Diel patterns of mysid drift (Crustacea: Mysidacea) in the Taieri River estuary,New Zealand

Drifting mysids were sampled to determine diel activity, and whether mysid numbers vary with respect to inflowing and outflowing tides. Samples of drifting mysids were collected at the mouth of the Taieri River, New Zealand, over one 24‐h cycle using five replicate conical drift nets in January 1999. One‐night and 1‐day ebb and flood tide were each sampled. Four species of mysid Tenagomysis macropsis, T. novae‐zealandiae, T. robusta, and an apparently undescribed species of Gastrosaccus sp., were collected over the sampling period. One species, T. robusta, has not previously been collected from estuarine or riverine systems. The undescribed Gastrosaccus sp. was the most abundant of the four species. All four species were more abundant at night, with T. robusta and Gastrosaccus sp. being considerably more abundant in the drift on outflowing tides. In contrast, roughly equal numbers of T. macropsis and T. novae‐zealandiae were observed drifting in and out of the estuary at night.     

Spatial and temporal variation in the abundance and composition of ichthyoplankton in a large South Island,New Zealand river estuary

Larval and juvenile fish drifting on ebb tides were collected from early summer to mid autumn at various locations in the Taieri River and Waipori River estuary, South Island, New Zealand. A total of seven species of fish were recorded, however only three species were regularly collected. These were the larval common bully (Gobiomorphus cotidianus McDowall), larval inanga (Galaxias maculatus Jenyns), and postlarval cockabully (Tripterygion nigripenne Valenciennes). Common bully densities were highest in mid January, with the highest densities being recorded drifting out of Lake Waihola. Inanga densities were highest in March and April, with the highest densities being recorded in the channels draining wetland areas where extensive tidal inundation of riparian vegetation occurred. Cockabully were recorded from February to April, mostly at more downstream sites. Inland penetration by marine species was considerable, with two marine species, clingfish (Trachelochismus pinnulatus Forster) and smooth leatherjacket (Parika scaber Forster), being recorded c. 12 km upstream in late summer.     

Natural periodic processes and climate variability in the Northern Hemisphere

Decomposition of five different paleoclimatic reconstructions of regional and hemispheric scale into different frequency periodic components has been performed for the extratropical zone of the Northern Hemisphere using spectral analysis methods (Hilbert–Huang transformation, wavelet transform, Fourier transform). The presence of ~1000, ~500, ~350, and ~200-year quasi-cyclic periodicities has been established, which determines climatic variability over the last 2–4 millennia. The presence of similar cyclicities, manifested in climatic and other geological processes, has been noted by many researchers and has been explained, as a rule, by changes in solar insolation. Thus, there is every reason to believe that the revealed quasi-periodic components in the climate variability of the extratropical zone of the Northern Hemisphere are natural, conditioned by natural cyclical phenomena and can serve as a basis for long-term predictive climatic constructions.

     

Sedimentation rate in Cheko Lake (Evenkia,Siberia): New evidence on the problem of the 1908 Tunguska Event

Doklady Earth Sciences - We estimated the age and sedimentation rate of bottom sediments in Cheko Lake located in southern Evenkia, in the territory of Tunguska Nature Reserve, near the supposed...     

Spatial patterns of hydrology, geomorphology, and vegetation on the floodplain of the Amazon river in Brazil from a remote sensing perspective

The spatial heterogeneity of hydrology and vegetation during high-water periods in geomorphically distinct reaches of the Amazon River in Brazil was determined based on semivariance statistics. The spatial statistics were derived from three classified Landsat Thematic Mapper images representing upstream to downstream geomorphic characteristics. In the upstream river reach, scroll-bar topography on the floodplain tends to channelize floodwater into floodplain drainage channels, thus reducing the diversity of water types by reducing opportunities for mixing of flooding river water with locally derived floodplain water. The highest diversity of vegetation types is along floodplain drainage channels, while the rest of the floodplain has a more homogeneous cover. In the middle reach of the river the diversity of wetland classes as measured by semivariance is higher than both upstream and downstream, perhaps because of exposure to more water types and landforms. The diversity of water types is high, because flooding river water flows onto the floodplain as diffuse, non-channelized overbank flow, as well as through drainage channels. The non-channelized overbank flow readily mixes with locally derived floodplain water. Floodplain landforms available for colonization by vegetation include scroll bars, swales, lake shores, lake deltas, and floodplain drainage channels. In the downstream reach where the floodplain is wide, relatively flat, and covered with huge lakes, the floodplain supports a moderately heterogeneous mix of vegetation communities. Where landforms are similar, the spatial distribution of the vegetation is similar to that of the middle reach of the river. In the downstream reach flooded forest comprised only 37% of the wetland vegetation. In contrast, in both the upstream and middle reaches, over 70% of the wetland vegetation was flooded forest. Agricultural clearing of the floodplain is more. common in downstream reaches and may account for the smaller percent of floodplain forest cover.     

