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.     

光照、温度对黑鲷(♀)×真鲷(♂)杂交子代受精卵孵化效果的影响

为了研究不同光照强度、温度对黑鲷(Acantho pagrusschlegelii)(♀)×真鲷(Pagrosomus major)(♂)杂交F1代受精卵孵化效果及仔鱼存活的影响,作者采用试验生态学的方法比较不同温度(16、18、20、22、24、26℃)下杂交鲷受精卵的孵化率、畸形率、孵化时间、7日龄仔鱼的存活率;比较不同光照强度下(10、100、300、800、1500、4 000、10 000 lx)受精卵孵化率、畸形率、孵化时间;比较不同光照强度下(200、1 000、2 000、5 000、10 000、15 000、20 000 lx)7日龄仔鱼的存活率。结果表明:在盐度为22条件下,受精卵最高孵化率(34.00%)和最低畸形率(16.65%)的孵化温度为20℃;在16～26℃范围内,温度与孵化时间呈负相关,与7日龄仔鱼存活率也呈负相关。不同的光照强度对受精卵孵化率和孵化时间的影响不显著,孵化率为65.88%～71.88%;但大于800lx的光照会令畸形率上升(大于15.21%);另外,5000～10000lx的光照强度更适宜仔鱼生存,7日龄仔鱼存活率达到38%～40.75%。黑鲷(♀)×真鲷(♂)杂交子代最佳孵化温度为20℃,最适光照强度为5 000～10 000 lx。     

Local level rainfall and temperature variability in drought-prone districts of rural Sidama,central rift valley region of Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine local level spatiotemporal rainfall and temperature variability in drought-prone districts of rural Sidama, Central Rift Valley region of Ethiopia. The study used 129 gridded monthly rainfall and temperature data of 32 years (1983–2014). The gridded rainfall and temperature records were encoded into GIS software and evaluated through different statistical and geospatial techniques. Mann-Kendal rank test and F distribution tests were used to test temporal and spatial statistical significance, respectively, of the data. The analysis revealed that Belg and Kiremt are the main rainfall seasons, constituting 81% of the annual rainfall. Although annual, Kiremt, and Belg rainfall amounts appear to have decreased over time, the decreasing trend is statistically significant only for Belg rainfall records. On the other hand, rainfall standard anomaly results indicated seven droughts of different magnitudes: one extreme, two severe, and four moderate. The study also revealed increasing temperature trends over the years under consideration that are statistically significant. The findings of this study on rainfall contradict other findings obtained around the study area. Thus, climate change adaptations need to focus on location-specific climate data analysis so that the intended adaptive interventions can be successful.     

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.     

基于MODIS数据的湖北省地级以上城市城区地表温度变化分析

基于MODIS数据,以湖北省地级以上城市城区为研究对象,通过对湖北省13个地级以上城市城区边界矢量数据与地表温度因子进行套合处理,采用叠置分析方法对2000、2015、2017年湖北省地级以上城市城区的地表温度进行统计,并分析城镇化建设对城区地表温度产生的影响。     

生物土壤结皮对风沙土和黄绵土膨胀特性的影响

作为重要的土壤物理性质，膨胀性在影响土壤导水性、持水性、抗蚀性以及土壤结构的形成和发育等方面发挥着重要作用。为了探讨生物土壤结皮（BSCs）土壤的膨胀特性及其主要影响因素，针对黄土高原风沙土和黄绵土两种典型土壤，利用膨胀仪测定并比较了有、无藓结皮及其在不同因素（初始含水量、干湿循环、冻融循环、温度）下膨胀率的差异，分析了BSCs对土壤膨胀性的影响及其与环境因素和BSCs性质的关系。结果显示：风沙土上藓结皮的膨胀率为1.93%，较无结皮增加了8.65倍；而黄绵土上藓结皮的膨胀率为2.05%，与无结皮相比降低了76.68%。藓结皮的生物量和厚度与其膨胀率在风沙土上均呈线性正相关关系（P < 0.05），在黄绵土上分别呈二次函数（P=0.02）和线性正相关关系（P=0.02）。初始含水量同时影响了土壤最大膨胀率和稳定膨胀时间，影响程度风沙土远大于黄绵土（包括藓结皮和无结皮）；干湿循环次数对无结皮土壤膨胀率的影响程度大于藓结皮土壤，其中风沙土和黄绵土上无结皮的膨胀率分别是50.00%~620.00%和-2.28%~10.81%，而两种土壤上藓结皮的膨胀率分别是-5.70%~10.88%和-10.24%~-21.46%；冻融循环下4种土壤的膨胀率均有不同程度的降低，降幅为0~18.54%。黄绵土无结皮的膨胀率受温度影响程度较大，50℃下黄绵土无结皮的膨胀率分别是25℃和35℃下的1.17倍和1.21倍。BSCs显著地改变了风沙土和黄绵土表层的膨胀性，其影响的程度和方向取决于土壤类型。同时，BSCs的膨胀性受含水量、温度、干湿以及冻融循环等关键因素影响。