ana- lytical methodologies for their study. The School was organised under the auspices of the Italian Chemical Society and with the financial support of the Marine Reserve of Ustica Island, the Committee for Environment of Italian CNR, the University of Palermo, the Provincia Regionale of Palermo and the Shimadzu-Italia Corporation. The book has been printed with the fi- nancial support of the "Assessorato Ambiente" of the Provincia Regionale of Palermo. All the participants, about a hundred including the lecturers and the Organising Committee, are grateful for the generous support of the agencies. A particular ac- knowledgement from the Editors is to all the lecturers for their availability and cour- tesy and for the high quality of their scientific contributions.
Uncertainty for Everyone The one thing that is certain about the world is that the world is uncertain. I have here, the question that apart of the matter, living matter, has to resolve in each and every one of its moments of existance. The environment of a living being is apart of the living being where it turns out, the rest of the living beings live. This is the drama of life on earth. Every living individual debates with his environment, exchanging matter, energy and information in the hope of staying alive, the same as all living beings who share that same environment. The adven ture of a living being (of all living beings ) is to maintain reasonable independ ence in face ofthe fluctuations ofuncertainty within the environment. The range of restrictions and mutual relationships is colossal. How is the tran seendental pretension of staying alive regulated? There is an equation imposed by the laws ofthermodynamics and the mathematical theory ofinformation about the interaction ofa living being with his environment which we could state like this: The complexity 01 a living individual plus his capacity for anticipation in re spect to his environment is identical to the uncertainty of the environmentplus the capacity of that living being to change the environment."
A wide variety of problems are associated with the flow of shallow water, such as atmospheric flows, tides, storm surges, river and coastal flows, lake flows, tsunamis. Numerical simulation is an effective tool in solving them and a great variety of numerical methods are available. The first part of the book summarizes the basic physics of shallow-water flow needed to use numerical methods under various conditions. The second part gives an overview of possible numerical methods, together with their stability and accuracy properties as well as with an assessment of their performance under various conditions. This enables the reader to select a method for particular applications. Correct treatment of boundary conditions (often neglected) is emphasized. The major part of the book is about two-dimensional shallow-water equations but a discussion of the 3-D form is included. The book is intended for researchers and users of shallow-water models in oceanographic and meteorological institutes, hydraulic engineering and consulting. It also provides a major source of information for applied and numerical mathematicians.
Turbulence theory is one of the most intriguing parts of fluid mechanics and many outstanding scientists have tried to apply their knowledge to the development of the theory and to offer useful recommendations for solution of some practical problems. In this monograph the author attempts to integrate many specific approaches into the unified theory. The basic premise is the simple idea that a small eddy, that is an element of turbulent meso-structure, possesses its own dynamics as an object rotating with its own spin velocity and obeying the Newton dynamics of a finite body. A number of such eddies fills a coordinate cell, and the angular momentum balance has to be formulated for this spatial cell. If the cell coincides with a finite difference element at a numerical calculation and if the external length scale is large, this elementary volume can be considered as a differential one and a continuum parameterization has to be used. Nontrivial angular balance is a consequence of the asymmetrical Reynolds stress action at the oriented sides of an elementary volume. At first glance, the averaged dyad of velocity components is symmetrical, == However, if averaging is performed over the plane with normal nj, the principle of commutation is lost. As a result, the stress tensor asymmetry j is determined by other factors that participate in the angular momentum balance. This is the only possibility to determine a stress in engineering."
This multifaceted study explores new directions for plate tectonic research, especially as a guide for future geodynamic modelling of the earth. In particular, it equips readers with a plate-tectonic toolbox (with derivations and ANSI-C code) for applications and reconstruction analysis, including new continuous calculation methods. Pilger's Geokinematics shows how to apply these tools to Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic kinematics, with a focus on hotspot reference frames, and for empirical analysis of continental stress histories, including fractured hydrocarbon reservoirs. Supported by solid arguments and data, the book integrates theoretical developments of expanded plate kinematic theory and an ensemble of critical observations into a grand model, with the new concept of mesoplates playing a key role.
