Hydrological trends and the evolution of catchment research in the Alptal valley,central Switzerland

When the observation of small headwater catchments in the pre-Alpine Alptal valley (central Switzerland) started in the late 1960s, the researchers were mainly interested in questions related to floods and forest management. Investigations of geomorphological processes in the steep torrent channels followed in the 1980s, along with detailed observations of biogeochemical and ecohydrological processes in individual forest stands. More recently, research in the Alptal has addressed the impacts of climate change on water supply and runoff generation. In this article, we describe, for the first time, the evolution of catchment research at Alptal, and present new analyses of long-term trends and short-term hydrologic behaviour. Hydrometeorological time series from the past 50 years show substantial interannual variability, but only minimal long-term trends, except for the ~2°C increase in mean annual air temperature over the 50-year period, and a corresponding shift towards earlier snowmelt. Similar to previous studies in larger Alpine catchments, the decadal variations in mean annual runoff in Alptal's small research catchments reflect the long-term variability in annual precipitation. In the Alptal valley, the most evident hydrological trends were observed in late spring and are related to the substantial change in the duration of the snow cover. Streamflow and water quality are highly variable within and between hydrological events, suggesting rapid shifts in flow pathways and mixing, as well as changing connectivity of runoff-generating areas. This overview illustrates how catchment research in the Alptal has evolved in response to changing societal concerns and emerging scientific questions.     

基于ROMS和4DVAR的沿轨与网格化SSH数据同化效果评价

Remote sensing products are significant in the data assimilation of an ocean model. Considering the resolution and space coverage of different remote sensing data, two types of sea surface height(SSH) product are employed in the assimilation, including the gridded products from AVISO and the original along-track observations used in the generation. To explore their impact on the assimilation results, an experiment focus on the South China Sea(SCS) is conducted based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System(ROMS) and the four-dimensional variational data assimilation(4 DVAR) technology. The comparison with EN4 data set and Argo profile indicates that, the along-track SSH assimilation result presents to be more accurate than the gridded SSH assimilation, because some noises may have been introduced in the merging process. Moreover, the mesoscale eddy detection capability of the assimilation results is analyzed by a vector geometry–based algorithm. It is verified that, the assimilation of the gridded SSH shows superiority in describing the eddy's characteristics, since the complete structure of the ocean surface has been reconstructed by the original data merging.     

铜藻(Sargassum horneri)在营养限制胁迫后对NH4-N的超补偿吸收研究

以经济马尾藻铜藻(Sargassum horneri)为研究材料,研究了其在营养限制胁迫后对NH_4-N的超补偿吸收情况。实验分营养限制和恢复营养两个阶段进行,每个阶段均设置饥饿处理组、饱和处理组和正常对照组。铜藻在低营养限制胁迫(饥饿)下培养10天后,恢复营养盐培养3天,分别采用次溴酸盐氧化法和锌镉还原法测定培养液中的NH_4-N和NO_3-N的浓度。本文研究发现,饥饿处理组中铜藻吸收氨氮的速率远高于正常对照组和饱和处理组,在恢复培养第一天时,饥饿处理组对NH_4-N的吸收速率最高为14.94μmol/(g·h),与正常对照组及饱和处理组间差异显著。在恢复培养的后两天,三个处理组中铜藻对NH_4-N的吸收速率差异慢慢变小,直至最后几乎相同。三组对NO_3-N没有表现出较高的吸收,最高仅为6.15μmol/(g·h),结果表明:氮源包括NH_4-N和NO_3-N时,铜藻优先选择吸收NH_4-N。实验后称重测定生长速率:对照组、饥饿处理组和饱和组生长率(SGR)分别为8.48%、8.86%、8.01%,ANOVA方差分析表明,三者存在显著差异(P=0.0320.05),从而证实了铜藻也存在超补偿生长的现象。     

Smectite formation in metalliferous sediments near the East Pacific Rise at 13°N

A 43 cm long E271 sediment core collected near the East Pacific Rise(EPR) at 13°N were studied to investigate the origin of smectite for understanding better the geochemical behavior of hydrothermal material after deposition.E271 sediments are typical metalliferous sediments. After removal of organic matter, carbonate, biogenic opal,and Fe-Mn oxide by a series of chemical procedures, clay minerals(2 μm) were investigated by X-ray diffraction,chemical analysis and Si isotope analysis. Due to the influence of seafloor hydrothermal activity and close to continent, the sources of clay minerals are complex. Illite, chlorite and kaolinite are suggested to be transported from either North or Central America by rivers or winds, but smectite is authigenic. It is enriched in iron, and its contents are highest in clay minerals. Data show that smectite is most likely formed by the reaction of hydrothermal Fe-oxyhydroxide with silica and seawater in metalliferous sediments. The Si that participates in this reaction may be derived from siliceous microfossils(diatoms or radiolarians), hydrothermal fluids, or detrital mineral phases. And their δ30 Si values are higher than those of authigenic smectites, which implies that a Si isotope fractionation occurs during the formation because of the selective absorption of light Si isotopes onto Feoxyhydroxides. Sm/Fe mass ratios(a proxy for overall REE/Fe ratio) in E271 clay minerals are lower than those in metalliferous sediments, as well as distal hydrothermal plume particles and terrigenous clay minerals. This result suggests that some REE are lost during the smectite formation, perhaps because their large ionic radii of REE scavenged by Fe-oxyhydroxides preclude substitution in either tetrahedral or octahedral lattice sites of this mineral structure, which decreases the value of metalliferous sediments as a potential resource for REE.     

Factors controlling dissolved silica in coral reef surface water of Urasoko Bay, Ishigaki Island, Japan

From August 2006 to August 2007, the concentrations of dissolved silica (Si(OH)₄) were monitored in the surface water of Urasoko Bay and the mouth of the stream that runs into the bay. Urasoko Bay is located on the northern coast of Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, which is in a subtropical area of the North Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by a relatively poorly developed fringing reef. Added to these samples were freshwater from the upstream area and brackish water that exudes at the beach site, which were collected from April to June 2007. Rainwater samples were also collected during the study period. The concentration of Si(OH)₄ generally decreased from upstream to the bay site, and, on clear days, Si(OH)₄ data from all study sites (the bay, beach, stream mouth, and upstream) plotted against salinity fell on a single straight line. When the influence of rainwater was, the results were scattered below the straight line, which suggests dilution by rainwater with a much lower Si(OH)₄ concentration. These findings show that offshore seawater, rainwater, and upstream freshwater regulate the concentration of Si(OH)₄ in the surface water of Urasoko Bay.