INTERACTIONS BETWEEN AMMONIUM UPTAKE AND NITRATE UPTAKE BY NATURAL PHYTOPLANKTONASSEMBLAGES

Measurements of ammonium and nitrate uptakes by natural phytoplankton assemblages from Jiaozhou Bay at various combinations of ammonium and nitrate concentrations with 15N trace techniques showed that uptake rate of either nitrogen was influenced by the presence of the other but that the influence of ammonium on nitrate uptake was much greater than, that of nitrate on ammonium uptake. The influence mechanism of ammonium on nitrate uptake manifested as competition at lower concentrations and as inhibition at higher concentrations (ammonium concentration >0.6 umol/L), but no total inhibition appeared within the concentration.range of the experiments (0-10umol/L). The influence of nitrate on ammonium uptake seems to be a result of competition for uptake sites on the cell surface. In view of the in situ nutrient concentration in the given marine . environment, it is believed that both nitrogen sources are utilized by phytoplankton. Nitrate uptake in the presence of ammonium and ammonium uptake in the presen     

Regional variation of Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficients in the Eastern Pacific

Seismograms recorded for five earthquakes on the east Pacific rise have been analyzed to obtain the attenuation coefficients of the fundamental Rayleigh mode for the eastern Pacific in the 15–110 second period range. The attenuation coefficients have been obtained using two new methods, a reference-station method, and an iterative method by which the seismic moment and regionalized attenuation coefficient values are obtained simultaneously after considering the effect of the source directivity and time-function. The reference-station method was applied to the entire eastern Pacific, excluding paths along the east Pacific rise. When using the iterative method we divided the eastern Pacific into three sub-regions, designated as the north-eastern Pacific, the Nazca plate and the east Pacific rise. Although much scatter is present, the data suggest that attenuation coefficients for the Nazca plate are higher than those for the northeastern Pacific, and both are substantially higher than average values obtained for the entire Pacific Ocean. Two paths that lie along or near the east Pacific rise are characterized by especially high attenuation coefficients. These values suggest that a low-Q zone exists beneath that narrow feature.     

柴北缘乌兰北部三叠纪辉长岩的年代学和地球化学特征

柴北缘乌兰地区中生代岩浆岩分布广泛，主要出露辉长岩、闪长岩、花岗闪长岩和花岗岩。乌兰北部两件辉长岩样品的LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb测年显示其加权平均年龄分别为（241.9±0.9） Ma和（245.4±1.9） Ma，说明其形成于中三叠世早期。辉长岩的w（SiO₂）为47.94%和52.01%，全碱质量分数较低（ALK为1.25%和1.47%），里特曼指数为0.33和0.26，属钙碱性系列岩石；w（Cr）（1 661.00×10^-6和1 418.00×10^-6）、w（Ni）（394.00×10^-6和280.00×10^-6）和Mg^#值（81和79）极高，具幔源原生玄武岩浆特征。轻、重稀土元素分馏较弱，LREE/HREE为3.92和3.44，无明显负Eu异常，表明未发生明显的岩浆分异作用；富集K、Rb等大离子亲石元素，不同程度地亏损Nb、Ta、Ti等高场强元素，表现为与俯冲作用相关的弧岩浆岩特征。辉长岩的ε_Hf（t）值（-3.0~9.3）变化较大，暗示来自地幔的基性岩浆中有地壳组分的加入。结合区域地质演化特征研究成果，认为辉长岩形成于古特提斯洋向北俯冲背景下的大陆边缘弧环境，俯冲的洋壳板片脱水产生的流体导致上覆地幔楔部分熔融，形成玄武质岩浆，岩浆上升侵位过程中遭受地壳物质混染或与壳源岩浆发生混合作用。     

Silurian Sedimentation in the South Qilian Belt: Arc-Continent Collision-related Deposition in the NE Tibet Plateau?

