Evaluation of cold-water carbonates as a possible paleoclimatic indicator

The common belief currently shared by many geoscientists concerning the climatic interpretation of limestones is that a warm-water environment is essential. This concept is not necessarily true because the rate and extent of terrigenous sediment dilution, rather than water temperature, is the primary factor determining whether or not a limestone forms at nearshore or continental shelf depths. Because carbonate productivity is lowest in cold climates, however, CaCO₃ abundance and the thickness of carbonate accumulations tend to be least at high latitudes. In this regard present-day continental shelves and beaches offer a poor model for comparing cold-water and warm-water carbonates because of the generally emergent continental tectonic framework, recent eustatic sea-level changes, and the presence of ice caps at the modern poles.Typically, the influence of climate on non-reef continental shelf and beach environments cannot be clearly distinguished by the presence or absence of major taxonomic groups. Faunal diversity and equitability are more sensitive in this regard. The absence of shelf-depth inorganic carbonate precipitates, micrite envelopes, and peloids may also point to the cold-water origin of a rock. Skeletal mineralogy and oxygen isotopes of certain unrecrystallized carbonates may be good paleoclimatic indicators; however, trace elements and physical-textural attributes of the carbonate fraction are probably temperature insensitive.Previous studies of high-latitude continental shelves have concentrated merely on the abundance of calcareous material and there is seemingly a disproportionate amount of information with respect to low-latitude carbonate studies. Further research on cold-water carbonates may open up new avenues for alternative paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic interpretations.     

东北地区农业结构转型时期土地利用变化的成因与效应

During the last decade of the 20th century, extensive conversion in agricultural land use took place in Northeast China. The goal of this study is to ascertain its spatial distribution and regional differentiation, determine its causes, and analyze its environmental impact, Especially we attempt to elucidate how institutional constraints have facilitated the change at a time of agrarian restructuring when newly emerging free market was hybridized with the former planned economy. Information on six categories of land use was mapped from interpretation of Landsat TM images recorded in 1990,1995 and 2000. Most of land use changes took place during the first half of the decade, coinciding with abrupt and chaotic changes in government directives. Farmland was changed mainly to woodland,water body and built-up areas while woodland and grassland were converted chiefly to farmland.Spatially, the change from farmland to woodland was restricted to the west of the study area. The change from grassland to farmland took place in the grazing and farming interlocked west. These chaotic and occasionally conflicting changes were largely caused by lack of stability and consistency in agricultural land use policies promulgated. They have exerted adverse impacts on the local environment, including land degradation, increased flooding, and modified climate regime.     

Incorporating uncertainty into the estimation of biological reference points for a spiny lobster (Panulirus penicillatus) fishery

The status of a fishery is often defined as the probability of fishing mortality rate exceeding a perilous level for long‐term sustainability. Lobster stock assessments are often subject to large uncertainty in input data and high levels of natural variability in lobster life history processes, which calls for incorporating uncertainty associated with both indicator and management reference points in an evaluation of biological risk of overfishing. Using a Monte Carlo simulation approach, we evaluated the impacts of uncertainty in modelling on the determination of the status of the Taitung spiny lobster (Panulirus penicillatus) fishery (Taiwan), which has not been quantitatively determined despite its commercial importance. The commonly used biological reference points derived from the per recruit model (F _0.1 the fishing mortality rate where the slope of the curve of yield‐per‐recruit model is 10% of the maximum slope and F _4Q%, the fishing mortality rate that reduces the expected egg production for a cohort of female lobsters to 40% of that produced in the absence of a fishery of the egg‐per‐recruit model) were influenced by uncertainties associated with lobster life history and fishery parameters. A large uncertainty in the current fishing mortality rate (F _cnr) and estimates of biological reference points (F _BRPs) increased the uncertainty in determining the risk of overexploitation throughout the confidence levels of the stochastic decision‐making framework. This simulation study suggests that the target reference point of F _40% is less sensitive to the input parameters’ uncertainty than F _0.1 We suggest a further evaluation of other F‐based references points and development of biomass‐based reference points before final selection and implementation for the management of the Taitung lobster fishery.     

Detailed correlation of type III radio bursts with Hα activity

We compare observations of type III impulsive radio bursts made at the Clark Lake Radio Observatory with high-spatial-resolution cinematographic observations taken at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. Use of the log-periodic radio interferometer allows us to localize the radio emission uniquely. This study concentrates on the particularly active region close to the limb on 22 May 1970. Sixteen of the 17 groups were associated with some H activity, 11 of them with the start of such activity.as of September 1972: Williams College-Hopkins Observatory, Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267.     