Based on an international symposium held in Tokyo, the volume combines papers in the fields of gravity, geoid and marine geodesy. Special emphasis is placed on the use of gravity in modeling tectonic processes and the problems of geophysical inversion. In addition, absolute and relative gravity measurement in static and airborne mode, satellite altimetry, geopotential modeling, and global geodynamics are dealt with. The field of marine geodesy includes contributions on sea level change, seafloor deformation and mapping, sea surface positioning, electronic charting, and datum transformations.
Microbial systems in extreme environments and in the deep biosphere may be analogous to potential life on other planetary bodies and hence may be used to investigate the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. This book examines the mode and nature of links between geological processes and microbial activities and their significance for the origin and evolution of life on the Earth and possibly on other planets. This is a truly interdisciplinary science with societal relevance.
Klaus-Peter Schwarz, lAG President The University of Calgary The Scientific Assembly of the International Association of Geodesy (lAG) was held from September 3 to 9, 1997 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in conjunction with the 18th Brazilean Congress of Carthography. This was the first time that one ofthe major lAG meetings took place in Brazil. It provided an opportunity to showcase the progress of geodetic work in South America through campaigns such as SIRGAS. It also provided an opportunity for a large group of international experts to present the state of the art in ge- odesy and geodynamis and to interact with their hosts on possibilities of future coopera- tion. For the lAG, it continued a trend, started in Beijing four years ago, to hold major geodetic meetings outside of Europe and North America. The International Geoid School which was held in Sao Paulo following this meeting showed another facet of this grow- ing internationalization ofIAG activities and services. The scientific program of the meeting consisted of three symposia and two special ses- sions, namely Symposium 1 : Advances in Positioning and Reference Frames Symposium 2: Gravity and Geoid Symposium 3: Geodynamics Special Session 1: lAG Services Special Session 2: Geodesy in Antartica. Papers presented at the first symposium are published in volume 1 of these proceedings, while papers of symposia 2 and 3 as well as special session 2 are contained in volume 2. Papers presented at special session 1 will be published separately.
The Antarctic represents the last of the world's still unexplored continents. Since 1985, Italy has sent 10 expeditions to this region, three of those have been exclusively devoted to research on the marine ecology of the Ross Sea region. This volume presents a global picture of this research. It includes contributions on water mass characteristics, particulate organic matter and nutrient utilization, and physiological aspects of primary production. Further topics are zooplankton, krill and top predator interactions in relation to physical and biological parameters, ecological features of coastal fish communities and the spatio-temporal variability of benthic biocenoses.
Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, Durham, New Hampshire, U.S.A., July 19-30, 1982
This book is a research monograph on high-Frequency Seafloor Acoustics. It is the first book in a new series sponsored by the Office of Naval Research on the latest research in underwater acoustics. It provides a critical evaluation of the data and models pertaining to high-frequency acoustic interaction with the seafloor, which will be of interest to researchers in underwater acoustics and to developers of sonars. Models and data are presented so as to be readily usable, backed up by extensive explanation. Much of the data is new, and the discussion in on two levels: concise descriptions in the main text backed up by extensive technical appendices.
This work brings together previously unpublished notes contributed by participants of the IUTAM Symposium on Hamiltonian Dynamics, Vortex Structures, Turbulence (Moscow, 25-30 August 2006). The study of vortex motion is of great interest to fluid and gas dynamics: since all real flows are vortical in nature, applications of the vortex theory are extremely diverse, many of them (e.g. aircraft dynamics, atmospheric and ocean phenomena) being especially important.
