Fractal measures of drainage network to investigate surface deformation from remote sensing data: A paradigm from Hindukush (NE-Afghanistan)

This approach represents the relative susceptibility of the topography of the earth to active deformation by means of geometrical distinctiveness of the river networks. This investigation employs the fractal analysis of drainage system extracted from ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM-30m resolution). The objective is to mark active structures and to pinpoint the areas robustly influenced by neotectonics. This approach was examined in the Hindukush, NE-Afghanistan. This region is frequently affected by deadly earthquakes and the modern fault activities and deformation are driven by the collision between the northward-moving Indian subcontinent and Eurasia. This attempt is based on the fact that drainage system is strained to linearize due to neotectonic deformation. Hence, the low fractal dimensions of the Kabul, Panjsher, Laghman, Andarab, Alingar and Kocha Rivers are credited to active tectonics. A comprehensive textural examination is conducted to probe the linearization, heterogeneity and connectivity of the drainage patterns. The aspects for these natural textures are computed by using the fractal dimension (FD), lacunarity (LA) and succolarity (SA) approach. All these methods are naturally interrelated, i.e. objects with similar FD can be further differentiated with LA and/or SA analysis. The maps of FD, LA and SA values are generated by using a sliding window of 50 arc seconds by 50 arc seconds (50" × 50"). Afterwards, the maps are interpreted in terms of regional susceptibility to neotectonics. This method is useful to pinpoint numerous zones where the drainage system is highly controlled by Hindukush active structures. In the North-Northeast of the Kabul block, we recognized active tectonic blocks. The region comprising, Kabul, Panjsher, Andrab, Alingar and Badakhshan is more susceptible to damaging events. This investigation concludes that the fractal analysis of the river networks is a bonus tool to localize areas vulnerable to deadly incidents influencing the Earth’s topography and consequently intimidate human lives.     

Simulation of phytoplankton biomass in Quanzhou Bay using a back propagation network model and sensitivity analysis for environmental variables

Prediction and sensitivity models,to elucidate the response of phytoplankton biomass to environmental factors in Quanzhou Bay,Fujian,China,were developed using a back propagation(BP) network.The environmental indicators of coastal phytoplankton biomass were determined and monitoring data for the bay from 2008 was used to train,test and build a three-layer BP artificial neural network with multi-input and single-output.Ten water quality parameters were used to forecast phytoplankton biomass(measured as chlorophyll-a concentration).Correlation coefficient between biomass values predicted by the model and those observed was 0.964,whilst the average relative error of the network was-3.46% and average absolute error was 10.53%.The model thus has high level of accuracy and is suitable for analysis of the influence of aquatic environmental factors on phytoplankton biomass.A global sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the influence of different environmental indicators on phytoplankton biomass.Indicators were classified according to the sensitivity of response and its risk degree.The results indicate that the parameters most relevant to phytoplankton biomass are estuary-related and include pH,sea surface temperature,sea surface salinity,chemical oxygen demand and ammonium.     

Significance test for empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of meteorological and oceanic data

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Inheritance mode of microsatellite loci and their use for kinship analysis in the Pacific oyster （Crassostrea gigas）

Five full-sib families of the Pacific oyster(Crassostrea gigas) larvae were used to study the mode of inheritance at eight microsatellite loci,and the feasibility of these markers for kinship estimate was also examined.All eight microsatellite loci were compatible with Mendelian inheritance.Neither evidence of sex-linked barriers to transmission nor evidence of major barriers to fertilization between gametes from the parents was shown.Three of the eight loci showed the presence of null alleles in four families,demonstrating the need to conduct comprehensive species-specific inheritance studies for microsatellite loci used in population genetic studies.Although the null allele heterozygotes were considered as homozygotes in the calculation of genetic distance,offspring from five full-sib families were unambiguously discriminated in the neighbor-joining dendrogram.This result indicates that the microsatellite markers may be capable of discriminating between related and unrelated oyster larvae in the absence of pedigree information,and is applicable to the investigation of the effective number of parents contributing to the hatchery population of the Pacific oyster.     

Effects of waterborne Fe(II) on juvenile turbot Scophthalmus maximus: analysis of respiratory rate, hematology and gill histology

The concentration of Fe(Ⅱ) is high in some groundwater supplies used in turbot culture,and the toxicity of waterborne Fe(Ⅱ) is unknown.We investigated the stress responses of juvenile turbot,Scophthalmus maximus,exposed to Fe(Ⅱ) of different concentrations (0.01,0.05,0.1,0.5,1,and 2 mg/L) for 1,7,14,and 28 d,under the same ambient conditions of other parameters.Changes in respiratory rate,hematological parameters,and gill structure were determined.The results show that waterborne Fe(Ⅱ) did not cause severe hematological perturbation to turbot.A low-medium Fe(Ⅱ) concentration (lower than 0.1 mg/L) could boost the respiratory rate,and caused no or very limited damage to fish.A high Fe(Ⅱ) concentration (0.1 mg/L or higher),however,caused gill damage,such as vacuoles in branchial lamellae,epithelial necrosis,and hypertrophy of epithelial cells,and even death after extended exposure time.Therefore,excess waterborne Fe(Ⅱ) and long-term exposure to Fe(Ⅱ) could be responsible for poor growth and high mortality of turbot in culture.The concentration of waterborne Fe(Ⅱ) in turbot culture should be kept below 0.1 mg/L.     

