Status of the Atlantic walrus Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus in the Svalbard area

Observations of walrus in the Svalbard area in the period 1954-1982 indicate an increase since 1970 in the numbers summering in this area. The numbers of walrus observed show annual fluctuations. With the exception of 1973, when at least 300 animals were observed on one occasion at Kvitøya, the observations indicate a summering stock of about 100 animals. In 1982, when most walrus habitats in Svalbard were surveyed, observations of 248-274 animals were recorded. These observations were estimated to represent 82–85 individuals.
During summer, walrus are most frequently observed at Tusenøyane, in Murchisonfjorden and along adjacent coasts, along the northern coast of Nordaustlandet, at Kvitoya, and at Moffen. Apparently, the walrus re-established the use of Moffen as a summer haul-out site about the beginning of the 1970s.
An apparent under-representation of observations of females with dependent calves in Svalbard indicates that the area is mainly used as a summering area by males and that Svalbard is in the process of being repopulated by an extension of a population centred elsewhere. It is suggested that the walrus summering in Svalbard belong to a population with its main distribution in the Frans Josef Land archipelago, but at least some may be derived from a walrus population(s) occurring at Novaja Zemlja and in the Kara Sea.     

Ringed seal Phoca hispida fright behaviour caused by walrus Odobenus rosmarus

Other marine mammals tend to avoid walruses. The present paper describes two incidents of avoidance behaviour displayed by ringed seals in the presence of a walrus.     

Observations of walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) in the southeastern Barents and Pechora seas in February 1993

A total of 138 walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus ), including 21 cow/calf pairs, were observed during a ship-board survey in the southeastern Barents and Pechora seas 5-17 February 1993. The observations confirm these areas as wintering and nursery grounds for the species.     

Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) predation on adult thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) at Coats Island, Nunavut, Canada

Although the diet of walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus ) is considered varied, records of walrus consuming marine birds are rare in the published literature. In 2001 and 2002 we observed walrus foraging on adult thick-billed murres ( Uria lomvia ) at Coats Island in Nunavut, Canada. Approximately 46% of the attacks on murres were successful, and as many as 67 murres may have been killed in one day in August 2002. All soft parts of the murres were sucked out, with carcasses of only bones, feathers and skin left floating on the water. The extent to which predation on seabirds by walrus occurs across the eastern Arctic is unknown, but it could represent an important source of mortality for murres at some breeding colonies.     

Frost Shatter and Glacial Erosion under the margins of Østerdalsisen,Svartisen

Abstract

Bennett, Roger G. (1968) Frost Shatter and Glacial Erosion under the Margins of Østerdalsisen, Svartisen. Norsk geogr. Tidsskr. 22, 209–213 Subglacial.observations on the glacier Østerdalsisen at Svartisen, North Norway, on two occasions during the winters of 1965 and 1967 showed a marked increase in the amount of debris transported by the glacier in comparison with that carried in the summer. On closer examination, frost shatter on the lee sides of rock steps in the immediate lee of the ice-rock contact was found to be responsible for the loosening of fragments, which the glacier was then able to pluck from the wall.     

Faunal Remains from the Wollaston Forland—Clavering Ø Region,Northeast Greenland—Thule Culture Subsistence in a High Arctic Polynya and Ice-edge Habitat

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):175–200, 2010

The GeoArk project conducted interdisciplinary studies between 2003 and 2008 to investigate the Thule culture (c. 1400 AD until c. 1850 AD) in the Wollaston Forland- Clavering Ø region (74°N). Faunal remains of recent excavations and re-analyses of previous excavations of Thule culture seasonal features, winter houses and middens are presented, with an emphasis on the two winter sites of Fladstrand and Dødemandsbugten. The faunal assemblages showed ringed seal (Phoca hispida) to be the key game species, although, with important contingents of narwhal (Monodon monocerosj and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) Thule subsistence was highly dependent on having a well developed procurement system and the sea- and landscape was used differentially during the annual cycle. Hvalros Ø, located at the recurring Sirius Water Polynya, was used as a seasonal aggregation site especially for hunting walrus (Odobenus rosmarusj) throughout the entire Thule culture era. Being a predictable source of meat and blubber, the walrus was of fundamental importance to the Thule Inuit in order to cope with a harsh high arctic environment. The site locations of the study area revealed a continued similar usage of the sea- and landscape for centuries and the analyses documented only minor temporal changes in subsistence patterns.     

