Waves and Tidal Flat Ecosystems [Paperback]

The authors explain the rewarding results from the interdisciplinary collaboration between an environmental study group working on coastal ecosystems and effects of oil spills and applied mathematicians modelling wave motion on sandy beaches. By using the unified Navier-Stokes equations with a Bingham fluid model for spilled oil, multi-phase flow analysis were made. Decomposition of spilled oil by bacteria was simulated as a chemical reaction, and the theoretical and numerical analysis suggested a countermeasure to help reduce stress on coastal ecosystems. The new understanding of how ecosystems both depend upon, and help to determine, the nature of the shoreline demonstrates promising ways to better assist and exploit the regenerative powers inherent in nature.

In this book, the authors address present-day methodology to explore natural phenomena. Highly advanced computational fluid mechanics contributes to the rationalization of experimental work. By taking sandy beach and tidal flat eco? systems as an example, results from interdisciplinary collaboration between envi? ronmental experimentalists and applied mathematicians are presented in an inte? ractive manner. In 1994, an environmental study group from Hiroshima University started a study on tidal flats. Based on fieldwork, they discovered the importance of fluid flow in understanding the biological activities of tidal flats and sandy beaches. ofbacteria on the seabed strongly correlates with the They found that the number amount ofsilt (fine sand1 What is a tidal flat?.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Function and structure of natural and man-made tidal flats.- 1.2.1 Pysico-chemical characteristics.- 1.2.2 Hydraulic characteristics.- 1.2.3 Biomass of bacteria and macrobenthos.- 1.2.4 Respiration rates of microorganisms.- 1.2.5 Discussion.- 1.3 Key factors to determine a tidal flat characteristic.- 1.3.1 Transfer experiment.- 1.3.2 Relationship between silt content and bacterial population.- 1.4 FluidlÃ-