低剂量CT心脏成像

采用CT进行心脏成像是CT临床应用中最前沿的进展,心脏扫描中采用较低的螺距使得病人的辐照剂量较高,我们提出一种不同的数据采集和图像重建技术,使病人的辐照剂量减少了50%～89%.该方法的使能技术是64排CT的大容积覆盖范围(40㎜),相对于心脏的平均尺寸是120～140㎜,新的容积CT在3～4步就能够覆盖整个器官.伴随新的数据采集方式,我们也提出了对应的重建算法,克服了不完全投影采样的问题,还进行了广泛的模体和临床实验来阐明所提出方法的有效性.     

Reconstruction of the conditions of Late Holocene sedimentation by integrated analysis of a core of the bottom sediments from the Chukchi Sea

Integrated studies were performed on bottom sediments collected in the Chukchi Sea in the northern part of the Gerald Canyon 150 km northeast from Wrangel Island. The recent sedimentation rate amounted to 0.9 mm/year by ²¹⁰Pb at the sampling site. The concentrations of biogenic components (SiO_2bio, С_org, N_tot, and Br) were minimum at the lower part of the core, where an increase of Thalassiosira antarctica antarctica, probably results from low biological productivity during the Maunder Minimum. The increased concentrations of biogenic components, as well as the decreased values of magnetic susceptibility and X-ray density, in the upper part of the core (1–2 cm) correspond to the last decade of recent of global warming.     

Anomalies of bromine in the estuarine sediments as a signal of floods associated with typhoons

X-ray fluorescence scanning with synchrotron radiation was performed to study sediment core records of floods in Amur Bay,Sea of Japan.Interlayers of 3–8 mm with abnormally low bromine content were formed by the Razdolnaya River discharge to the central part of the bay during extreme floods,accompanied by severe storms at sea.Such conditions in the region are typical for periods of deep tropical cyclones(typhoons),to which the distinguished interlayers were compared on the timescale.This approach was made possible thanks to the high rate of sedimentation in the bay(3–5 mm/a) and low bioturbation of sediments under anoxic conditions.     

Chronologic implications of new Miocene mammals from the Cura-Mallín and Trapa Trapa formations, Laguna del Laja area, south central Chile

Recent work in the central Andean Main Range of Chile near Laguna del Laja (37.5°S, 71°W) has produced the first mammal fossils for the region. Fossils, locally abundant and well preserved, occur patchily across a wide area southeast of the lake. Mammalian remains are derived from generally strongly folded (kilometer-scale) exposures of the locally 1.8 km thick, early to middle Miocene Cura-Mallín Formation; two identifiable specimens have been recovered from the overlying Trapa Trapa Formation as well. Both formations consist primarily of well-stratified (1–5 m thick layers) volcaniclastic and volcanic strata, deposited predominantly in fluviatile systems. The Cura-Mallín Formation is possibly the southern continuation of (or lateral equivalent to) the richly fossiliferous Abanico Formation mapped between 32°S and 36°S. Intensive sampling in a series of localities east and south of Laguna del Laja has yielded diverse faunas, in addition to radioisotopically dateable horizons. The new fossil mammal faunas represent as many as six South American Land Mammal “Ages” (SALMAs). Fossils, together with preliminary ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar radioisotopic dates, ranging from 9 to 20 Ma across the exposed thickness of the Cura-Mallín Formation and into the overlying Trapa Trapa Formation, provide a robust geochronological framework for middle Cenozoic strata in the Laguna del Laja region. The sequence of directly superposed mammalian assemblages at Laguna del Laja is one of the longest in all of South America, rivaled only by the classic Gran Barranca section of Patagonian Argentina. These data illuminate the geological history of the area and its record of mammalian evolution. The potential to isotopically date these diverse faunas with high precision (error ± 0.5 Ma) presents a rare opportunity to calibrate related portions of the SALMA sequence.