Availability of suitable land-fast ice and predation as factors limiting ringed seal populations, Phoca hispida, in Svalbard

We examined the stability of fast ice areas in western and northern Spitsbergen, the area north of Nordaustlandet, the bays and sounds of Hinlopen Stretet and the large area in the northern part of Storfjorden. NOAA satellite imagery from 1974 and 1988 and NOAA (AVHRR) imagery from 1980-87 were used to determine the dates of freeze-up and break-up. The number of days of fast ice present before the nominal birth date of ringed seal pups were computed for all major bays and fjords. Ice thickness was then computed from these data. Known prime breeding habitat in Svalbard is found in areas near glacier fronts in protected fjords and bays, where densities of birth lairs are 5.46 km⁻², corresponding to a ringed seal female density of 2.6 km⁻². Most of the ringed seal breeding habitat in Svalbard, however, consists of flat fjord ice where snow accumulation is rarely deep enough to permit birth lair construction. In these areas pups are often born in the open. Based on breathing hole densities, the density of adult females in the flat ice areas in the breeding period was estimated to 0.98 km⁻². A preliminary estimate is that approximately 19,500 pups could be born annually in the fast ice of Svalbard. Annual recruitment could be quite variable given the unpredictable nature of the fast ice areas and the high predation mortality on newborn pups. Discrepancies between our calculated ringed seal production and numbers of seals required to feed the large polar bear population in the area signal cause for management concern.     

Pleistocene stratigraphy in the Dellen region, central Sweden

Robertsson, A.-M., Svedlund, J.-O., Andrén, T. & Sundh, M. 1997 (September): Pleistocene stratigraphy in the Dellen region, central Sweden. Boreas, Vol. 26, pp. 237–260. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483. The Pleistocene stratigraphy in the Dellen region, central Sweden was studied using field observations made during mapping of Quaternary deposits and fabric analyses in excavated sections. The lithostratigraphy was also studied by seismic refraction measurements, analyses of grain-size distribution and organic carbon content. Biostratigraphical methods applied were pollen and diatom analyses. A general outline of the Pleistocene stratigraphy in the area is presented. Three different till beds are identified, the lowermost suggested to have been deposited during the Saalian glaciation and the other two during the Weichselian glaciation. According to the interpretation of the stratigraphy, it is questioned whether the first Weichselian ice sheet did in fact reach the Dellen area. A clayey sediment sequence at Norra Sannas accumulated during an interglacial, probably the Eemian. Most of the interglacial vegetation succession is reflected in the identified pollen flora. An initial phase with a light-demanding forest of Belula and Pinus was followed by immigration of Alnus, Picea and scattered occurrences of Corylus. A freshwater diatom flora was identified dominated by plankton taxa, e.g. Aulacoseira italica, A. distans and Cyclotella spp. In the lower part of the sequence a brackish-marine flora was registered, representing accumulation in a bay of the Eemian Sea. Fine-grained sediments at the Sundson and Vastansjd sites are interpreted as rebedded Eemian sediments according to the pollen flora. An (Early Weichselian) interstadial age is suggested for sediments found at Bjuraker. Dating by the ¹⁴C- and OSL methods was carried out on the interglacial and interstadial sediments, respectively. The ages range from approximately 19000 to 92000 BP. Correlation of interglacial vegetation history with central Finland and other areas is discussed.     

THE BRIGHT SURGE-LIKE SPIKE AT THE SOLAR LIMB SEPTEMBER 24, 1991

The 1N/M6.1 limb-flare-associated surge-spike phenomenon of 24 September, 1991 is investigated using H filtergrams taken at Kandilli Observatory. The kinematics and the morphological features of the moving plasma are discussed. Radio and soft X-ray bursts, ionospheric, and magnetic disturbances are detected in the oscillatory motions during the surge phenomenon.     

个旧锡矿锡石的矿物学研究

对个旧锡矿床的块状硫化物型、电气石细脉带型、含锡白云岩型、层间氧化矿型矿床中的锡石晶体运用扫描电镜、阴极发光成像技术、X-射线粉晶衍射、电子探针等试验开展了矿物学的系统研究.结果表明从块状硫化物型→电气石细脉带型→含锡白云岩型→层间氧化矿型矿床中的锡石有如下特征或变化规律:①颗粒体积依次变小.②深色的锡石到浅色锡石晶胞参数变大,c:a值变小.③锡石晶体单型组合共有7种,单型从{111}锥面发育逐渐向{110}柱面发育.④锡石内部环带从均匀发育到不发育.以上特征均指示了4种矿床类型中锡石的形成温度依次降低.根据CL阴极发光下锡石亮度的差异,判断块状硫化物型、电气石细脉带型、含锡白云岩型矿床中锡石存在2个形成期次,认为此3类矿床在早阶段高温热液流体活动与早期锡石结晶作用有关,晚阶段低温热液流体活动与晚期锡石结晶作用有关.而层间氧化矿型矿床中的锡石具备悬浮在流体中生成的特征,可能为被流体搬运沉积形成,认为此矿床为重泥质沉积成因.     