Effects of urbanization on daily temperature extremes in North China简

The regional changes of daily temperature extremes in North China caused by ur- banization are studied further from observed facts and model estimates on the basis of ho- mogenized daily series of maximum and minimum temperature observations from 268 mete- orological stations, NCEP/DOE AMIP- Ⅱ reanalysis data （R-2）, and the data of simulations by regional climate model （RegCM3）. The observed facts of regional warming on long time scales are obtained by analyzing the indices of temperature extremes during two time periods of 1961-2010 and 1951-2010. For urbanization effect, the contributions to decreases in an- nual and winter diurnal temperature range （DTR） are 56.0% and 52.9%, respectively, and increases in the lowest minimum temperature （TNn） are 35.7% and 26.2% by comparison of urban and rural observations. Obtained by R-2 data with observations for contrast, on the other hand, increase in the number of annual warm nights （TN90p） contributed by urbaniza- tion is 60.9%. And observed facts of regional warming in daily temperature extremes are also reflected in the simulations, but what difference is urbanization progress at rural areas in North China would be prominent in the next few years relative to urban areas to some extent from model estimates.     

Influence of Hail Suppression on the Hail Trend in Serbia

The influence of hail suppression by silver iodide seeding on the trend in the number of hail days (hail trend) in the Republic of Serbia was studied in three cases: (1) in Vojvodina region, Northern Province of Serbia, in two periods, from 1967 to 2002 when there was no hail suppression, and from 2003 to 2009 when hail suppression was extended to the entire territory; (2) in Serbia proper (Serbia without the Provinces), in two periods, from 1967 to 1984 when hail suppression was spreading, and from 1985 to 2009 when hail suppression occurred over the entire territory; and (3) in the same period from 1967 to 2002 on the two adjacent territories of Vojvodina and Serbia without the Provinces, where no hail suppression occurred in the first and hail suppression did occur in the second. The hail trend in Serbia was calculated on the basis of all observed data from all synoptic and climatological stations for the period 1967 to 2009. The results associate hail suppression with the stagnation of the hail trend rather than its decrease, and show that hail suppression did not have statistically unique influence on the hail trend.     

A lower mantle S-wave triplication and the shear velocity structure of D"

Summary. A lower mantle S-wave triplication detected with short- and long-period WWSSN and CSN recordings indicates a substantial shear velocity discontinuity near 280 km above the core–mantle boundary. The triplication can be observed in rotated SH seismograms from intermediate and deep focus events throughout the distance range from 70° to 95°. Three distinct source region–receiver array combinations that have been investigated in detail demonstrate consistent travel time and relative amplitude behaviour of the triplication, with slight systematic shifts in the triplication indicating up to 40 km variations in the depth of the discontinuity. Modelling of the observations with synthetic seismograms produced with the Cagniard de Hoop and reflectivity methods constrains the shear velocity increase to be 235 ± 0.25 per cent, comparable to upper mantle discontinuities. Short-period observations indicate that the velocity increase may be a sharp first-order discontinuity, or may extend over a transition zone no more than 50 km thick. The shear velocity gradient below the discontinuity, within the D" layer, is not well-constrained by the SH data, but slightly positive or near zero velocity gradients are consistent with the long-period amplitude ratios of ScSH/SH .     

Glacial mass balance of Austre Brøggerbreen (Spitsbergen), 1971–1999, modelled with a precipitation-run-off model

An energy balance based HBV model was calibrated to the run-off from Bayelva catchment in western Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The model simulated the glacier mass balance, and the results were compared to observations at Austre Brøggerbreen for the period 1971-1997. Even though the model was optimized to observed run-off from a catchment in which the glaciers constitute 50% of the area, and not to the observation of glacier mass balance, the model was able to reconstruct the trends and values of the mass balance found through observations. On average the simulation gave a negative net balance of 696 mm. The observed average is 442 mm. The simulated winter accumulation was in average for the same period 9% lower and the summer ablation 17% higher than the observed. The years 1994-96 show deviations between simulated and observed winter accumulation up to 160%. This can probably be accounted for by extreme rainfall during the winter, leading to thick ice layers which make accurate observations difficult. The higher simulated summer ablation might indicate that the glaciers in the catchment as a whole have a larger negative mass balance than Austre Brøggerbreen. The simulations showed that the glacier mass-balance would be in equilibrium with a summer temperature 1.2°C lower than the average over the last decades or with a 100% increase in the winter (snow) precipitation. These are higher values than former estimates. A combined change of temperature and precipitation showed a synergic effect and thereby less extreme values.     

STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTS IN THE SOUTHERN MANUFACTURING SECTOR

The diversity of manufacturing in the United States South has shown a substantial increase during the post-World War II period. The basis for this changing industrial structure is found in the expansion of food processing and apparel industries but particularly since 1967 in a variety of higher-pay and higher-technology industries. The traditional textile states remain the least diversified and the slowest to change.     

Spatial and temporal variabilities of rainstorms over China under climate change

Rainstorms are one of the extreme rainfall events that cause serious disasters, such as urban flooding and mountain torrents. Traditional studies have used rain gauge observations to analyze rainstorm events, but relevant information is usually missing in gauge-sparse areas. Satellite-derived precipitation datasets serve as excellent supplements or substitutes for the gauge observations. By developing a grid-based rainstorm-identification tool, we used the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission(TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis(TMPA) time series product to reveal the spatial and temporal variabilities of rainstorms over China during 1998–2017. Significant patterns of both increasing and decreasing rainstorm occurrences were detected, with no spatially uniform trend being observed across the whole country. There was an increase in the area being affected by rainstorms during the 20-year period, with rainstorm centers shifting along the southwest–northeast direction. Rainstorm occurrence was found to be correlated with local total precipitation. By comparing rainstorm occurrence with climate variables such as the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation, we also found that climate change was likely to be the primary reason for rainstorm occurrence in China. This study complements previous studies that used gauge observations by providing a better understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of China's rainstorms.     

RECENT GEOGRAPHY DISSERTATIONS AND THESES COMPLETED AND IN PREPARATION

Titles followed by an asterisk in the list below are available on interlibrary loan. The next list of titles will be published in the November, 1967 issue. The list has been prepared by Leslie Hewes of the University of Nebraska.     

Caustics and focusing produced by sedimentary basins: applications of catastrophe theory to earthquake seismology

Summary. As high-frequency elastic waves propagate through real media, it is common for caustics and focusing to occur. Typically, rays may envelop a caustic surface in space, or exceptionally they may all coalesce at a focal point. In strong motion seismology, the observed large fluctuations in peak acceleration and intensity of ground shaking may just be a consequence of focusing and caustics created by waves propagating through irregularly shaped sedimentary basins. These basins, acting as deformed optical lenses, are capable of producing a complex network of patches and seemingly isolated pockets of intensified damage or high intensity shaking where the caustic intersects the ground surface. We adapt methods from optics and catastrophe theory to study the properties of caustics induced by typical sedimentary basins. Several hypothetical examples are shown that reflect the fact that these properties are useful to assess quantitatively the degree of wavefield amplification to be expected. A good correlation is found between actual damage patterns and caustic locations computed for the Caracas, Venezuela earthquake of 1967.     

黄淮海平原农区典型村庄用地扩展及其动力机制

以地处黄淮海平原农区的禹城市伦镇赵庄村为典型案例,利用高分辨率航空遥感数据为基本信息源,结合村庄逐户调查数据,通过土地利用分类与制图,定量研究典型村庄用地格局特征、扩展模式及其动力机制。结果表明:赵庄村土地利用呈"耕地—作业空间—居住空间"的圈层式空间格局。2008年村庄用地规模比1967年增加了1.26倍,主要表现为宅基地的扩展和打谷场用地增长,1985~1990年村庄用地扩展速度最快,村庄用地在空间上向西和向南方向扩展显著。村庄用地扩展主要表现为渐进式蔓延扩展、突变式非地扩展和填充式补充扩展三个阶段。农户居住需求增长与农业生产规模扩大是村庄用地扩展的内生动力,村庄内部条件与外围环境的巨大反差是村庄用地向外扩展的外部环境动力,农户收入增长为村庄用地扩展提供了经济基础,而村庄土地规划缺失与管理缺位使村庄用地扩展失去约束力,这些因素相互作用,共同驱动村庄用地扩展。最后,针对村庄用地扩展存在的问题,提出了促进村庄土地可持续利用的对策建议。     

