Carbon sinks/sources in the Yellow and East China Seas—Air-sea interface exchange,dissolution in seawater,and burial in sediments

The sinks/sources of carbon in the Yellow Sea(YS) and East China Sea(ECS), which are important continental shelf seas in China, could exert a great influence on coastal ecosystem dynamics and the regional climate change process. The CO_2 exchange process across the seawater-air interface, dissolved and particulate carbon in seawater, and carbon burial in sediments were studied to understand the sinks/sources of carbon in the continental shelf seas of China. The YS and the ECS generally have different patterns of seasonal air-sea CO_2 exchange. In the YS, regions west of 124°E can absorb CO_2 from the atmosphere during spring and winter, and release CO_2 to the atmosphere during summer and autumn. The entire YS is considered as a CO_2 source throughout the year with respect to the atmosphere, but there are still uncertainties regarding the exact air-sea CO_2 exchange flux. Surface temperature and phytoplankton production were the key controlling factors of the air-sea CO_2 exchange flux in the offshore region and nearshore region of the YS, respectively. The ECS can absorb CO_2 during spring, summer, and winter and release CO_2 to the atmosphere during autumn. The annual average exchange rate in the ECS was-4.2±3.2 mmol m~(-2) d~(-1) and it served as an obvious sink for atmospheric CO_2 with an air-sea exchange flux of 13.7×10~6 t. The controlling factors of the air-sea CO_2 exchange in the ECS varied significantly seasonally. Storage of dissolved inorganic carbon(DIC) and dissolved organic carbon(DOC) in the YS and the ECS were 425×10~6 t and 1364×10~6 t, and 28.2×10~6 t and 54.1×10~6 t,respectively. Long-term observation showed that the DOC content in the YS had a decreasing trend, indicating that the "practical carbon sink" in the YS was decreasing. The total amount of particulate organic carbon(POC) stored in the YS and ECS was10.6×10~6 t, which was comparable to the air-sea CO_2 flux in these two continental shelf seas. The amounts of carbon sequestered by phytoplankton in the YS and the ECS were 60.42×10~6 t and 153.41×10~6 t, respectively. Artificial breeding of macroalgae could effectively enhance blue carbon sequestration, which could fix 0.36×10~6–0.45×10~6 t of carbon annually. Organic carbon(OC) buried in the sediments of the YS was estimated to be 4.75×10~6 t, and OC of marine origin was 3.03×10~6 t, accounting for5.0% of the TOC fixed by phytoplankton primary production. In the ECS, the corresponding depositional flux of OC in the sediment was estimated to be 7.4×10~6 t yr~(-1), and the marine-origin OC was 5.5×10~6 t, accounting for 5.4% of the phytoplankton primary production. Due to the relatively high average depositional flux of OC in the sediment, the YS and ECS have considerable potential to store a vast amount of "blue carbon."     

Satellite and Ground-Based Observations of Explosive Eruptions on Zhupanovsky Volcano,Kamchatka, Russia in 2013 and in 2014–2016

The active andesitic Zhupanovsky Volcano consists of four coalesced stratovolcano cones. The historical explosive eruptions of 1940, 1957, and 2014?2016 discharged material from the Priemysh Cone. The recent Zhupanovsky eruptions were studied using satellite data supplied by the Monitoring of Active Volcanoes in Kamchatka and on the Kuril Islands information system (VolSatView), as well as based on video and visual observations of the volcano. The first eruption started on October 22 and lasted until October 24, 2013. Fumaroles situated on the Priemysh western slope were the centers that discharged gas plumes charged with some amount of ash. The next eruption started on June 6, 2014 and lasted until November 20, 2016. The explosive activity of Zhupanovsky was not uniform in 2014–2016, with the ash plumes being detected on satellite images for an approximate total duration of 112 days spread over 17 months. The most vigorous activity was observed between June and October, and in November 2014, with a bright thermal anomaly being nearly constantly seen on satellite images around Priemysh between January and April 2015 and in January–February 2016. The 2014–2016 eruption culminated in explosive events and collapse of parts of the Priemysh Cone on July 12 and 14, November 30, 2015, and on February 12 and November 20, 2016.     

