http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987115000870

Cap Carbonates overlie the Marinoan Snowball Earth-related glacial diamictite,and possibly record the drastic surface environmental change and biological evolution after the Snowball Earth.We conducted on-land drilling from the Liantuo Formation,through the Nantuo,to the lower Doushantuo Formation in the Three Gorges area of South China to collect fresh,continuous samples in the Three Gorges area.We obtained high-resolution chemostratigraphies of δ~(13)C and δ~(18)O values of carbonates from the topmost part of the Nantuo Formation to the Cap Carbonate,in order to decode the detailed surface environmental change in the shallow marine setting.The δ~(13)C chemostratigraphy possesses some unique characteristics:(1) stable δ~(13)C values as a whole,but ubiquitous low δ~(13)C anomalies through the Cap Carbonate,(2) increase of the δ~(13)C values from-3 to +5‰ across the C2/C3 boundary,(3) no δ~(13)C anomaly between the C1 and C2 boundary,and(4) presence of an anomalous high δ~(13)C value(+2.3‰)and a faint positive correlation between δ~(13)C and δ~(18)O values in the C1 unit.Evidence of quite low δ~(13)C anomalies(with a nadir of-41‰),ubiquitous negative δ~(13)C anomalies through the Cap Carbonate,and a high δ~(13)C anomaly accompanied with a faint positive correlation between δ~(13)C and δ~(18)O values in the C1 unit supports decomposition and formation of methane hydrate during Cap Carbonate formation.The drastic increase of δ~(13)C values from the upper C2 to C3 units indicates enhancement of primary productivity and organic carbon burial,possibly due to high continental fluxes after the Snowball Earth event,evidenced by high Sr isotope values.The increase is restricted to the proximal side of the inner shelf in South China,and the timing of the increase of δ~(13)C values of carbonates is earlier at Three Gorges area than any other area,suggesting that the enhancement of primary productivity started in the proximal environment because of higher continental influxes.The increase in oxygen contents of seawater due to the enhanced primary productivity possibly resulted in the emergence of multicellular animals soon after Cap Carbonate deposition.     

Modulation of tropical cyclogenesis in the western North Pacific by the quasi-biweekly oscillation

The quasi-biweekly oscillation(QBWO) is the second most dominant intraseasonal mode over the western North Pacific(WNP) during boreal summer. In this study, the modulation of WNP tropical cyclogenesis(TCG) by the QBWO and its association with large-scale patterns are investigated. A strong modulation of WNP TCG events by the QBWO is found.More TCG events occur during the QBWO's convectively active phase. Based on the genesis potential index(GPI), we further evaluate the role of environmental factors in affecting WNP TCG. The positive GPI anomalies associated with the QBWO correspond well with TCG counts and locations. A large positive GPI anomaly is spatially correlated with WNP TCG events during a life cycle of the QBWO. The low-level relative vorticity and mid-level relative humidity appear to be two dominant contributors to the QBWO-composited GPI anomalies during the QBWO's active phase, followed by the nonlinear and potential intensity terms. These positive contributions to the GPI anomalies are partly offset by the negative contribution from the vertical wind shear. During the QBWO's inactive phase, the mid-level relative humidity appears to be the largest contributor, while weak contributions are also made by the nonlinear and low-level relative vorticity terms.Meanwhile, these positive contributions are partly cancelled out by the negative contribution from the potential intensity.The contributions of these environmental factors to the GPI anomalies associated with the QBWO are similar in all five flow patterns—the monsoon shear line, monsoon confluence region, monsoon gyre, easterly wave, and Rossby wave energy dispersion associated with a preexisting TC. Further analyses show that the QBWO strongly modulates the synoptic-scale wave trains(SSWs) over the WNP, with larger amplitude SSWs during the QBWO's active phase. This implies a possible enhanced(weakened) relationship between TCG and SSWs during the active(inactive) phase. This study improves our understanding of the modulation of WNP TCG by the QBWO and thus helps with efforts to improve the intraseasonal prediction of WNP TCG.     

