What controls dead-ice melting under different climate conditions? A discussion

In the geological record, hummocky dead-ice moraines represent the final product of the melt-out of dead-ice. Processes and rates of dead-ice melting in ice-cored moraines and at debris-covered glaciers are commonly believed to be governed by climate and debris-cover properties. Here, backwasting rates from 14 dead-ice areas are assessed in relation to mean annual air temperature, mean summer air temperature, mean annual precipitation, mean summer precipitation, and annual sum of positive degree days. The highest correlation was found between backwasting rate and mean annual air temperature. However, the correlation between melt rates and climate parameters is low, stressing that processes and topography play a major role in governing the rates of backwasting. The rates of backwasting from modern glacial environments should serve as input to de-icing models for ancient dead-ice areas in order to assess the mode and duration of deposition.A challenge for future explorations of dead-ice environments is to obtain long-term records of field-based monitoring of melt progression. Furthermore, many modern satellite-borne sensors have high potentials for recordings of multi-temporal Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for detection and quantification of changes in dead-ice environments. In recent years, high-accuracy DEMs from airborne laser scanning altimetry (LiDAR) are emerging as an additional data source. However, time series of high-resolution aerial photographs remain essential for both visual inspection and high-resolution stereographic DEM production.     

干旱生态环境及水资源对全球气候变暖响应的研究进展

西北地区现代气候变化基本特征是冬暖夏干,采用脆弱度和影响指数方法定量评价了生态环境对全球气候变暖响应,重点阐述了西北现代气候变化对干旱生态环境和水资源这两个领域的影响.结果表明: 由于现代气候变干变暖的自然和人为因素的共同作用,导致我国西北地区的黄土高原、黑河流域、石羊河流域、甘南高原和黄河首曲的地域生态环境有不断退化的趋势.气候变干使渭河上游、黄河上游(洮河和大夏河)以及黄土高原中部7条主要河流的径流量呈明显下降趋势,引起水资源短缺.     

气候变化对塔里木河来自天山的地表径流影响

塔里木河水资源主要来自天山南坡两条源流,选择西段阿克苏河和中段开都河-孔雀河作为研究区.1956-2003年研究河源山区气温呈持续升温且降水波动增加的趋势,其中1995-2003年升温强劲,升温速率高出48 a期间平均的3倍以上;降水自1986年后持续增加,20世纪90年代较80年代增幅达18%,并显示出河源山区湿岛向塔里木盆地扩展.因高山缺少气象观测,出山径流过程变化可以综合反映中高山带的气候变化.塔里木河来自天山的地表径流在1986-2003年间持续增长,以冰川融水补给为主的库玛拉克河,1994年以来年径流量增加已在前期平均值基础上提升了一个台阶;开都河以降水径流补给为主,1986-2002年出现了观测记录以来的丰水期,并使1986年后博斯腾湖水位快速上升,恢复到1958年记录的最高水位以上.两河年径流变化趋势基本相似,但也显示有西、中段的气候变化局部差异,出现丰枯水期的不一致;然而,在近16 a升温过程中,年径流增长幅度和快慢相近.     

南印度洋SST与南亚季风环流年代际变化的研究

利用美国NCEP全球大气再分析资料和JONES全球海表面温度异常(SSTA)资料，分析了南印度洋SSTA和南亚季风环流年代际变化的特征。研究发现，无论是南印度洋副热带海水辐合区的SST还是赤道以北非洲西海岸附近上升运动海区的SST的长期变化趋势，除了准3-5年的变化以外，还存在着明显的年代际的变化。对于全球最显著南亚季风环流的分析表明，南亚季风环流也存在明显的年代际时间尺度的变化。与南太平洋SST的年代际变化相比，南印度洋SST的变化周期要相对短一些。通过分析南半球冷空气年代际活动的特征发现，冷空气与南印度洋SST年代际时间尺度的变化具有密切的联系。     

Predictability of Interannual Variability in the Kuroshio Transport South of Japan Based on Wind Stress Data over the North Pacific