Biogeomorphology,quo vadis? On processes,time, and space in biogeomorphology

Biogeomorphology has been expanding as a discipline, due to increased recognition of the role that biology can play in geomorphic processes, as well as due to our increasing capacity to measure and quantify feedback between biological and geomorphological systems. Here, we provide an overview of the growth and status of biogeomorphology. This overview also provides the context for introducing this special issue on biogeomorphology, and specifically examines the thematic domains of biogeomorphological research, methods used, open questions and conundrums, problems encountered, future research directions, and practical applications in management and policy (e.g. nature-based solutions). We find that whilst biogeomorphological studies have a long history, there remain many new and surprising biogeomorphic processes and feedbacks that are only now being identified and quantified. Based on the current state of knowledge, we suggest that linking ecological and geomorphic processes across different spatio-temporal scales emerges as the main research challenge in biogeomorphology, as well as the translation of biogeomorphic knowledge into management approaches to environmental systems. We recommend that future biogeomorphic studies should help to contextualize environmental feedbacks by including the spatio-temporal scales relevant to the organism(s) under investigation, using knowledge of their ecology and size (or metabolic rate). Furthermore, in order to sufficiently understand the ‘engineering’ capacity of organisms, we recommend studying at least the time period bounded by two disturbance events, and recommend to also investigate the geomorphic work done during disturbance events, in order to put estimates of engineering capacity of biota into a wider perspective. Finally, the future seems bright, as increasingly inter-disciplinary and longer-term monitoring are coming to fruition, and we can expect important advances in process understanding across scales and better-informed modelling efforts. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Temporal and spatial variation and stability of the oasis in the Sangong River Watershed, Xinjiang, China

The unique ecological landscapes are composed of the mountain systems with the obviousvertical differentiation, vast natural desert systems, and oasis systems on which the human beings rely for the existence in the arid areas in West China. Oases are the …     

Edge‐, bottom‐, and Rossby waves in a rotating stratified fluid

Abstract

It is found that in a rotating stratified fluid bounded by a single rigid wall, edge waves may occur at all frequencies less than or equal to N sin a (a is the angle of the wall from the horizontal and N the Brunt‐Vaisala frequency). These decay exponentially away from the boundary, in a distance of O(S) wavelengths, for α = O(1), or O(S ^‐1) wavelengths, for αS ≤ O(1), where S is the ratio of N to the Coriolis parameter f, taken for illustration to be large. The phase and energy both move with a component to the left, facing shallow water. The waves could, for example, appear as an internal tide at the continental rise or as baroclinic meandering of currents over a slope.

The low‐frequency limit, αS ? 1, is studied in detail. To allow for large scales of motion other rigid boundaries and variations in f are included. The edge (actually “bottom") waves then merge with topographic‐planetary waves as the wavelengths increase; the familiar depth‐independent mode is found to be possible in the sea for wavelengths exceeding about 450 km. The ß‐effect introduces modes complementary to that trapped at the bottom, which instead are isolated from it.     

Time trend in natural-cause,circulatory-cause and respiratory-cause mortality associated with cold waves in Spain, 1975–2008

In general, there are few studies that analyse the impact of low temperatures on mortality, and even fewer that extend this analysis to specific causes of mortality. This study had a twofold aim: Firstly, to analyse the trend in natural-, circulatory- and respiratory-cause mortality associated with cold waves in Castile-La Mancha (Spain) across a period of analysis of 34 years, which would confer an important degree of temporal representativeness on the results obtained; and secondly, to ascertain whether this impact had decreased over the years. Time series analysis using multivariate ARIMA models with data on daily natural-, circulatory- and respiratory-cause mortality in Castile-La Mancha. The independent variables were minimum daily temperature, mean daily pressure and mean daily relative humidity. We controlled for seasonalities and trend of the series, as well as influenza epidemics, cold-wave duration and chronological number in any given year. Data were stratified in three ten-year stages, i.e., 1975–1985, 1986–1996 and 1997–2008. The mortality trigger temperature was set at a minimum daily temperature of ?2 °C, corresponding to the 4th ‰ of the minimum temperature series for the winter months considered. The impact on daily natural-cause mortality for each degree that the minimum daily temperature was below ?2 °C was: 10.4 % (95 % CI 9.6–11.2) in the first decade; 11.9 % (95 % CI 11.0–12.8) in the second decade; and fell to 1.6 % (95 % CI 0.9–2.3) in the third. This same pattern was observed for circulatory- and respiratory-cause mortality, with the effect of cold being greater for respiratory causes. Socio-economic factors -both of adaptation and demographic- could account for this sharp decrease in mortality associated with low temperatures. These results question climate models which predict the effects of cold over long-term time horizons, while maintaining the risk attributable to low temperatures constant. Studies similar to ours should be undertaken in other regions to confirm whether it is solely local characteristics that explain this pattern or, on the contrary, whether the pattern is generalised.     