Polar cap absorption on vlf emissions

It is shown that VLF emissions are greatly affected by the polar cap absorption caused by the bombardment of solar protons. Characteristics of the PCA effect on VLF emissions are examined and they are in agreement with those obtained by other studies, such as the polar blackout and the cosmic radio absorption. Therefore, the earlier conclusion that the occurrence frequency of VLF emissions decreases in high latitudes during magnetic storms is likely to be due to the PCA effect.

Taking this PCA effect into account, it is established that an enhancement of occurrence of VLF emissions occurs at geomagnetic latitudes lower than 67° during the magnetic storm. This suggests that enhanced VLF emissions during geomagnetic storms are generated in the co-rotating region of the magnetosphere or in the outer radiation belt, but not in the tail region.     

Characterization of vertical mixing at a tidal-front on Georges Bank

Studies of mixing were done at the northern flank of Georges Bank in the summer and autumn of 1988. Two time-series of the evolution and intensity of microstructure were examined over a tidal period in the context of tidal forcing and the evolution of the density and velocity field at the site. From the CTD, ADCP and microstructure observations (EPSONDE) on Georges Bank, several interesting features of the mixing processes were found. High dissipation and diffusivity regions appear near the bottom of the Bank. Turbulence near the bottom is highest in intensity and reaches farthest from the bottom at peak tidal flow and diminishes in intensity and vertical extent as the flow decreases. The thickness of the bottom turbulent layer has its maximum value when the flow is strongest and the stratification is weakest. Characterization of the dissipation rate and turbulent diffusivities in respect to buoyancy frequency N, current shear S, Richardson Number R_i and ε/νN² was done. Dissipation and χ_T showed little dependence on shear or N² but decreased at larger R_i. χ_t was found to be higher in regions of higher N² and increased as ε/νN² increased. K_T, K and K_ν, were all highest near the bottom in excess of 10⁻²m²s⁻¹ and decreased towards the surface. There was little suggestion of a dependence of mixing efficiency on S², R_i or ε/νN², but some indication that Γ decreases with decreasing N².     

On wave-free floating-body forms in heaving oscillation

Some wave-free heaving forms are obtained in a manner similar to Bessho's earlier work by using a source and vertical dipole combination to generate bulbous-shaped two and three-dimensional bodies which have zero radiation damping. Then the combinations of higher singularities, such as triple-pole and quadra-pole, are considered. Using the thin-ship approximation, where the boundary condition is satisfied on the centreline, a simple procedure for generating any arbitrary shape that has the same property is established. The existence of wave-free frequencies of such bodies are verified numerically, in two dimensions by a standard singularity-distribution method based on the actual body-contour and in three-dimensions by using vortex-ring distribution for an axisymmetric body. Experiments are carried out for the models obtained theoretically and the results support the theoretical predictions fairly well. Finally, some suggestions are made to apply such a wave-free body to a moored buoy to suppress its heaving oscillation.     

Dynamics of elastically moored floating objects

The two-dimensional problem of wave transformation by, and motions of, moored floating objects is solved numerically as a boundary value problem by direct use of Green's identity formula for a potential function. The cross-sectional shape of the floating object, the bottom configuration and the mooring arrangements may be all arbitrary. For a given incident wave, the three modes of body motion, the wave system and mooring forces are all solved at the same time. A laboratory experiment is conducted to verify the theory. Generally good agreements between the theory and experiments are obtained as long as the viscous damping due to flow separation is small. A numerical experiment indicates that a conventional sluck mooring is to worsen the wave attenuation by a floating breakwater and that a properly arranged elastic mooring can considerably improve the wave attenuation by a floating breakwater.     