This book studies the history and gives an analysis of extreme climate change on Earth. In order to provide a long-term perspective, the first chapter briefly reviews some of the wild gyrations that occurred in the Earth s climate hundreds of millions of years ago: snowball Earth and hothouse Earth. Coming closer to modern times, the effects of continental drift, particularly the closing of the Isthmus of Panama are believed to have contributed to the advent of ice ages in the past three million years. This first chapter sets the stage for a discussion of ice ages in the geological recent past (i.e. within the last three million years, with an emphasis on the last few hundred thousand years). The second chapter discusses geological evidence for ice ages how geologists surmised their existence prior to actual subsurface data that proved the theory. The following two chapters look at ice cores (primarily from Greenland and Antarctica). Chapter 3 discusses how ice core data is processed and Chapter 4 summarizes data obtained from ice cores. Chapter 5 discusses the processing of data obtained from ocean sediments, and summarizes the results, while the following chapter discusses data from other sources, such as "Devil s Cave." Chapter 7 summarizes the experimental results from Chapters 4, 5, and 6. It provides the foundation for comparison with theories in later chapters. In a perfect world, this data would be totally separate and disconnected from theory. Unfortunately, as the author shows, dating of much of the data was accomplished by "tuning" to the astronomical theory, which introduces circular reasoning. Chapter 8 provides a brief overview of the various theories that have been devised to "explain" the patterns of alternating ice ages and interglacials that have occurred over the past three million years. This serves as an introduction to the following three chapters which presents the astronomical theory in its various manifestations, compare the astronomical theory with data, and then compare other theories with data. Finally, Chapter 12 summarizes what we think we know about ice ages and, more importantly, what we don t know. "
One of the basic concepts of ocean biogeochemistry is that of an ocean with extremely active boundary zones and separation boundaries of extensive biochemical interactions. The areas of these zones are characterized by a sharp decrease of element migration intensity and consequently the decrease in their concentrations gave the boundaries for the naming of the geochemical barriers (Perelman, 1972). For the purposes of biogeo chemistry the most important ones are the boundaries of separation between river-sea, ocean-atmosphere, and water-ground (Lisitzin, 1983). The most complicated of them is the river-sea boundary, where the biogeochemical processes are the most active and complicated (Monin and Romankevich, 1979, 1984). The necessity of studying organic matter in rivers, mouth regions and adjoining sea aquatories has been repeatedly pointed out by v.I. Vernadsky (1934, 1960) who noted both the importance of registration of solid and liquid run-off of rivers, coming into the sea, and "the quality and the character of those elements, which are washed-down into the sea", emphasizing that "wash-down of organic substances into the sea is of great value". The interest in studying organic matter in natural waters, including river and sea waters, has grown considerably over the last 30 years. During this period essential material was collected on the content and composition of organic matter in various types of river waters of the USSR, and this was published in papers by B.A Scopintzev, AD. Semenov, M.V.
At a time when the polar regions are undergoing rapid and unprecedented change, understanding exchanges of momentum, heat and salt at the ice-ocean interface is critical for realistically predicting the future state of sea ice. By offering a measurement platform largely unaffected by surface waves, drifting sea ice provides a unique laboratory for studying aspects of geophysical boundary layer flows that are extremely difficult to measure elsewhere. This book draws on both extensive observations and theoretical principles to develop a concise description of the impact of stress, rotation, and buoyancy on the turbulence scales that control exchanges between the atmosphere and underlying ocean when sea ice is present. Several interesting and unique observational data sets are used to illustrate different aspects of ice-ocean interaction ranging from the impact of salt on melting in the Greenland Sea marginal ice zone, to how nonlinearities in the equation of state for seawater affect mixing in the Weddell Sea. The book s content, developed from a series of lectures, may be appropriate additional material for upper-level undergraduates and first-year graduate students studying the geophysics of sea ice and planetary boundary layers."
Until the 1980s, a tacit agreement among many physical oceanographers was that nothing deserving attention could be found in the upper few meters of the ocean. The lack of adequete knowledge about the near-surface layer of the ocean was mainly due to the fact that the widely used oceanographic instruments (such as bathythermographs, CTDs, current meters, etc.) were practically useless in the upper few meters of the ocean. Interest in the ne- surface layer of the ocean rapidly increased along with the development of remote sensing techniques. The interpretation of ocean surface signals sensed from satellites demanded thorough knowledge of upper ocean processes and their connection to the ocean interior. Despite its accessibility to the investigator, the near-surface layer of the ocean is not a simple subject of experimental study. Random, sometimes huge, vertical motions of the ocean surface due to surface waves are a serious complication for collecting quality data close to the ocean surface. The supposedly minor problem of avoiding disturbances from ships' wakes has frustrated several generations of oceanographers attempting to take reliable data from the upper few meters of the ocean. Important practical applications nevertheless demanded action, and as a result several pioneering works in the 1970s and 1980s laid the foundation for the new subject of oceanography - the near-surface layer of the ocean.
