Sedimentation processes and sedimentary characteristics of tidal bores along the north bank of the Qiantang Estuary

A tidal bore is a unique Earth surface process, characterized by its highly destructive energy, predictable periodicities and magni-tudes, and the production of characteristic sedimentary features. Tidal bores and associated rapid flood flows are highly turbulent flows of the upper-flow regime with a velocity over several meters per second. Reynolds (Re) and Froude (Fr) numbers, respectively, are larger than 104 and 1.0, making them significantly different from regular tidal flows but analogous to turbidity currents. Until now, understanding of tidal-bore depositional processes and products has been limited because of the difficulty and hazards involved with gauging tidal bores directly. The Qiantang bore is known as the largest breaking bore in the world. Field surveys were carried out in May 2010, along the north bank of the Qiantang Estuary to observe the occurrence of peak bores, including regular observations of current, water level and turbidity at the main channel. Several short cores were sampled on the intertidal flats to study the characteristic sedimentary features of tidal bores. Hydrodynamic and sedimentological studies show that the processes of sediment resuspension, transport and deposition are controlled primarily by the tidal bores, and the subsequent abruptly accelerated and decelerated flood flows, which only account for one tenth of each semidiurnal tidal cycle in the estuary. Tidal-bore deposits are generally poorly sorted because of rapid sedimentation after highly mixed suspension by intense turbulence. This behavior is characteristic of the absence of tractive-current depositional components in a C-M diagram. It also goes along with well-developed massive bedding, graded bedding, basal erosion structures, convolute bedding and dewatering structures. Together, these sedimentary features can constitute fingerprinting of turbidites, widely distributed in the deep-water environment. However, a tidal bore is triggered by intensely deformed tidal waves propagating into a shallow-water environment, which returns to regular tidal flows rapidly after the passage of the bore head. The tidal-bore deposits are usually bounded by the intertidal-flat deposits with typical tidal beddings at the top and on both flanks. The difference between tidal-bore deposits (TBD) and tidal sandy/muddy deposits (TSD/TMD) is evident not only in sedimentary structures, but also in the grain-size composition. They can be clearly distinguished in grain-size bivariate plots, typically the plot of mean grain size vs. standard deviation (or sorting). Some trend variations generally exist in mean grain size with TBD>TSD>TMD, sorting with TMD>TBD>TSD (larger value indicating poorer sorting), and both skewness and kurtosis with TSD>TBD>TMD. These findings will undoubtedly shed new light on our understanding of tidal-bore sedimentology, ancient tidal-bore sedimentary facies and environments, and related oil-and-gas field prospecting.     

Coastal seafloor observatory at Xiaoqushan in the East China Sea

The seafloor observation system is becoming an important infrastructure for marine research because it is transforming oceanic research from temporal investigation to long term observation.The East China Sea coastal seafloor observatory,located between 30°31′44″N,122°15′12″E and 30°31′34″N,122°14′40″E,is constructed near the Xiaoqushan Island outside the Hangzhou Bay on the inner continental shelf of the East China Sea.The observatory is connected by a submarine optical fiber composite power cable that is more than one kilometer long and consists of a special junction box that transmits power and communication signals to different instruments.The special junction box has a variety of waterproof plugs and connects to three different instruments installed in a trawl preventer.The submarine optical fiber composite power cable is landed on the platform by The East China Sea Branch,State Oceanic Administration and the power is continuously supplied by the solar panels and solar battery on the top of the platform.The real time data are directly sent through the cable to the platform and are transmitted by CDMA wireless to the receiver at the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology of Tongji University.Measurements at the observatory have been taken since April 20,2009 after installation and the results have been interpreted.The characteristics of the near bottom boundary are constrained by a sediment suspension model using portion of the observed data.In particular,discussion is provided on the sea surface height anomaly at Xiaoqushan Island influenced by the tsunami driven by the 2010 Earthquake in Chile.The successful establishment of the coastal seafloor observatory is the first step toward future development of seafloor observation systems in China.It not only accumulates experiences in technology and engineering,but also paves the way for performing important oceanic research using the long term continuous observation platform.     