Effects of sample size on the accuracy of geomorphological models

Commonly, the most costly part of geomorphological distribution modelling studies is gathering the data. Thus, guidance for researchers concerning the quantity of field data needed would be extremely practical. This paper scrutinises the relationship between the sample size (the number of observations varied from 20 to 600) and the predictive ability of the generalized linear model (GLM), generalized additive model (GAM), generalized boosting method (GBM) and artificial neural network (ANN) in two data settings, i.e., independent and split-sample approaches. The study was performed using empirical data of periglacial processes from an area of 600 km² in northernmost Finland at grid resolutions of 1 ha (100 × 100 m) and 25 ha (500 × 500 m). A rather sharp increase in the predictive ability of the models was observed when the number of observations increased from 20 to 100, and the level of robust predictions was reached with 200 observations. The result indicates that no more than a few hundred observations are needed in geomorphological distribution modelling at a medium scale resolution (ca. 0.01–1 km²).     

Past and future climate variations in the Norwegian Arctic: overview and novel analyses

Sparse stations and serious measuring problems hamper analyses of climatic conditions in the Arctic. This paper presents a discussion of measuring problems in the Arctic and gives an overview of observed past and projected future climate variations in Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Novel analyses of temperature conditions during precipitation and trends in fractions of solid/liquid precipitation at the Arctic weather stations are also outlined. Analyses based on combined and homogenized series from the regular weather stations in the region indicate that the measured annual precipitation has increased by more than 2.5% per decade since the measurements started in the beginning of the 20th century. The annual temperature has increased in Svalbard and Jan Mayen during the latest decades, but the present level is still lower than in the 1930s. Downscaled scenarios for Svalbard Airport indicate a further increase in temperature and precipitation. Analyses based on observations of precipitation types at the regular weather stations demonstrate that the annual fraction of solid precipitation has decreased at all stations during the latest decades. The reduced fraction of solid precipitation implies that the undercatch of the precipitation gauges is reduced. Consequently, part of the observed increase in the annual precipitation is fictitious and is due to a larger part of the "true" precipitation being caught by the gauges. With continued warming in the region, this virtual increase will be measured in addition to an eventual real increase.     

RECENT GEOGRAPHY DISSERTATIONS AND THESES COMPLETED AND IN PREPARATION

Titles followed by an asterisk in the list below are available on interlibrary loan. The next list of titles will be published in the November, 1967 issue. The list has been prepared by Leslie Hewes of the University of Nebraska.     

甘肃省黑河干流中游地区泉水动态特征及预报

在简述区域水文地质条件的基础上,依据1986-2007年泉水流量系列观测资料,详细论述了区内下降泉、上升泉的年内和多年动态变化特征,对比分析了1967年、1984年、2006年测区各泉域泉水量和泉水总量的时空分布规律和变化特征。利用已有的潜水二维流水量数学模型,推递并建立了利用泉点周围节点水头(水位)预报泉水流量的数学模型,并对测区泉水总量未来15年的变化趋势进行了预报。结果表明,在现状节水灌溉条件下,由于出山径流量的增加和地下水开采量的减少,未来黑河干流中游地区的泉水资源基本处于稳定状态。     

Low protein variability and genetic similarity between populations of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

Blood samples from a total of 460 polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) from various Arctic regions, but excluding the USSR, were collected during the period 1967-1981 to study electrophoretic variation in different proteins. Two hundred and one samples from Alaska, 48 from the Canadian Arctic, 89 from Svalbard, and 21 from Northeast Greenland were collected during the period 1967-1973 and were analysed by vertical polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to study transferrin and hemoglobin polymorphism. Thirty-one samples collected in 1974 were analysed by starch gel electrophoresis for 14 enzyme systems in serum and red blood cells. Seventy samples collected from Alaska, the Barents Sea, and Canada in 1980-81 were studied by starch gel electrophoresis, and further analysed for protein variation by thin-layer isoelectric focusing, horizontal polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and two-dimensional electrophoresis. In all, about 75 loci were analysed for variation. The degree of protein and enzyme variation in the polar bear was observed to be relatively low. Starch gel electrophoresis revealed variation of an unidentified serum protein. The distribution of this protein indicates a closer connection between bears in Alaska and Canada compared to those in Greenland and Svalbard, but the differences were not significant. As in many large mammals, the information from protein variation in polar bears has limited use for management purposes. We could not find any simple system usable for identification of discrete populations. On the basis of protein variation as sole criterion, the populations investigated could not be separated. Possible explanations for the uniformity of blood proteins can be exchange of bears between geographical areas and/or a high selective pressure in polar bears.