The authors of this timely reference provide an updated and global view on ocean wave energy conversion and they do so for wave energy developers as well as for students and professors. The book is orientated to the practical solutions that this new industry has found so far and the problems that any device needs to face. It describes the actual principles applied to machines that convert wave power to electricity and examines state-of-the-art modern systems.
This book presents a global hydrographic description of the thermohaline circulation, an introduction to the theoretical aspects of this phenomenon, and observational evidence for the theory. The hydrographic description and the observational evidence are based on data sources available via internet, mainly from the World Oceanographic Experiment (WOCE). The book also offers an introduction to hydrographic analysis and interpretation.
Prospecting and exploration for manganese nodules has, as its ultimate objective, the discovery and delineation of an area of the ocean floor with reserves of sufficient quantity and quality to support a mining operation under existing economic, technical and political conditions. While prospecting concentrates primari lyon the collection of geological information, an exploration programme includes other activities that relate to the develop ment of technology, financial analysis of the prospect and environmental protection. Such work on a deposit in turn leads to the development of a mine-site. The mine-site concept brings together information in a way that recognizes the interplay among a number of dynamic factors which must satisfy a set of technical and economic conditions. Defining a mine-site, therefore, is a process of accounting for those factors. Throughout the years of meetings of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, many questions arose about ocean mine-sites. Two related topics in particular received attention: the total number of available mine-sites, and the amount of area necessary for a mining operation. Both of these topics have been subject to a great deal of speculation, and even with the best available information, there remains a degree of uncertainty that arises from both incomplete knowledge and natural variability in the seabed and the resource, and different technology and production objectives. For example, estimates of the size of the area necessary for an ocean mine-site vary even when made by the same company."
This updated translation from the original German edition provides general background information on oceanology and ocean engineering is given, along with descriptions of drilling techniques, offshore structures and hydrocarbon production at sea. The main part of the book is concerned with the hydrostatic and hydrodynamic analysis of marine structures, followed by an evaluation of marine structure reliability. Environmental conditions affecting marine structures, wave statistics, and the application of reliability theory to code development are also discussed. Students and practising engineers who have an interest in the analysis of marine structures will find this book an invaluable reference.
Engineers dreams and fossil energy replacement schemes can come true. Man has been tapping the energy of the sea to provide power for his industries for centuries. Tidal energy combined with that of waves and marine winds rank among those most successfully put the work. Large scale plants are capital intensive but smaller ones, particularly built in China, have proven profitable. Since the initiation of the St Malo project in France, similar projects have gone into active service where methods have been devised to cut down on costs, new types of turbines developed and cost competitiveness considerably improved. Tidal power has enormous potential. The book reviews recent progress in extracting power from the ocean, surveys the history of tidal power harnessing and updates a prior publication by the author."
Newly updated and translated into English for the first time, this standalone handbook perfectly combines background and theory with real-world experiments. All key topics are covered, including environmental conditions, wave theories, hydrostatics, and wave and current loads, with emphasis on nonlinear wave body interaction. Focus is given to model testing, an important component in the design of offshore structures. Recent results on the hydrodynamics of perforated structures, moonpool and gap resonance, and third-order interaction effects, have been added to this updated version. Based on practical experience from multiple industry collaborations, combined with lectures that have been honed and improved over more than 30 years, the pedagogical, real-world approach in this book make it an ideal companion for graduate students and researchers as well as ocean engineers.
The study of sea waves has always been in the focus of mankind's atten tion. This is attributed not only to a desire to understand the behaviour in seas and oceans, but also, it has some practical necessity. Developing up-to date wind wave numerical methods requires detailed mathematical modelling, starting with wave generation, development, propagation and transformation on the surface in different water areas under quasi-stationary conditions, up to a synthesis of climatic features observed under different wave generation conditions in oceans, sea or coastal areas. The present monograph considers wind waves in terms of the most general formulation of the problem as a probable hydrodynamic process with wide spatial variability. It ranges between the global scale of the oceans, whose typical size is comparable with the Earth's radius, to the regional and local scales of the seas, including water areas limited in space with significant current or depth gradients in coastal zones, where waves cease their existence having propagated tens of thousand miles." |
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