Seasonal variation of volatile organic iodine compounds in the water column of Funka Bay,Hokkaido, Japan

Volatile organic iodine compounds (VOIs) emitted from the ocean surface to the air play an important role in atmospheric chemistry. Shipboard observations were conducted in Funka Bay, Hokkaido, Japan, bimonthly or monthly from March 2012 to December 2014, to elucidate the seasonal variations of VOI concentrations in seawater and their sea-to-air iodine fluxes. The bay water exchanges with the open ocean water of the North Pacific twice a year (early spring and autumn). Vertical profiles of CH₂I₂, CH₂ClI, CH₃I, and C₂H₅I concentrations in the bay water were measured bimonthly or monthly within an identified water mass. The VOI concentrations began to increase after early April at the end of the diatom spring bloom, and represented substantial peaks in June or July. The temporal variation of the C₂H₅I profile, which showed a distinct peak in the bottom layer from April to July, was similar to the PO₄ ^3? variation profile. Correlation between C₂H₅I and PO₄ ^3? concentrations (r = 0.93) suggests that C₂H₅I production was associated with degradation of organic matter deposited on the bottom after the spring bloom. CH₂I₂ and CH₂ClI concentrations increased substantially in the surface and subsurface layers (0–60 m) in June or July resulted in a clear seasonal variation of the sea-to-air iodine flux of the VOIs (high in summer or autumn and low in spring).     

Shortwave cloud radiative forcing on major stratus cloud regions in AMIP-type simulations of CMIP3 and CMIP5 models

Cloud and its radiative effects are major sources of uncertainty that lead to simulation discrepancies in climate models. In this study, shortwave cloud radiative forcing (SWCF) over major stratus regions is evaluated for Atmospheric Models Intercomparison Project (AMIP)-type simulations of models involved in the third and fifth phases of the Coupled Models Intercomparison Project (CMIP3 and CMIP5). Over stratus regions, large deviations in both climatological mean and seasonal cycle of SWCF are found among the models. An ambient field sorted by dynamic (vertical motion) and thermodynamic (inversion strength or stability) regimes is constructed and used to measure the response of SWCF to large-scale controls. In marine boundary layer regions, despite both CMIP3 and CMIP5 models being able to capture well the center and range of occurrence frequency for the ambient field, most of the models fail to simulate the dependence of SWCF on boundary layer inversion and the insensitivity of SWCF to vertical motion. For eastern China, there are large differences even in the simulated ambient fields. Moreover, almost no model can reproduce intense SWCF in rising motion and high stability regimes. It is also found that models with a finer grid resolution have no evident superiority than their lower resolution versions. The uncertainties relating to SWCF in state-of-the-art models may limit their performance in IPCC experiments.     

Common Proper Motion Search for Faint Companions Around Early-Type Field Stars – Progress Report

The multiplicity of early-type stars is still not well established. The derived binary fraction is different for individual star forming regions, suggesting a connection with the age and the environment conditions. The few studies that have investigated this connection do not provide conclusive results. To fill in this gap, we started the first detailed adaptive-optic-assisted imaging survey of early-type field stars to derive their multiplicity in a homogeneous way. The sample has been extracted from the Hipparcos Catalog and consists of 341 BA-type stars within ∼300 pc from the Sun. We report the current status of the survey and describe a Monte-Carlo simulation that estimates the completeness of our companion detection.     

Ra’s Abdah of the north Eastern Desert of Egypt: the role of granitic dykes in the formation of radioactive mineralization,evidenced by zircon morphology and chemistry

Syenogranitic dykes in the north of Egypt’s Eastern Desert are of geological and economic interest because of the presence of magmatic and supergene enrichment of radioactive mineralization. Zircon crystal morphology within the syenogranitic dykes allows precise definition of sub-alkaline series granites and crystallized at mean temperature of about 637 °C. The growth pattern of the zircons suggest magmatic and hydrothermal origins of radioactive mineralization. Hydrothermal processes are responsible for the formation of significant zircon overgrowth; high U-zircon margins might have occurred contemporaneously with the emplacement of syenogranitic dykes which show anomalous uranium (eU) and thorium (eTh) contents of up to 1386 and 7330 ppm, respectively. Zircon chemistry revealed a relative increase of Hf consistent with decreasing Zr content, suggesting the replacement of Zr by Hf during hydrothermal activity. Visible uranium mineralization is present and recognized by the presence of uranophane and autunite.     

A Mesozoic Pompeii: History of the Jehol Biota’s Rise and Fall

The Jehol fauna was initially represented by a bony fish, concostracan and an insect, as a Lycoptera davidi–Eosestheria–Ephemeropsis trisetalis association, but since the researches of recent decades, the Jehol Biota is now completely different from the past low-diversity, and encompasses a native terrestrial biota that includes many well-preserved vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. There are more than 20 important biological categories, thousands of taphonomically unusual fossils, especially noted for the wide variety of biological tissues. The Jehol Biota has caused a sensation in the world with its wide distribution, large quantity, great variety, fine preservation and detailed information, which records the rise and fall of the numerous taxa, and provides significant evidence for three origins: of birds, eutherian mammals, and angiosperms. The Jehol Biota is a highlight of basic scientific research in China, and we honor it as a world–class fossil treasury and “a Mesozoic Pompeii”.     

