Suspended particulate mercury associated with tidal fluxes in a lagoon environment impacted by cinnabar mining activity(northern Adriatic Sea)

The Isonzo River has been demonstrated to be a continuing point source of mercury（Hg）in the Gulf of Trieste although the Idrija mine was last active in 1996. The present study aims to investigate the role of the suspended particulate matter（SPM） associated with tidal fluxes to disperse particulate Hg（PHg） into the Grado coastal lagoon system. PHg concentrations（avg. 3.11 ± 2.62 μg/g, d.w.）, notwithstanding the ebb or flood tides, were significantly higher than the local sediment background（0.13 μg/g）. The relative affinity of Hg for the particulate phase in surface waters was confirmed by higher average distribution coefficient（Kd） values（5.6–6.7）. PHg contents showed the highest values in ebb tide conditions, thus suggesting their origin from the erosion of tidal flats and saltmarshes of the lagoon. When compared to river discharge, high PHg surface concentrations in flood tide are related to rainfall events occurring within the river basin. Results can be used to make an indicative assessment of the amount of Hg bound to SPM which is transported in and out of the lagoon basin following the action of tidal fluxes. A simple estimation provides a negative budget for the Grado lagoon sub-basin which loses between 0.14 and 1.16 kg of PHg during a tidal semi-cycle. This conclusion is in agreement with the evidence of morphological deterioration which has emerged from recent studies on the lagoon environment, and which testifies to a current sedimentary loss from the lagoon into the northern Adriatic Sea.

Tidal Energy Fluxes and Bottom Boundary Layer Energy Dissipation in the Bering Sea

The spatial distribution of the energy flux, bottom boundary layer （BBL） energy dissipation, surface elevation amplitude and current magnitude of the major semidiurnal tidal constituents in the Bering Sea are examined in detail. These distributions are obtained from the results of a three-dimensional numerical simulation model （POM）. Compared with observation data from seven stations, the root mean square errors of tidal height are 2.6 cm and 1.2 cm for M2 and N2 respectively, and those of phase-lag are 21.8~ and 15.8~ respectively. The majority of the tidal energy flux off the deep basin is along the shelf edge, although some of this flux crosses the shelf edge, especially in the southeast of the shelf break. The total M2 energy dissipation in the Bering Sea is 30.43 GW, which is about 10 times of that of N2 and $2. The semidiurnal tidal energy enters mainly to the Bering Sea by Samalga Pass, Amukta Pass and Seguam Pass, accounting more than 60% of the total energy entering the Being Sea from the Pacific.

An approach to estimate tidal dissipation with single-point high-frequency ground wave radar data

Using the single-point ground wave （GW） radar data at Shensi Station and the water level data at three stations （Shengsi, Luchaogang and Daishan）, the authors obtained the flow vectors from the radial velocity of GW radar observation, and calculate four sub-tidal harmonic constants （O1, K1, M2 and S2）. The tidal characteristics derived from the GW radar dataset agreed well with those from the tidal gauge data. The authors also analyzed the tidal energy flux and tidal energy dissipation rate. There was a good relationship between the tidal energy dissipation rate and topography. The study showed a good way to calculate tidal energy dissipation rate using GW radar data.

Analysis and Prediction of Influence Imposed on Jiaozhou Bay Tidal Currents and Tidal Energy of M_2 Tidal System by Jiaozhou Bay Reclamation

The 3-D ECOMSED ocean model was applied to establish a time-dependent boundary model for Jiaozhou Bay (JZB), in which the operator-splitting technique was used and the ‘dry and wet’ method was introduced. The influence caused by JZB reclamation on the surface level, residual currents, tidal system and tidal energy of M2 tidal system were predicted and analyzed. The results show that JZB reclamation has slight impact on the M2 tidal system, in which the variation of amplitude and phase is less than 1%.The changes of the currents and residual currents in Qian Bay and near the reclamation areas are greater, but in other areas the changes are smaller, in which the currents have a change of around 1%, while the residual currents change ranges from 1.82%–9.61%. After reclamation, the tidal energy fluxes increase by 2.62%–5.24% inside and outside the JZB mouth, but decrease by 20.21%–87.23% near Qian Bay and the reclamation area.

Tidal energy budget in the Zhujiang(Pearl River) Estuary

Tidal energy budget in the Zhujiang（Pearl River） Estuary（ZE） is evaluated by employing high-resolution baroclinic regional ocean modeling system（ROMS）. The results obtained via applying the least square method on the model elevations are compared against the tidal harmonic constants at 18 tide stations along the ZE and its adjacent coast. The mean absolute errors between the simulation and the observation of M_2, S_2, K_1 and O_1 are 4.6, 2.8, 3.2 and 2.8 cm in amplitudes and 9.8°, 15.0°, 4.6° and 4.6° in phase-lags, respectively. The comparisons between the simulated and observed sea level heights at 11 tide gauge stations also suggest good model performance. The total tidal energy flux incoming the ZE is estimated to be 343.49 MW in the dry season and larger than 336.18 MW in the wet season, which should due to higher mean sea level height and heavier density in the dry season. M_2, K_1, S_2, O_1 and N_2, the top five barotropic tidal energy flux contributors for the ZE,import 242.23（236.79）, 52.97（52.08）, 24.49（23.96）, 16.22（15.91） and 7.10（6.97） MW energy flux into the ZE in dry（wet） season, successively and respectively. The enhanced turbulent mixing induced by eddies around isolated islands and sharp headlands dominated by bottom friction, interaction between tidal currents and sill topography or constricted narrow waterways together account for the five energy dissipation hotspots, which add up to about 38% of the total energy dissipation inside the ZE.

