Application of a Third Generation Wave Model for Coastal Zone Management: Preliminary Set-up of SWAN Simulations for the Italian Seas

The application, tuning and optimisation of a third generation SWAN wave model to the Italian Seas is here analysed in terms of statistical and deterministic properties. Specifically we focus on the capabilities of the model to reproduce experimental data from wave buoys with the main aim to quantify the confidence limits of the forecasts when used for operational purposes at sea. The model was run to simulate a continuous 12 months period (November 2004 \u2013 October 2005), forced with wind fields derived from an 0.25 deg resolution ETA model over the entire Mediterranean Sea. The numerical results of significant wave height, peak period and mean wave direction are compared with the data available from 13 wave buoys of Rete Ondametrica Nazionale \u2013 RON (Italy), both in a statistical (Wave Scatter Diagrams) and deterministic (time domain) analysis

Ten-month observation of the bottom current regime across a sediment drift of the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula

We present two time series of bottom current and temperature collected 8 m above the seabed on either side of a large sediment drift located on the continental rise of the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. The mean current speed is comparable (6.2 cm s−1 and 6.1 cm s−1 respectively), but the mean direction differs by about 121°. The direction of mean flow follows the bathymetric contour, and the maximum speed never exceeds 20 cm s−1 (below the typical benthic storm threshold). The potential temperature is remarkably stable (0.11 ± 0.01°C and 0.13 ± 0.02°C at the two sites). The cross-covariance indicates a significant peak at 20.2 days lag, slightly longer than the travel time of 18.7 days calculated between the two stations following the isobaths (98.4 km) and thus providing evidence for the topographic control on bottom water flow. The observed bottom water flow is consistent with deposition of Holocene hemipelagic sediments of the ‘drift maintenance’ stage. Indicators for palaeoceanographic conditions during glacial periods of the ‘drift maintenance’ stage and the older ‘drift growth’ stage are at present too scarce to understand fully how the past oceanographic conditions influenced the evolution of the drifts