Distribution of Overturn Induced by Internal Tides and Thorpe Scale in Uchiura Bay

The vertical mixing process induced by internal tides was investigated by repeated conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) measurements and bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) in Uchiura Bay from July 24 to 25, 2001. Internal tides were observed with a wave height of 40 m and a horizontal current of 0.3 ms⁻¹. Density inversions were found in the CTD data, and the method of Galbraith and Kelley (1996) was applied to the data to identify overturns and to calculate Thorpe scale. Most of the overturns distributed in the region of low Richardson number, so that they were considered to be caused by shear instability associated with the internal tides. Thorpe scale was calculated to be 0.48 m. From the Thorpe scale, the vertical eddy diffusivity due to internal tides in Uchiura Bay was estimated as K _ρ ∼ 10⁻⁴ m²s⁻¹. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Air-Sea Interactions under the Existence of Opposing Swell

Data of a comprehensive laboratory study on the coexistent system of wind waves and opposing swell (Mitsuyasu and Yoshida, 1989) have been reanalyzed to clarify the air-sea interaction phenomena under the coexistence of wind waves and swell. It is shown that the magnitude of the decay rate of swell due to an opposing wind is almost the same as that of the growth rate of swell caused by a following wind, as measured by Mitsuyasu and Honda (1982). The decay rate is much smaller than that obtained recently by Peirson et al. (2003), but the reason for the disagreement is not clear at present. The effect of an opposing swell on wind waves is very different from that of a following swell; wind waves are intensified by an opposing swell while they are attenuated by a following one. The phenomenon contradicts the model of Phillips and Banner (1974), but the reason for this is not clear at this time. The high-frequency spectrum of wind waves shows a small increase of the spectral density. Wind shear stress increases a little due to the effect of opposing swell. The intensification of wind waves by opposing swell and the small increase of the spectral density in a high-frequency region can be attributed to the increase of wind shear stress. Such organized phenomena lead to the conclusion that the hypothesis of local equilibrium for pure wind waves (Toba, 1972) can also be satisfied for wind waves that coexist with opposing swell. The recent finding of Hanson and Phillips (1999) can be explained by this mechanism.     

Three-body problem

In the first part of this paper [Marchal, Yoshida, Sun Yi-Sui 1985] we have analyzed three-body systems satisfying the condition rkR where k is a suitable constant, r the mutual distance of the two masses of the binary and R the distance between the center of mass of the binary and the third mass.That condition rkR puts limits on the acceleration of the third mass and these limits allow us to determine the corresponding escape velocities.In this second part we look for initial conditions under which the inequality rkR will remain forever satisfied and we develop the corresponding tests of escape and their applications.This leads to a major improvement of the knowledge of the nature of three-body motions especially in the vicinity of triple close approaches.The region of bounded motions is much smaller than was generally expected and numerical computations of particular solutions show that we approach very near to the true limit.     

Characterization of water quality variation in the Mekong River at Vientiane by frequent observations

To better understand the variation of water quality in the Mekong River, sampling and measurement were scheduled twice a week for about 3 years at Vientiane, followed by basic statistical analysis of the observed data. The frequent measurement revealed detailed characteristics of the water quality variation, which had not been detected by monthly observation in the previous studies. The variation in total ionic content was considered to be governed by dilution of the amount of water. Increases in turbidity could be attributed to physical effects including surface soil erosion and bed material resuspension at the time of discharge increase. Nitrogen concentrations were stably low during the low flow period and abruptly increased in May. After the annual maximum in late May, the nitrate concentration steadily decreased regardless of the remarkable rise in the discharge from mid‐July, whereas the ammonium concentration remained at a similar level until October. It was considered that the first small discernable runoff after the long dry season flushed the accumulated nitrogen in the surface soil and mobilized the nitrogen in the riverbed. The variation in phosphorus concentrations was different from that in nitrogen concentrations. During the high flow period, continual dilutions at discharge peaks and occasional large additions of phosphorus by surface runoff were suggested. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.