Strong Earthquakes in 2009–2016 in Central Italy: Tectonic Position,Seismic History,and Aftershock Processes

Based on the seismological, geodynamic, and seismotectonic data on the strongest series of earthquakes in 2009–2017 in Central Italy, which were collected by many researchers, mostly Italian, the tectonic position of these events is determined and the seismic history of the region over more than 2000 years of observations of seismic manifestations in Italy is traced in the context of the strong events of the beginning of the 21st century. The aftershock processes of these earthquakes are investigated and, as a result, the possibility of a series of strong aftershocks of the earthquake of October 30, 2016 (M_W = 6.6) is predicted in advance of the actual occurrence of these events on January 18, 2017.     

Analysis of recent changes in rainfall and drought indices in Nigeria, 1981–2015

ABSTRACT

This study assesses the climate change impact on rainfall and drought incidents across Nigeria. Linear regression, Mann-Kendall tests and lag-1 serial correlation were adopted to analyse the trends and variability of rainfall and drought at 18 synoptic stations. Analysis of annual precipitation series indicates an increase in rainfall amounts at all stations, except Minna, Gusau and Yola. Seventeen of the 18 stations recorded at least one main drought period, between 1983 and 1987. A decreasing trend for the standardized precipitation index SPI-12 series was seen at Yola station, while the other stations showed an increasing trend. Also, Nigeria witnessed more annual rainfall totals but with high variability within the rainy months of the year in the first 15 years of the 21st century compared to the 20th century. Such variability in rainfall may have a significant effect on groundwater resources and the hydrology of Nigeria.     

Au-Sb association and fractionation in micro-disseminated gold deposits, southwestern Guizhou—geochemistry and thermodynamics

The dual geochemical character of paragenesis and fractionation between gold, arsenic and antimony in micro-disseminated gold deposits in southwestern Guizhou is discussed in terms of spatial distribution of independent deposits, lateral and vertical enrichment, mineralization stage and factor and correlation analyses. Thermodynamic calculations of solubility and speciation of gold and antimony minerals indicate that gold is transported in hydrothermal solution as Au(HS)^- ₂ and antimony is mainly as Sb (OH) ₃ ⁰ although HSb₂S₄ may be of increasing importance in acid environment at low temperatures during the late stage of mineralization. Changes in physicochemical conditions hold the key to the association and fractionation between gold and antimony. Gold and antimony response differently to physicochemical variations because they are distinct from each other in soluble speciation and mineral solubility, leading to precipitation at different times and localities during hydrothermal evolution.     

Prilimary result of temperature distribution and associated thermal stress in crust in Tianshui, China

The heat flow in crust and the thermal stress generated by the flow play a very important role in earthquake occurrence. Different crustal structure has different effect on heat distribution and associated thermal stress. In all of typical seismogenic crustal structure models, including the bulge of Moho surface, the deep-large fault in the mid-lower crust, low-velocity and high-conductive layer in the middle crust, and the typical crustal structure in mid-upper crust, the thermal stress produced by deep heat disturbance may move up to the mid-upper crest. This leads to upper brittle part of crust break and hence, strong earthquakes. This result is constructive in enhancing our understanding of the role of deep fieat flow in curst in development of earthquake and its generation, as well as the generation mechanism of the shallow flowing fluid.     

Phytoplankton,macrophytes and benthic diatoms in lake classification: Consistent,congruent, redundant? Lessons learnt from WFD-compliant monitoring in Poland