The performance of a z-level ocean model in modeling the global tide

The performance of a z-level ocean model, the Modular Ocean Model Version 4（MOM4）, is evaluated in terms of simulating the global tide with different horizontal resolutions commonly used by climate models. The performance using various sets of model topography is evaluated. The results show that the optimum filter radius can improve the simulated co-tidal phase and that better topography quality can lead to smaller rootmean square（RMS） error in simulated tides. Sensitivity experiments are conducted to test the impact of spatial resolutions. It is shown that the model results are sensitive to horizontal resolutions. The calculated absolute mean errors of the co-tidal phase show that simulations with horizontal resolutions of 0.5° and 0.25° have about 35.5% higher performance compared that with 1° model resolution. An internal tide drag parameterization is adopted to reduce large system errors in the tidal amplitude. The RMS error of the best tuned 0.25° model compared with the satellite-altimetry-constrained model TPXO7.2 is 8.5 cm for M_2. The tidal energy fluxes of M_2 and K_1 are calculated and their patterns are in good agreement with those from the TPXO7.2. The correlation coefficients of the tidal energy fluxes can be used as an important index to evaluate a model skill.

Characteristics of Water and Sediment Exchange Between Yangtze Estuary and Hangzhou Bay

Based on the 2-D flow and sediment numerical model of the Yangtze Estuary and the Hangzhou Bay, the characteristics of water and sediment exchange in their joint waters is studied through quantitative calculation and analysis of the characteristics of water flow and sediment transportation. The results show that there is periodical water and sediment exchange in this joint waters, that the net water exchange appears mainly between 0 - 6 m depth （theoretical datum plane, the same below） offshore and the maximum is near the depth of 2 m, and that the net sediment exchange mainly appears between 0 - 5 m depth and the maximum is near the depth of 3 m, indicating that the range of water flow passage is different from that of sediment transport from the Yangtze Estuary to the Hangzhou Bay. Combined with the results of numerical simulation, this paper also analyzes the hydrodynamical mechanism influencing water and sediment exchange between the Yangtze Estuary and the Hangzhou Bay, including tidal fluctuation, tidal current kinetic energy, tide-induced residual current and the trace of water particles. Finally, the sediment transportation passage on the Nanhui tidal fiat is discussed, and the results show that sediment is transported into the Hangzhou Bay from the south side of Shipilei, while sediment is brought back to the South Channel of the Yangtze Estuary from the north side.

Numerical study of M_2 internal tide generation and propagation in the Luzon Strait

Based on the z-coordinate ocean model HAMSOM,we introduced the internal-tide viscosity term and applied the model to numerically investigate the M2 internal tide generation and propagation in the Luzon Strait （LS）.The results show that （1） in the upper 250 m depth,at the thermocline,the maximum amplitude of the generated internal tides in the LS can reach 40 m;（2） the major internal tides are generated to the northwest of Itbayat Island,the southwest of Batan Island and the northwest of the Babuyan Islands;（3） during the propagation the baroclinic energy scattering and reflection is obvious,which exists under the effect of the specific topography in the South China Sea （SCS）;（4） the westward-propagating internal tides are divided into two branches entering the SCS.While passing through 118 E,the major branch is divided into two branches again.The strongest internal tides in the LS are generated to the northwest of Itbayat Island and propagate northeastward to the Pacific.However,to the east of 122 E,most of the internal tides propagate southeastward to the Pacific as a beam.

Multiple-scale temporal variations and fluxes near a hydrothermal vent over the Southwest Indian Ridge

A deep-ocean mooring system was deployed 100 m away from an active hydrothermal vent over the Southwest Indian Ridge （SWIR）, where the water depth is about 2,800 m. One year of data on ocean temperature 50 m away from the ocean floor and on velocities at four levels （44 m, 40 m, 36 m, and 32 m away from the ocean floor） were collected by the mooring system. Multiple- scale variations were extracted from these data： seasonal, tidal, super-tidal, and eddy scales. The semidiumal tide was the strongest tidal signal among all the tidal constituents in both currents and temperature. With the multiple-scale variation presented in the data, a new method was developed to decompose the data into five parts in terms of temporal scales： time-mean, seasonal, tidal, super-tidal, and eddy. It was shown that both eddy and tidal heat （momentum） fluxes were characterized by variation in the bottom topography： the tidal fluxes of heat and momentum in the along-isobath direction were much stronger than those in the cross-isobath direction. For the heat flux, eddy heat flux was stronger than tidal heat flux in the cross-isobath direction, while eddy heat flux was weaker in the along-isobath direction. For the momentum flux, the eddy momentum flux was weaker than tidal momentum flux in both directions. The eddy momen^m fluxes at the four levels had a good relationship with the magnitude of mean currents： it increased with the mean current in an exponential relationship.