Dynamic characteristics and horizontal transports of internal solitons generated at the Columbia River plume front

River plume front-generated internal solitons play an important role in the interaction between the plume and coastal waters. The internal solitons drive a non-harmonic velocity field, resulting in a horizontal transport that carries plume water seaward and redistributes nutrients and sediments. In this study, we present observations of internal solitons generated at the Columbia River plume front that separates the new, tidal plume, older plume and coastal waters. Scale analyses suggest that the plume front-generated internal solitons are highly non-linear waves, and their dynamic properties do not conform to any weakly non-linear theory. Thus, a high-order Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) theory is used to analyze the internal solitons. The comparison between theoretical values and cruise data shows that the high-order KdV model is much better than the weakly non-linear theories for prediction of the soliton dynamic parameters. Based on the model, we develop theoretical and numerical solutions of the soliton-induced upper layer horizontal transport and Lagrangian water parcel transport distance, which shows that the water particle drift, during the internal soliton passage, is as far as 1 km, and demonstrates the role of the internal solitons on the exchange between the plume and ambient coastal water. Energy fluxes caused by the internal solitons are estimated using the high-order KdV theory. The leading soliton fluxes 2.0×10³ W m⁻¹ per unit crest length, and carries energy of 4.2×10⁵ J m⁻¹. The total energy carried by the eight internal solitons is 1.6×10⁶ J m⁻¹, about 70% of the total frontal energy.     

Observations of Atmospheric Methane and Carbon Dioxide Mixing Ratios: Tall-Tower or Mountain-Top Stations?

Mountain-top observations of greenhouse gas mixing ratios may be an alternative to tall-tower measurements for regional scale source and sink estimation. To investigate the equivalence or limitations of a mountain-top site as compared to a tall-tower site, we used the unique opportunity of comparing in situ measurements of methane (\(\hbox {CH}_{4}\)) and carbon dioxide (\(\hbox {CO}_{2}\)) mixing ratios at a mountain top (986 m above sea level, a.s.l.) with measurements from a nearby (distance 28.4 km) tall tower, sampled at almost the same elevation (1009 m a.s.l.). Special attention was given to, (i) how local wind statistics and greenhouse gas sources and sinks at the mountain top influence the observations, and (ii) whether mountain-top observations can be used as for those from a tall tower for constraining regional greenhouse gas emissions. Wind statistics at the mountain-top site are clearly more influenced by local flow systems than those at the tall-tower site. Differences in temporal patterns of the greenhouse gas mixing ratios observed at the two sites are mostly related to the influence of local sources and sinks at the mountain-top site. Major influences of local sources can be removed by applying a statistical filter (\(5{\mathrm{th}}\) percentile) or a filter that removes periods with unfavourable flow conditions. In the best case, the bias in mixing ratios between the mountain-top and the tall-tower sites after the application of the wind filter was \({-}0.0005\pm 0.0010\) ppm for methane (September, 0000–0400 UTC) and \(0.11\pm 0.18\) ppm for \(\hbox {CO}_{2}\) (February, 1200–1600 UTC). Temporal fluctuations of atmospheric \(\hbox {CH}_{4}\) and \(\hbox {CO}_{2}\) mixing ratios at both stations also showed good agreement (apart from \(\hbox {CO}_{2}\) during summertime) as determined by moving bi-weekly Pearson correlation coefficients (up to 0.96 for \(\hbox {CO}_{2}\) and 0.97 for \(\hbox {CH}_{4}\)). When only comparing mixing ratios minimally influenced by local sources (low bias and high correlation coefficients), our measurements indicate that mountain-top observations are comparable to tall-tower observations.     

Report of centimeter-sized tektites in Pima County,Arizona, cannot be verified

Abstract— Glassy objects reportedly found in Pima County, Arizona, have been identified as tektites. A field survey of the area where they were said to occur, however, did not produce any other tektites, nor did it reveal any other geologic features that might indicate a nearby impact crater. The major-, minor-, and trace-element composition of one specimen is similar to those measured in indochinites, which suggests the objects reportedly from Pima County were instead transported to southern Arizona from Indochina by people.     

Pairing paleolimnological inference models with mechanistic water column models enhances assessment of lake water quality

Reconciliation of paleolimnology inference models with hindcasts from mechanistic water column models aided the reconstruction of past relationships for total phosphorus/dissolved oxygen and acid neutralizing capacity/pH in highly polluted lake ecosystems in New York State. Pre-disturbance Onondaga Lake, Syracuse, NY, was shown to have experienced seasonal hypolimnetic anoxia even under oligotrophic (<10 ug l^?1) phosphorus levels. In the Adirondack Mountains of New York State the paired modeling confirmed that, while many lakes have the potential to eventually recover from acidification by atmospheric deposition, approximately 30% likely experienced naturally acidic conditions (pH < 6) prior to increases in industrial emissions. Comparison between the model results illuminated areas of individual model inadequacy, improved understanding of lake ecology, and increased confidence in the ability of predictive water column models to accurately develop restoration scenarios representing improved conditions. The work presented here is the first such comparison modeling for total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, and acid neutralizing capacity. The technique remains to be more widely applied geographically and extended to less heavily stressed lake systems. Because a fossil inference and mechanistic hindcast should independently lead to similar results, comparison modeling is a potentially powerful tool for examining past interactions between ecosystem structure and ecosystem functioning.