The lake monitoring programme compliant with the Water Framework Directive has been implemented in Poland since 2007. Currently, the methods for three biological quality elements (BQEs): phytoplankton (the Phytoplankton Multimetric for Polish Lakes, PMPL), macrophytes (the Ecological State Macrophyte Index, ESMI) and phytobenthos (the Diatom Index for Lakes, IOJ) are officially applied and internationally intercalibrated. Based on the monitoring data from 256 lakes surveyed in 2010–2013 and assessed for all the three BQEs, we tested whether the assessment results obtained by the three biological methods were consistent and we searched for the causes of inconsistencies which we found. The lake classifications obtained from the PMPL and ESMI were highly consistent and the relationship between these metrics was relatively strong (R = 0.66, p < 0.001). Both metrics correlated equally strongly with water quality indicators. However, the PMPL and ESMI indicated systematic dissimilarities in the sensitivity to eutrophication between shallow and deep lakes. In shallow lakes, the alarming symptoms of macrophyte community deterioration (lower values of ESMI) occurred at lower nutrient and Chla concentrations and were accompanied by a better status of phytoplankton (higher values of PMPL) than in deep lakes that can be explained by a synergistic effect of inorganic suspended solids and algal growth on water transparency. As a consequence, the positions of phytoplankton and macrophytes as early warning indicators in the eutrophication gradient in shallow lakes were inverted compared to those in deep lakes. Compared to the PMPL and ESMI, the IOJ method gave the least stringent assessment results, with 22% of lakes failing to meet the environmental objectives. The relationships between IOJ and PMPL, and ESMI were relatively weak (R = 0.17, p = 0.008 and R = 0.17, p = 0.007, respectively). Moreover, the phytobenthos index IOJ correlated significantly more weakly with all the water quality indicators than either PMPL or ESMI did. The poor performance of the phytobenthos method in this study may suggest a limited indicator value of this BQE for lake assessment or inappropriate sampling design.     

Pioneer organisms after F-F mass extinction in Dushan region, Guizhou Province, and their significance in establishing new ecosystem

After bio-mass extinction, the ecosystems in most areas were damaged seriously and may become an “ecologically barren area” lacking or even without ecosystems. To know what the pioneer organisms would be and their development, and to trace the es- tablishment process of the ecosystems are of great importance for the study of the biological evolution and recovery in aftermath. As one of the “big five” mass extinctions in the geological history, the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian (F-F) e…     

Thermal Process in the Crust and Upper Mantle in Xingtai-Shulu area of Hebei Province,China

Study of geothermal field data,terrestrial heat flow values,and other geophysical data from the Xingtai-Shulu area of Hebei Province made us more understanding of the distribution of geothermal fields and deep structures and their interrelation.The study illustrates that the geothermal field has an apparent lateral inhomogeneity and is evidently correlated by the structure of the crust and upper mantle in the area.The relation of the geothermal field distribution to the structure indicates that in comparison with the depression zone,the uplift zone has a higher heat flow value and a larger geothermal gradient.The analysis of the relation between distribution of earthquake epicenters and geothermal field and mathematical simulation of thermal stress in the area suggests that thermal stress plays an important role in the process of earthquake generation.     

Geochronological and geochemical comparison of Precambrian meta-mafic volcanics in Zhongtiaoshan and Lüliangshan Regions in Shanxi,North China Craton

To unravel the geochemical heterogeneity and its origin in different terranes of North China, we conducted geochronological and geochemical analyses of the meta-mafic rocks from the Lüliang–Zhongtiao rift zone(Shanxi Province). LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating yielded mostly End-Neoarchean to Proterozoic ages for the basement rocks(Sushui Complex: 2516 ± 26 Ma; Metamafic rocks: 2494 ± 31 Ma), Jiangxian Group(～ 2213 Ma), Zhongtiao Group(2077 ± 29 Ma), Jiehekou Group(1998 ± 23 Ma), and Lü liang Group(2152 ± 52 Ma). Petrographic characteristics show that the meta-mafic rocks from the Neoarchean–Paleoproterozoic Zhongtiaoshan(Sushui Complex) have similar geochemical characteristics to the overlying Jiangxian and Zhongtiao Groups. The Paleoproterozoic Lüliang andYejishan Group meta-mafic rocks from Lü liangshan also have similar geochemical characteristics but are geochemically different from similar-age rocks from Zhongtiaoshan. This shows that the late-stage rocks have a geochemical inheritance from the early-stage rocks in the same region and that the geochemical heterogeneity of rocks from different areas was originated from the inherited heterogeneity of the magma source.     

Mega-blowouts in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau: Morphology,distribution and initiation

Blowouts are wind-eroded landforms that are widely distributed in the north-eastern part in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), China. These blowouts are thought to form in response to climate change and/or human activity but little is known about their morphodynamics. Using field surveys, remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis, the distribution and morphology of blowouts are analysed and their initiation considered. Results show the QTP mega-blowouts are some of the largest in the world. The orientations of the trough shaped blowouts are parallel with the prevailing wind, but the saucer and bowl-shaped blowouts are influenced by bi-directional transport. Whilst regional patterns of blowout shape and size were observed to reflect the extent of aeolian sediments and wind regimes, the relationship between the different morphological parameters showed consistency. During initial stages of development, the length to width ratios of blowouts increase rapidly with area but after they reach a mega size this relationship stabilizes as blowouts widen. Initial luminescence dating shows that blowouts appear to have initiated ~100 to 500 years ago, coinciding with the Little Ice Age (LIA) climate event when northwest winds are known to have intensified. Further work is required to confirm this initiation period and establish the significance of mega blowouts for landscape degradation and human activities. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Glacial meltwater and sea ice meltwater in the Prydz Bay, Antarctica