Defining the range of ecological shelter zones in the shore zone of Three Gorges Reservoir,China

To maintaining a health ecological environment in Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) area, ecological shelter zones (ESZ) need to be built in the TGR shore zone urgently. Based on the implication and function of ESZ, this study first analyzed the relationships amongst three subsystems of the TGR area, including the upstream production-living land, the downstream reservoir water body, and the ESZ. Then a simple and practical hydrological environment model for controlling the eutrophication of the TGR water body was constructed to determine ESZ range of TGR. Additionally, based on the pollutant degradation efficiency of ESZ and the assimilative capacity of reservoir water body, a raster reverse tracking method was proposed to determine the range of ESZ. Thirdly, take Yangdu town in Zhongxian county as a typical region, the ESZ range under three scenarios of different rainfall intensity, degradation efficiency and inflow water quality that corresponding to the three decisive factors of defining ESZ range were discussed. Finally, the statistical laws of the ESZ’s width at each boundary points were discussed to facilitate the ESZ construction projects, and selected standardized rate at 70, 90, and 99 % were labelled as “General”, “Good” and “Excellent” level to represent the performance of the width of the ESZ range. In conclusion, it suggest “Good” level width as basic width of ESZ, and additionally a special protection zone should be put on upstream environment for the extreme large width at the boundary points.     

海底节点不同震相逆时偏移成像研究

对近海海域进行地壳速度结构高精度成像有助于深入了解我国近海地震活动、深部孕震构造条件,揭示海域构造特征及其相互作用模式,为海域地震区划和风险评估提供基础支撑。在海底节点观测系统中,由于海底、海平面等强波阻抗差界面的存在,台站记录了较多强能量的后续震相。与初至震相相比,后续震相在地球内部来回反射,传播路径长、携带构造信息多,充分利用后续震相有望获得高精度的地下构造成像结果。逆时偏移是勘探地球物理中精度较高的成像方法之一,且易于实现。将逆时偏移算法引入海底节点初至震相和后续震相成像,采用常规逆时偏移对反射震相进行偏移,对上行一阶海底震相、上行一阶后续震相成像均进行镜像法逆时偏移,通过修改逆时偏移框架,实现初至震相的成像。研究结果表明,逆时偏移能够有效对反射震相进行地下偏移归位;采用镜像法逆时偏移对上行一阶海底震相、上行一阶自由表面震相进行成像,能够有效增大成像范围;修改逆时偏移框架,初至震相能够对断层进行准确定位。     

Numerical modeling of shallow water table behavior with Lisse effect

Air entrapment is an important consideration in environments with shallow water tables and sandy soil, like the condition of highly conductive sandy soils and flat topography in Florida, USA. It causes water table rises in soils, which are significantly faster and higher than those in soils without air entrapment. Two numerical models, Integrated Hydrologic Model (IHM) and HYDRUS-1D (a single-phase, one-dimensional Richards′ equation model) were tested at an area of west central Florida to help further understanding the shallow water table behavior during a long term air entrapment. This investigation employed field data with two modeling approaches to quantify the variation of air pressurization values. It was found that the air pressurization effect was responsible at time up to 40 cm of water table rise being recorded by the observation well for these two models. The values of air pressurization calculated from IHM and HYDRUS-1D match the previously published values. Results also indicated that the two numerical models did not consider air entrapment effect (as the predictive parameters remain uncertain) and thus results of depth to water table from these models did not compare to the observations for these selected periods. Incorporating air entrapment in prediction models is critical to reproduce shallow water table observations.     

广西北部湾城市群的区域整合与关系协调研究

对北部湾城市群的发展规模、发展水平、发展阶段和协调机制等方面的问题进行了分析;在培育中心城市、建设交通网络、加强港口的分工与协作、提高区域发展的综合效益等方面提出了北部湾城市群区域整合的思路.提出北部湾城市群的区域整合应注意协调五大关系:港城关系与主辅港关系、港口后方集疏系统与城际交通网络的协调、岸线合理利用问题、中心城市之间的关系、与粤西湛江、茂名的关系.最后,从加强区域管治,加快体制创新,扩大对外开放等方面提出相应的建议.     

Bandpass calibration of a wideband spectrometer using coherent pulse injection

We present a relatively simple time domain method for determining the bandpass response of a system by injecting a nanosecond pulse and capturing the system voltage output. A pulse of sub-nanosecond duration contains all frequency components with nearly constant amplitude up to 1 GHz. Hence, this method can accurately determine the system bandpass response to a broadband signal. In a novel variation on this impulse response method, a train of pulses is coherently accumulated providing precision calibration with a simple system. The basic concept is demonstrated using a pulse generator-accumulator setup realised in a Bedlam board which is a high speed digital signal processing unit. The same system was used at the Parkes radio telescope between 2–13 October 2013 and we demonstrate its powerful diagnostic capability. We also present some initial test data from this experiment.