It is expected that a roughly two-year forecast of the Kuroshio transport variation can be made from a past record of wind stress data over the ocean, since it takes nearly ten years for the first-mode baroclinic Rossby wave to traverse the entire basin in the midlatitude North Pacific (∼30°N). We therefore investigated the predictability using an ocean general circulation model driven by the wind stress data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis. Referring to a hindcast experiment as the control run, we carried out fifteen forecast experiments, the initial conditions of which are taken from the hindcast experiment at intervals of two years during the period from the end of 1969 to the end of 1997. Each of the forecast experiments is driven only by wind stress in the year preceding each experiment. The forecasted Kuroshio transport anomaly south of Japan agrees better with the hindcasted one during the first two years of the forecast in most cases. In some cases, however, significant disagreements occur, most of which are likely due to larger unpredictable variations caused by wind stress anomalies near Japan. At the end of forecast year 2, the anomaly correlation coefficient is about 0.7, and rms of the forecast error is smaller than rms of the hindcasted anomaly. These results indicate that the prediction of the interannual variability in the Kuroshio transport could be made two years in advance at a statistically significant level. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Dynamics of Covering Behaviour in Dominant Echinoid Populations from American and European West Coasts

Abstract.  The so-called 'covering behaviour' of echinoids is known to vary with habitat according to the types of covering items available, but the full extent of the role played by habitat characteristics in this behaviour is not known. Moreover, whether or not different species inhabiting similar environmental conditions and habitats also show similar patterns of this particular behaviour has yet to be investigated. In this study, two prominent west coast echinoid species, Paracentrotus lividus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus , were examined with respect to covering behaviour and spatial organisation. Populations of both species are found in exposed intertidal zones, occupying boreholes within tidepools. Important similarities were found in the spatial organisation of both species' populations, with lowest densities in upper shore pools. However, the size distributions of the two populations differed significantly; P. lividus within upper shore pools were significantly larger than those in mid or lower shore pools, whereas S. purpuratus on the lower shore were significantly larger than those at other shore heights. We found significant between-species variability in covering item use, although the number of covering items available at both sites was not significantly different. For example, greater densities of covering items were used by P. lividus than by S. purpuratus . We also found that the percent of echinoid surface area covered varied significantly in space for both species. These data emphasise the complex and multifaceted nature of covering behaviour, but most importantly, they also strongly suggest that habitat characteristics can only partly explain the extent of this behavioural variability amongst echinoid species.     

关于南海暖水季节和年际变化的研究

阐述了研究南海暖水的意义 ,综述了关于南海暖水的现状 ,提出了关于南海暖水季节和年际变化方面应该研究的问题     

热带大西洋年际和年代际变率的时空结构模拟

使用美国夏威夷大学发展的中等复杂程度海洋模式(IOM)在给定表面强迫条件下模拟了热带大西洋上层海洋年际和年代际变率的时空结构.利用NCEP的41a(1958～1998年)逐月平均表面资料作为强迫场,积分海洋模式41a作为控制试验,并利用模式分别做动量(风应力)通量和热量通量无异常变化的平行试验,与控制试验作比较.对3组试验模拟上层海洋变率状况的比较,并按年际和年代际时间尺度分别分析,揭示表面风应力和热通量异常对海表面温度和温跃层深度变化的影响,并比较了其影响的相对重要性.结果表明模式成功地模拟出了热带大西洋上层海洋的变率.模式模拟的海表面温度年际变化主要表现为弱ENSO型,年代际变化表现为南、北大西洋变化相反的偶极子型.在年际时间尺度上,热力强迫和动力强迫对海表温度变化都有贡献,其中赤道外海表面温度异常(SSTA)变化主要由热通量异常引起,而近赤道SSTA的变化主要由动量异常强迫引起.在年代际时间尺度上,热通量强迫的作用远比动量强迫重要.模式不仅能够模拟SST在年际和年代际时间尺度上的变率,还能够模拟温跃层深度在年际和年代际时间尺度上的变率.年际和年代际时间尺度上,温跃层深度的变率主要由动量异常决定,热通量异常强迫的贡献很小.     

The Bering Sea—A dynamic food web perspective

The Bering Sea is a high-latitude, semi-enclosed sea that supports extensive fish, seabird, marine mammal, and invertebrate populations and some of the world's most productive fisheries. The region consists of several distinct biomes that have undergone wide-scale population variation, in part due to fisheries, but also in part due to the effects of interannual and decadal-scale climatic variation. While recent decades of ocean observation have highlighted possible links between climate and species fluctuations, mechanisms linking climate and population fluctuations are only beginning to be understood. Here, we examine the food webs of Bering Sea ecosystems with particular reference to some key shifts in widely distributed, abundant fish populations and their links with climate variation. Both climate variability and fisheries have substantially altered the Bering Sea ecosystem in the past, but their relative importance in shaping the current ecosystem state remains uncertain.