VARIABILITY OF DAILY PRECIPITATION IN CHINA(1980-1993):PCA AND WAVELET ANALYSIS OF OBSERVATION AND ECMWF REANALYSIS DATA

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＴｈｅＡｓｉａｎｓｕｍｍｅｒｍｏｎｓｏｏｎｓｙｓｔｅｍｉｎｃｌｕｄｅｓｔｈｅＩｎｄｉａｎ(ｏｒＳｏｕｔｈＡｓｉａｎ)ａｎｄＥａｓｔＡｓｉａｎｓｕｍｍｅｒｍｏｎｓｏｏｎｓ,ｂｏｔｈｏｆｗｈｉｃｈｆｏｒｍｔｈｅｍｏｓｔｄｒａｍａｔｉｃｍｏｎｓｏｏｎｓｙｓｔｅｍｓｉｎｔｈｅＮｏｒｔｈｅｒｎＨｅｍｉｓｐｈｅｒｅ.ＴｈｅｉｎｔｅｎｓｉｔｙｏｆｔｈｅｌａｔｔｅｒａｐｐｅａｒｓｔｏｂｅｒｅｌａｔｅｄｔｏｔｈｅｒａｉｎｆａｌｌｉｎｅａｓｔｅｒｎＣｈｉｎａ.Ｔｈｅｒｅｗｉｌｌｂｅａｎｅｍｐｔｙ…     

Application of otolith shape analysis for stock discrimination and species identification of five goby species （Perciformes： Gobiidae） in the northern Chinese coastal waters

We tested the use of otolith shape analysis to discriminate between species and stocks of five goby species( Ctenotrypauchen chinensis, Odontamblyopus lacepedii, Amblychaeturichthys hexanema, Chaeturichthys stigmatias, and Acanthogobius hasta) found in northern Chinese coastal waters. The five species were well differentiated with high overall classification success using shape indices(83.7%), elliptic Fourier coefficients(98.6%), or the combination of both methods(94.9%). However, shape analysis alone was only moderately successful at discriminating among the four stocks(Liaodong Bay, LD; Bohai Bay, BH; Huanghe(Yellow) River estuary HRE, and Jiaozhou Bay, JZ stocks) of A. hasta(50%–54%) and C. stigmatias(65.7%–75.8%). For these two species, shape analysis was moderately successful at discriminating the HRE or JZ stocks from other stocks, but failed to effectively identify the LD and BH stocks. A large number of otoliths were misclassified between the HRE and JZ stocks, which are geographically well separated. The classification success for stock discrimination was higher using elliptic Fourier coefficients alone(70.2%) or in combination with shape indices(75.8%) than using only shape indices(65.7%) in C. stigmatias whereas there was little difference among the three methods for A. hasta. Our results supported the common belief that otolith shape analysis is generally more effective for interspecific identification than intraspecific discrimination. Moreover, compared with shape indices analysis, Fourier analysis improves classification success during inter- and intra-species discrimination by otolith shape analysis, although this did not necessarily always occur in all fish species.     

Review of Global Ocean Intermediate Water Masses： 1. Part A, the Neutral Density Surface （the ＇McDougall Surface＇ ） as a Study Frame for Water-Mass Analysis

This review article commences with a comprehensive historical review of the evolution and application of various density surfaces in atmospheric and oceanic studies. The background provides a basis for the birth of the neutral density idea. Attention is paid to the development of the neutral density surface concept from the nonlinearity of the equation of state of seawater. The definition and properties of neutral density surface are described in detail as developed from the equations of state of seawater and the buoyancy frequency when the squared buoyancy frequency N2 is zero, a neutral state of stability. In order to apply the neutral density surface to intermediate water-mass analysis, this review also describes in detail its practical oceanographic application. The mapping technique is focused for the first time on applying regularly gridded data in this review. It is reviewed how a backbone and ribs framework was designed to flesh out from a reference cast and first mapped the global neutral surfaces in the world＇s oceans. Several mapped neutral density surfaces are presented as examples for each world ocean. The water-mass property is analyzed in each ocean at mid-depth. The characteristics of neutral density surfaces are compared with those of potential density surfaces.     

Inheritance mode of microsatellite loci and their use for kinship analysis in the Pacific oyster （Crassostrea gigas）

Five full-sib families of the Pacific oyster （Crassostrea gigas） larvae were used to study the mode of inheritance at eight microsatellite loci, and the feasibility of these markers for kinship estimate was also examined. All eight microsatellite loci were compatible with Mendelian inheritance. Neither evidence of sex-linked barriers to transmission nor evidence of major barriers to fertilization between gametes from the parents was shown. Three of the eight loci showed the presence of null alleles in four families, demonstrating the need to conduct comprehensive species-specific inheritance studies for microsatellite loci used in population genetic studies. Although the null allele heterozygotes were considered as homozygotes in the calculation of genetic distance, offspring from five full-sib families were unambiguously discriminated in the neighbor-joining dendrogram. This result indicates that the microsatellite markers may be capable of discriminating between related and unrelated oyster larvae in the absence of pedigree information, and is applicable to the investigation of the effective number of parents contributing to the hatchery population of the Pacific oyster.