What Depth Should Deep-Sea Water be Pumped up from in the South China Sea for Medicinal Research?

In this study, seawater was pumped up from 150, 200, 300, 500 and 1000 m in the South China Sea and analyzed to make certain what depth should deep-sea water (DSW) be pumped up for medicinal usage. The pumping depth of DSW was determined on the basis of chemical ingredients. The analyses of inorganic elements and dissolved organic matter (DOM) were performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) respectively. The raw data were used for hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that seawater pumped up from 500 m and 1000 m was similar in their chemical ingredients, and was different from the seawater pumped up from other depths. These results indicated that seawater from more than 500 m depth had relatively stable chemical ingredients and could be used as DSW in the South China Sea.

Experimental Investigation on Vortex-Induced Vibration of Deep-Sea Risers of Different Excitation Water Depths

The vortex-induced vibration test of the deep-sea riser was carried out with different excitation water depths in the wave-current combined water flume.By dimensionally changing the multi-stage water depth and hydrodynamic parameters such as outflow velocity at various water depths,the dynamic response parameters such as dominant frequency,dimensionless displacement and vibration trajectory evolution process of the riser under different excitation water depths were explored to reveal the sensitive characteristics of the dynamic response of vortexinduced vibration of the risers under different excitation water depths.The results show that different excitation water depths will change the additional mass of the riser and the fluid damping and other parameters,which will affect the spatial correlation and stability of the vortex shedding behind the riser.In the lock-in region,the distribution range of the characteristic frequency becomes narrow and centered on the lock-in frequency.The increase of the excitation water depth gradually advances the starting point of the lock-in region of the riser,and at the same time promotes the excitation of the higher-order vibration frequency of the riser structure.Within the dimensionless excitation water depth,the dominant frequency and dimensionless displacement are highly insensitive to the excitation water depth at high flow velocity.The change of the excitation water depth will interfere with the correlation of the non-linear coupling of the riser.The“8-shaped”gradually becomes irregular,and the vibration trajectories of the riser show“O-shape”,“X-shape”and“Crescent-shape”.

Deep-Sea Cobalt Crusts Water Jet Cutting Ability

Deep-sea cobalt crusts water jet cutting method is proposed to avoid cutter impact load. With simulation calculations and experimental tests, water jet system parameters and its cutting ability were studied. Simula-tion results show that working pressure, ejection range and ejection angle of water jet system are main parameters of its cutting ability. Its important degree is in turn the working pressure, ejection range and ejection angle. Increasing water jet system working pressure is the most effective way to improve its cutting ability. When water jet working pressure is constant, in order to improve its cutting ability, the ejection range should be less than 4mm (four times of nozzle diameter) and the ejection angle should be about 13o. Experimental results show that there is a threshold pressure during water jet cutting cobalt crusts simulation material. With the increase of water jet working pressure, its cutting ability increases dramatically. With the increasing of water jet ejection range, its cutting ability decreases sharply. The optimal ejection angle is about 13o

Centrifuge experiment on the penetration test for evaluating undrained strength of deep-sea surface soils

Rapid advances in deep-sea mining engineering have created an urgent need for the accurate evaluation of the undrained strength of marine soils,especially surface soils.Significant achievements have been made using full-flow penetration penetrometers to evaluate marine soil strength in the deep penetration;however,a method considering the effect of ambient water on the surface penetration needs to be established urgently.In this study,penetrometers with multiple probes were developed and used to conduct centrifuge experiments on South China Sea soil and kaolin clay.First,the forces on the probes throughout the penetration process were systematically analyzed and quantified.Second,the spatial influence zone was determined by capturing the resistance changes and sample crack development,and the penetration depth for a sample to reach a stable failure mode was given.Third,the vane shear strength was used to invert the penetration resistance factor of the ball and determine the range of the penetration resistance factor values.Furthermore,a methodology to determine the penetration resistance factors for surface marine soils was established.Finally,the effect of the water cavity above various probes in the surface penetration was used to formulate an internal mechanism for variations in the penetration resistance factor.

Deep-sea coral evidence for dissolved mercury evolution in the deep North Pacifi c Ocean over the last 700 years

The ocean is an important inventory of anthropogenic mercury(Hg),yet the history of anthropogenic Hg accumulation in the ocean remains largely unexplored.Deep-sea corals are an emerging archive of past ocean chemistry,which take in sinking or suspended particulate organic matter as their food sources.Such organic matter would exchange Hg with the local seawater before being consumed by the deepsea corals.As such,the organics preserved in the coral skeleton may record the Hg evolution of the ambient seawater during the time of coral growth.Here,we report the first data on Hg concentrations variability of a deep-sea proteinaceous coral in the oligotrophic North Pacific at the water depth of 1249 m,in attempt to understand the transfer of anthropogenic Hg into the deep Pacific ocean over the last seven centuries.We find that the Hg concentrations of different coral growth layers have remained relatively constant albeit with considerable short-term variability through time.The overall stable Hg concentration of the last seven centuries recorded in our sample suggests that anthropogenic pollution is not yet a clearly resolvable component in the deep oligotrophic North Pacific waters,in agreement with rece nt estimation from modelling works and observational studies of modern seawater profiles.As there is hardly an unambiguous way to separate anthropogenic Hg from the natural background based on recent seawater profiles,our historical data provide valuable information helping to understand the oceanic cycle of Hg through time.