The South Qilian belt mainly comprises an early Paleozoic arc-ophiolite complex, accretionary prism, microcontinental block, and foreland basin. These elements represent accretion-collision during Cambrian to Silurian time in response to closure of the Proto-Tethyan Ocean in the NE of the present-day Tibet Plateau. Closure of the Proto-Tethyan Ocean between the Central Qilian block and the Oulongbuluke block and the associated collision took place from NE to SW in a zipper-like style. Sediment would have been dispersed longitudinally SW-ward with a progressive facies migration from marginal alluvial sediments toward slope deep-water and deep-sea turbidites. This migration path indicates an ocean basin that shrank toward the SW. The Balonggongga'er Formation in the western South Qilian belt represents the fill of a latest Ordovician-Silurian remnant ocean basin that separated the Oulongbuluke block from the Central Qilian block, and records Silurian closure of the Proto-Tethyan Ocean and subduction beneath the Central Qilian block. However, alluvial deposits in the Lajishan area were accumulated in a retro-foreland basin, indicating that continent-continent collision in the eastern South Qilian belt occurred at c. 450–440 Ma. These results demonstrate that the Proto-Tethyan Ocean closed diachronously during early Paleozoic time.     

Sedimentary budget of the Northwest Sub-basin,South China Sea: controlling factors and geological implications

ABSTRACT

We calculated the sedimentary budget of the Northwest Sub-basin (NWSB), South China Sea for different geological times based on interpretations of four multichannel seismic profiles across the basin with constraints from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expeditions 367 and 368 drilling results. Sedimentation was generally dominated by regional tectonic events and climate change, but complicated by local tectonic events and geographic position, which resulted in a specific sedimentary budget in the NWSB compared with other marginal basins and the Southwest Sub-basin. The sedimentation rate was relatively low following the opening of the NWSB but increased gradually during the Middle Miocene, corresponding to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and the Asian monsoon. It reached its peak in the Late Miocene, corresponding to uplift of the Dongsha Island region that caused intensive bypass of eroded sediments from the Baiyun Sag into the abyssal basin, and reduced again during the Pliocene because of sediment storage on the wide northern continental shelf area compared to the abyssal basin during a period of high-stand sea level. Increase in sedimentation during the Pleistocene suggests that continental erosion and sediment transport to the abyssal basin were enhanced by an intensified Asian summer monsoon and glacial-interglacial climate fluctuations. Since the opening of the NWSB, the primary sediment provenance has been from southern China, with minor contributions from the Red River, Hainan Island, as well as local uplifts on the continental shelf.     

慢速扩张脊下的复杂熔- 岩相互作用：来自大西洋北纬14°97′区段洋中脊含铬铁矿纯橄岩的记录

在大西洋洋中脊北纬14°97′附近贫岩浆型慢速扩张脊区段的洋底岩石调查中，拖网取样及洋底钻探均发现蛇纹石化地幔岩石中有脉状纯橄岩。纯橄岩中的铬铁矿粒度以毫米级为主，个别颗粒直径接近厘米级别，成分上显示中等程度的铬值与镁值(Cr#=52. 2~56. 1；Mg#=44. 6~51. 5)较高的TiO2含量(0. 60% ～0. 91%)。铬铁矿内部包裹体中大量出现韭闪石+金云母组合，并发现自形磷灰石包裹体。这些特征与“俯冲带型铬铁矿”的成分特征及矿物包裹体组合非常类似。本文的样品观察说明在洋中脊下方的熔体通道内，高度演化的熔体可以形成小体积的富水岩浆并参与铬铁矿的形成。拖网调查与钻探研究证实，研究区的纯橄岩、异剥橄榄岩、富橄榄石橄长岩、辉石岩、辉长岩及橄榄辉长岩等均以脉体形式产于难熔的大洋岩石圈橄榄岩质地幔中。这些脉状岩石共同记录了洋中脊玄武质熔体向上迁移过程中与围岩方辉橄榄岩间的熔- 岩反应，属于“交代橄榄岩”的范畴，揭示了慢速扩张洋脊之下熔体迁移诱发的复杂熔- 岩相互作用。     

Decadal-scale variations of water mass properties in the deep Weddell Sea

Data from cruises between 1989 and 2003 with FS Polarstern were used to construct section-wide potential temperature and salinity time series of the main water masses in the Weddell Gyre. In tandem with these CTD data, two time series between 1989 and 1995 are presented from moored instruments in the central Weddell Sea. The regional and methodological consistency of the dataset allows us to quantify variations which are not visible in less homogeneous datasets. The data reveal significant temperature and salinity variations of the Warm Deep Water and the Weddell Sea Bottom Water on a decadal time scale. The longest time series were obtained at the prime meridian. Here warming is observed in the Warm Deep Water from 1992 to 1998 followed by cooling. In the Weddell Sea proper, measurements of instruments moored in the Weddell Sea Bottom Water layer recorded a temperature increase over 6 years at a rate of 0.01 °C a^–1. After the mooring period, CTD casts in 1998 point to a weakening of the trend. The warming trend in the bottom water occurs over most of the Weddell Sea, as detected in the additional CTD surveys. The variations are close to the detection level in the voluminous Weddell Sea Deep Water. The initial warming trend of the Warm Deep Water is consistent with warming trends reported in literature of subsurface waters of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The reversal of the trend in the Weddell Sea seems to be related to variations of the atmospheric conditions which can affect both the intrusion of Circumpolar Deep Water from the north and the circulation of the Weddell Gyre. Because the Warm Deep Water is the major source water for the formation of deep and bottom water in the Weddell Sea, it is suggested that its increase in temperature and salinity is likely to at least partly cause the variations which were observed in the bottom water.Responsible Editor: Jörg-Olaf Wolff     