Early Holocene environment on Bjørnøya (Svalbard) inferred from multidisciplinary lake sediment studies

Bjørnøya, a small (178 km²) island situated between the mainland of Norway and southern Spitsbergen, provides the opportunity for the reconstruction of early Holocene terrestrial and limnic palaeoenvironments in the southwestern Barents Sea. The AMS ¹⁴C dating technique, geochemical, mineral magnetic, micro and macrofossil analyses were applied to sediments recovered from lake Stevatnet and the results are interpreted in terms of palaeoenvironmental conditions between 9800 and 8300 ¹⁴C bp. After the disappearance of local glaciers before ca 9800¹⁴C BP, the lake productivity increased rapidly at the same time as pioneer plant communities developed on soils which gradually became more stable. Insect data indicates that strong seasonal contrasts with mean July temperatures around 9°C and mean January temperatures around −12°C prevailed between 9500 and 8300 ¹⁴C BP. These high summer temperatures, possibly as much as 4-5°C higher than the present, favoured the development of a flora including Dryas and Angelica cf. archangelica . The enhanced freeze/thaw processes led to an increased erosion of minerogenic and organic material. After 8000 ¹⁴C BP the temperatures may have gradually declined. The environmental reconstruction derived from our data set supports the conceptual insolation model which proposes maximum Holocene seasonality for the Northern Hemisphere at ca 9000 ¹⁴C BP.     

不同温度应力路径下饱和黏土剪切特性

在精准温控动三轴试验系统上开展了不同温度及不同升温路径饱和黏土剪切试验研究,探讨了不同温度对饱和软黏土不排水剪切特性的影响,分析不同升温固结方式对饱和软黏土孔压发展、体变、强度以及模量的影响规律。试验结果显示：在4～76 ℃试验研究范围内,环境温度升高导致饱和软黏土的不排水剪切强度有所减少,但温度升高对土体模量增加影响明显,温度T和模量ET关系可用ET = 2.69T 0.3表达;升温变化时正常固结黏土产生超孔隙水压力并随着温度增大而增大,升温热固结后土的剪切强度将明显提高,且排水状态下升温固结对土剪切强度增长小于升温完成后再固结情况;土体从26 ℃分别升高20、40 ℃时,升温引起的超孔压比分别为0.41、0.61,剪切峰值强度分别增加8.23%、22.37%。研究表明：升温幅值增大会使土体热固结程度越大,升温分级越多,热固结也越充分,其对应的体变、强度增长率则越大;同时最终温度及热固结路径对其剪切相转换特征存在影响,升温越高、热固结路径越多其剪胀性越明显,但温度变化范围、固结分级、热固结路径总体上对孔隙水压力的发展基本不产生影响。     

An application of network design procedures for redesigning Kizilirmak River basin raingauge network,Turkey

ABSTRACT

Recently developed rainfall network design techniques are discussed and compared. Present day hydrological studies require high levels of accuracy from collected data. Also, scientists need to know the degree of accuracy of the information they use. The existing rainfall network in the Kizilirmak basin must be redesigned in order to meet the required level of accuracy preset by rainfall data users. The three following techniques were applied: optimum interpolation procedure which is a flexible method; variance of mean areal rainfall; and the analysis of variance. The existing network of 52 gauges is redesigned so that the network will have an average root mean square error (rmse) of ? 32 mm and the percentage of the area with rmse > 36 mm is limited to 10%. It is found that the proposed criteria are satisfied by a network of 53 gauges of which eight were newly established and seven of the existing ones removed.     

Monitoring baseline suspended sediment in forested basins: the effects of sampling on suspended sediment rating curves

Abstract

Rating curves are widely used for directly assessing changes in the suspended sediment delivery process and indirectly for estimating total yields. Four sampling methods were simulated over a 31-day record of suspended sediment from the North Fork of the Mad River near Korbel, California. The position and size of the four groups of plotted slope/intercept pairs indicated differences in bias and variance among the methods. Estimates of total yield for the 31-day period and for storms of three sizes were also biased according to sampling method. A standard bias-correcting technique improved yield estimates, but did not remove sampling bias uniformly. Methods of data collection have a large and systematic effect on the estimation of rating-curve parameters and on estimates of suspended sediment yield. Differences attributed to land management may, in fact, result from changes in sampling methods.     

Late Glacial stable isotope record, radiocarbon stratigraphy, pollen and mollusc analyses from the Geiseltal area, Central Germany

Combined investigations of isotopes, pollen, and molliisc shells were carried out on a Latc Glacial limnic high-resolution sediment sequence from the Geiseltal open-cast mine in Central Gcrmany. The dala confirm thc division of the Late Glacial biozones into two colder (Older and Younger Dryas) and two warmer periods (Bølling, Allcrød), which have already bccn cstablishcd lor the Central and Northern German area. Radiocarbon data, mainly based on wood material, cover a time span between c , 10 800 BP and 12 760 BP, indicating a mean sedimentation rate of c . 2 mm/yr. The stable isotope data (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C) reflect the transition periods between the climatic phases as changes in relative air humidity (transition from dry, cold to warmer. more humid conditions). The dominance of evaporation effects, however, is superimposed on any ternpcratiirc aignal throughout the profile. Repeated conversions of the hydrologic regime (silting-up phases. lake-level variations) characterize the specific history of the lake development.