Records of the tsunami induced by the 2010 Chilean earthquake from Xiaoqushan seafloor observatory in the East China Sea

Sea-level variation can be induced by periodic tides, stochastic wind, air pressure, and swell. Larger sea-level variation has the potential to cause coastal disasters. In this paper, real-time continuous data obtained by the Xiaoqushan seafloor observatory in the East China Sea were analyzed employing frequency power spectral and tidal harmonic methods to extract the major components and periodicities of sea-level change. The sea-level anomaly (sla) was calculated by subtracting the tidal components from the observed sea level data. In the study period, the correlation between sla and the local north-south wind speed was high with a correlation coefficient of 0.65 at the 95% confidence level. The local wind-induced sea-level anomaly (sla wind ) was therefore computed through linear fitting. Although sla wind is one of the main components of sla, the residual sea-level anomaly (sla residual ) obtained by subtracting sla wind from sla is not zero, suggesting that there are other factors besides wind. Detailed analysis of the sea-level data at the time of the 8.8-magnitude Chilean earthquake on February 27, 2010 showed a peak sla residual value of 0.48 m at around 15:00 on February 28, which was highly coincident with the tsunami arrival time forecast by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The peak sla residual event is therefore linked with the tsunami induced by the 2010 Chilean earthquake. This is the first time that a tsunami has been detected using real-time continuous data recorded by a seafloor observatory in the sea off China. Such observations are expected to improve tsunami forecast models and promote the development of a tsunami warning system and a seafloor observatory network in the East China Sea.     

Perspectives on the linkage between typhoon activity and global warming from recent research advances in paleotempestology

The recent increase in typhoon （tropical cyclone） activity has attracted great interest and induced heated debates over whether it is linked to global warming or only a return to an active phase of the well-known multi-decadal variability. Due to the short instrumental record, our knowledge is quite scarce on the complex processes and mechanism of typhoon generation, development, and evolution, especially for the rare but highly destructive super-typhoons. It is therefore very important to extend the time span of typhoon activity records. Paleotempestology, a young science that emerged in the early 1990s, studies past typhoon activity spanning several centuries to millennia before the instrumental era through the use of geological proxies and historical documentary records. This paper presents a brief review and synthesis on the major research advances and findings of paleotempestology with an emphasis on proxy technique development and applications. The methodology has been evolving from single geologic proxy to multi-proxy techniques by integrating microfossils, sedimentary organic elemental ratios, and stable isotopes, together with typical sedimentary textures and structures, for the diagnosis of storm deposits. A newly-developed proxy technique is employing oxygen isotopes preserved in growing laminae of tree rings, cave stalagmites, and reef corals to diagnose typhoon rainwater impacts. Historical documentary records have been systematically compiled and analyzed to reconstruct the history of typhoon activity in some regions. The extracted typhoon-proxy data show that there does not exist a simple linear relationship between typhoon frequency and Holocene climate （temperature） change. Typhoon activity should have a secular and constant linkage with ENSO fluctuations, in that more typhoons and hurricanes make landfalls in China, Central and North America during La Ni~↑na years than El Ni~↑no years. This finding is consistent with that derived from recent instrumental data. Shifts in positions of     

A 600-year flood history in the Yangtze River drainage: Comparison between a subaqueous delta and historical records

Based on grain size analysis and high-resolution elemental scanning of core YD0901, taken from the subaqueous Yangtze River delta, a 600-year flood history was reconstructed for the Yangtze River drainage system. Zr/Rb ratios were chosen as a proxy for Yangtze River floods. Zr resides mainly in the coarse-grained minerals, and Rb is found in the fine-grained minerals. When floods occur, the discharge of the Yangtze River increases, which carries more coarse-grained minerals into the East China Sea. Therefore, deposition of coarse-grained minerals significantly increases relative to fine-grained minerals on the subaqueous delta, and subsequently the Zr/Rb ratios also increase. The higher the Zr/Rb peaks, the greater number of coarse particles deposited by saltation processes. Zr/Rb peaks correlate very well with historical records for Yangtze River floods. Especially at about AD 1870, the Zr/Rb ratio reached a maximum value over the last 600 years, which is consistent with "the extreme flood event" in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River in AD 1870, as indicated in the historical records. Results show that floods have occurred at a relatively high frequency over the last 600 years, which is consistent with historical records when, during the Ming-Qing Dynasty, floods occurred once every 4 years. In addition, spectral analysis of the Zr/Rb ratio showed that there is close link between the Yangtze River floods and ENSO intensity.