A two-way nested-grid ocean-circulation model for the Meso-American Barrier Reef System

A two-way nested-grid ocean-circulation model is developed for the Meso-American Barrier Reef System (MBRS), using a newly developed two-way interactive nesting technique. The unique feature of this new nesting technique is its use of the semi-prognostic method (Sheng et al. 2001) to exchange information between different grids through the model momentum equations. The nested-grid model for the MBRS has a fine-resolution inner model embedded in a coarse-resolution outer model. The outer model is the western Caribbean Sea model developed by Sheng and Tang (2003), with a horizontal resolution of roughly 19 km. The inner model domain covers the northwest Caribbean Sea (NWCS) between 79°W and 89°W and between 15.5°N and 22°N, with a horizontal resolution of roughly 6 km. The nested-grid ocean model is initialized with the January mean temperature and salinity and forced by the monthly mean COADS (comprehensive ocean-atmosphere data set) wind stress and surface heat flux. The model sea-surface salinity is restored to the monthly mean climatology. The nested-grid model is integrated for 2 years and the second-year model results are presented in this paper. The model-calculated annual-mean near-surface currents over the NWCS agree reasonably well with the time-mean near-surface currents inferred by Fratantoni (2001) from trajectories of the satellite-tracked 15-m drogued drifters in the 1990s. The two-way nested model is also used to quantify the role of local wind stress, local density gradients and boundary forcings of the outer model in driving the annual-mean circulation in the region.Responsible Editor: Phil Dyke     

Variability of the Subtropical Front in the Indian Ocean south of Australia

A detailed high resolution survey of a small region (68 × 68 km) of the Subtropical Front south of Australia over a period of 14 days is used to study the interaction between the mixed layer and the permanent frontal structure underneath during summer conditions. The front extends through the mixed layer as a salinity front, while its temperature structure is modified by seasonal warming. Wind-driven movement of the mixed layer combines with the short-time development of indentations and filaments in the front to produce some degree of decoupling between the mixed layer and the underlying structure, and the front is not always found at the same location in and below the mixed layer. Intrusions and parcels of distinct water properties are found just below the mixed layer, produced as a result of the relative movement of the front in and below the mixed layer. These parcels are typically 10 km in width and 10–50 m in depth. Successive surveys of the front with a time separation of 2 days showed that these features persist over at least 1 week. Large scale surveys of the front show that parcels are ubiquitous along the Subtropical Front over a distance of several hundred kilometres. The results suggest that any study aimed at understanding the intricate interaction between the mixed layer and the layers below in oceanic fronts will have to address wind-driven dynamics and frontal dynamics together.This revised version was published online February 2005 with corrections to figures. Unfortunately the figures were reproduced in black and white and in the new version they are in color.     

Antarctic circumpolar modes in a coupled ocean–atmosphere model

Eastward-propagating patterns in anomalous potential temperature and salinity of the Southern Ocean are analyzed in the output of a 1000-year simulation of the global coupled atmosphere–ocean GCM ECHO-G. Such features can be associated with the so-called Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW). It is found that time–longitude diagrams that have traditionally been used to aid the visualization of the ACW are strongly influenced by the width of the bandpass time filtering. This is due to the masking of considerable low-frequency variability that occurs over a broad range of time scales. Frequency–wavenumber analysis of the ACW shows that the eastward-propagating waves do have preferred spectral peaks, but that both the period and wavenumber change erratically when comparing different centuries throughout the simulation. The variability of the ACW on a variety of time scales from interannual to centennial suggests that the waiting time for a sufficient observational record to determine the time scale of variability of the real world ACW (and the associated decadal time scale predictability of climate for southern landmasses) will be a very long one.Responsible Editor: Dirk Olbers