It has been well known by oceanographers that the World Ocean Circulation originates inNorth Atlantic near the Greenland, where in wintertime the cooled surface water descends to form North Atlantic Deep Waters (NADW). The NADW, when passing the Antarctic…     

The nutrient forms, cycling and exchange flux in the sediment and overlying water system in lakes from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River

This paper is a review of research works concerning the nutrient transportation, transformation and exchange between water, sediment and biota in the lakes from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River conducted in the context of project entitled "The Processes and Mechanism of Lake Eutrophication in Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River". All the lakes from this area are shallow lakes. According to the typical lake site research, the lakes from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River have a higher baseline of nutrition in the history. Normally the trophic status of these lakes can be categorized into medium-trophic or eutrophic. Human activities have been enhanced during the last decades, which speed up the lake eutrophic process. Lake eutrophication control needs to reduce not only the external nutrient inputs from watershed but also the internal loading from the sediments. Investigations revealed that the lake sediments in this area are considerablly high in nutrition in which at most about 30% of phosphorus exists in the form of bio-available in the sediment. The surface sediment will exert great effects on the nutrient exchange between water-sediment interface via adsorption and release of nutrient. The nutrient release from the sediment in these shallow lakes is mainly in two ways, i.e. in the undisturbed condition the nutrient is released through diffusion created by the nutrient gradient from sediment to overlying water; whereas in disturbed condition, the nutrient release is determined by the hydrodynamic forcing intensity and the sediment resuspension. Metallic elements such as the iron, manganese and aluminium and the aerobic-anaerobic ambience will affect the release of nutrients. The disturbed release will increase the total nutrients in the water column significantly in the short period. At the beginning of sediment resuspension, the dissolved nutrient concentration will increase. This increase will be damped if the ferric oxide and aluminium are rich in sediment because of the adsorption and flocculation. This means that the lakes have capability of eliminating the nutrient loadings. Investigations for the lakes from middle and down stream of Yangtze River have suggested that most lakes have the self-cleaning capability. Dredging the control of the internal loading, therefore, is only applicable to the small lakes or undisturbed bays which normally are situated nearby the city or town and rich in organic materials in the sediment. In addition, the strong reduction condition and weak aeration of these lakes and bays make these small lakes and bays release much more bio-available nutrient and without much self-eliminating capability. Moreover, eutrophication induced algal bloom in these lakes will change the pH of water, which further induces the increase in the nutrient release. In turn, the increase in nutrient release promotes the growth of phytoplankton and results in severe algal bloom. For the heavily polluted water, research suggests that the biomass of bacteria and alkaline phosphatase activity will be higher corresponding to the higher concentration of nutrients, which accelerates the nutrient recycling between water, sediment and biota. Quick recycling of nutrient, in turn, promotes the production and biomass growth of microorganism and leads to more severe eutrophication. Further research work should focus on the nutrient transformation mechanism and the effects of microbial loop on the eutrophication.     

Wavelet analysis and interpretation of gravity data in Sichuan-Yunnan region, China

Introduction Sichuan-Yunnan region, located in the east margin of Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetean) Plateau, is a transitional zone between the rapidly upheaving Tibetean Plateau and relatively steady Yangtze Platform. Under the pressure exerted by the northward movement of Indian Plate, Sichuan-Yunnan region has been undergone strong deformation and regmagenesis, becoming one of the regions with the most intensive seismicity in the world. The research on the tectonics and seismicity there is alw…     

Gravity field separation, density inversion and crustal tectonics in Kang-Dian region

IntroductionTethys-Himalya tectonic belt extends from west to east across Europe, Asia and Africa, and stops at the longitude of 104(E in China. The famous North-south active tectonic belt located in China is a part of China-Mongolia central-axis strong earthquake belt and the huge crustal thickness undulation belt. The tectonic belt is a strong extrusion, tension and shear region. It is synthesized by topography gradient belt, faults, Cenozoic basin and strong earthquake belt on north-so…