A Late Weichselian find of polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps) from Denmark and reflections on the paleoenvironment

The mandible of a polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps) found in about 1920 at Kjul Å, North Jutland, and described by Nordmann & Degerbol in 1930. has been ^l4C dated to 11.100 ± 160 B.P. It is so far the only find of polar bear in Denmark. Comparison with recent ¹⁴C datings of Swedish and Norwegian polar bears shows that the Danish specimen was a member of a southern Scandinavian Late Weichselian population. The contemporaneous Zirphaeu sea deposits can be regarded as the boreal-arctic shallow water equivalent of the arctic Upper Saxicava sand deposits from northern Jutland. The polar bear mandible, however, was deposited on land, as was the metacarpal bone of a brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) from the nearby Nr. Lyngby locality of Allerød age. The overall picture of the Late Weichselian mammal fauna in Denmark shows a mixed composition of different ecotypes. Their sympatric occurrence points at a unique environment not comparable to any now existing, and probably related to the very low latitude of the Weichselian ice sheet.     

雪卡毒素及其产毒底栖甲藻的研究现状与展望

雪卡毒素（Ciguatoxins,CTXs）是一种高度氧化的环状聚醚梯类毒素,主要由冈比亚藻（Gambierdiscus）和福氏藻（Fukuyoa）两个属的底栖甲藻的一些产毒种类的株系产生。毒素通过海洋食物链在珊瑚礁鱼类中进行生物转化和积累,可引起常见的非细菌性海产中毒——雪卡毒素中毒（Ciguatera Poisoning,CP）,食用被CTXs污染的鱼类会引起消费者产生胃肠道、心血管、神经方面的症状甚至导致死亡,但目前雪卡毒素中毒在全球引发的关注度与重视度不足。然而受全球气候变化和人类活动的影响,底栖甲藻在全球扩张趋势明显,特别是在亚洲地区,雪卡毒素中毒事件频繁爆发,雪卡毒素中毒对人类健康和生态系统健康构成了重大威胁。本文重点综述了产雪卡毒素底栖甲藻的种类多样性、化学多样性、生理生态学研究、以及毒素的生物合成机制与生物转化和累积方面的研究,并探讨了亚洲地区作为雪卡毒素潜在的爆发地点未来值得研究的领域以更好地保障亚洲海域的生态安全及居民健康。     

Preface to the Special Issue: Climate Change and Variability of Tropical Cyclone Activity

Tropical cyclones(TCs) are one of the most destructive natural phenomena on Earth in terms of human-life and economic losses. It is currently a matter of prodigious public and scientific interest how TC activity has changed and will change in a warming climate. This special issue focuses on a challenging subject raised in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) report and numerous research papers.     

Two Types of Diurnal Variations in Heavy Rainfall during July over Korea※

This study examined the characteristics of the diurnal variations of heavy rainfall (≥110 mm in 12 hours) in Korea and the related atmospheric circulation for July from 1980?2020. During the analysis period, two dominant pattens of diurnal variation of the heavy rainfall emerged: all-day heavy rainfall (AD) and morning only heavy rainfall (MO) types. For the AD-type, the heavy rainfall is caused by abundant moisture content in conjunction with active convection in the morning (0000?1200, LST; LST = UTC + 9) and the afternoon hours (1200?2400 LST). These systems are related to the enhanced moisture inflow and upward motion induced by the strengthening of the western North Pacific subtropical high and upper-tropospheric jet. For the MO-type, heavy rainfall occurs mostly in the morning hours; the associated atmospheric patterns are similar to the climatology. We find that the atmospheric pattern related to severe heavy rainfalls in 2020 corresponds to a typical AD-type and resembles the 1991 heavy-rainfall system in its overall synoptic/mesoscale circulations. The present results imply that extremely heavy rainfall episodes in Korea during the 2020 summer may occur again in the future associated with the recurring atmospheric phenomenon related to the heavy rainfall.     

Amino acid analyses of type 3 chondrites Colony,Ornans, Chainpur,and Bishunpur

Abstract– The CO3s Colony and Ornans and LL3s Chainpur and Bishunpur were analyzed for the first time for amino acids using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). Type 3 chondrites have relatively unaltered metamorphic and petrological histories. Chainpur was the most amino acid rich of the four type 3 chondrites with a total amino acid abundance of 3330 parts per billion (ppb). The other type 3 chondrites had total amino acid abundances that ranged from 660 to 1110 ppb. A d /l ratio of <0.7 for all proteic amino acids suggests at least some amino acid terrestrial contamination. However, a small fraction of indigenous extraterrestrial amino acids cannot be excluded because of the presence of the nonprotein amino acid α‐aminoisobutyric acid (α‐AIB), and unusually high relative abundances (to glycine) of β‐alanine and γ‐ABA. The comparisons between the free and total amino acid contents of the samples also indicate a low free/total amino acid ratio (ranging from about 1:4 in CO chondrites to about 1:50 in Chainpur), which indicate that amino acids are present mainly in the bound form and were made detectable after acid hydrolysis.     

激光雷达地形资料用于河道输沙的研究

中国台湾地区位处亚热带地区,夏季受台风暴雨侵袭,加上位处板块运动活跃处,造成地形变化较大,尤其在台风暴雨后河道地形都会产生很大的变化;目前航空激光雷达地形数据,分辨率较高、精度、便利性,并可以滤除建筑物与树木遮蔽,还原原始地面形貌,符合地质与地形分析研究的需要。2008年兰阳溪地区经历海鸥(KALMAEGI)、凤凰(FUNG-WONG)、森拉克(SINLAKU)、蔷薇(JANGMI)等4次重大台风事件,河床地形变化甚剧,因此本研究利用两次航空激光雷达测量地形数据,分析比较台风前后河床地形以及河道输沙的变化。研究成果首次展示空载激光雷达系统,在大流域面积测量河道地形应用效果显著,于台风季节前后产制不同时期的数值地形数据,并应用高程差值的地形计量方法,计算在台风季节前后河道地形的变化,研究结果显示空载激光雷达高解析数值地形模型数据,应用在河道地形变迁与沉积物体积变化量计算,可以得到极佳的成果。     

Utilizing discriminant function analysis with a geographical information system to model ecological succession spatially

Abstract

A raster/quadtree geographical information system (GIS) was established For a 932 ha natural area in central Missouri. The GIS contained map layers depicting vegetative cover from 1939 to 1982, soils, topographic aspect and distance from a forest seed source. Discriminant function analysis was used to quantify and describe ecological succession on the area during this period. The calibration of discriminant functions is discussed, as are the statistical and spatial validations of the model. It was concluded that this approach provides a useful technique to examine long-term temporal phenomena in a spatial context.