Environmental records of lacustrine sediments in different time scales: Sediment grain size as an example

Understanding the past is the key to know thepresent and to predict the future. As a core project ofthe International Geosphere Biosphere Program, PastGlobal Changes (PAGES) aims to reconstruct theevolution history of global climate, global environ-ment and global ecosystem with resort to all kinds ofnatural records, so as to reveal the change rules(change processes, change amplitude and change rate)of the global environment and thus provide scientificbasis for predicting climate changes p…     

Palynological record during the Pleistocene (between 1.05 Ma and 0.36 Ma) from ODP1144, northern South China Sea

This paper presents the pollen record from the lower section of ODP1144 (depth 501.3-225.7 m, ca. 1.05-0.36 Ma). Two pollen zones (PA and PB) and eleven pollen subzones are recognized. Within zone PB, the 11 pollen subzones (PB21-11) are defined according to the pine, fern and herb variations, and are equivalent to the marine isotope stages 21-11 (MISs 21-11). The interglacial periods are typified by an increase in pine pollen and fern spores, and a decrease in herbaceous pollen, while the patterning during the glacial periods is just the opposite. During the interglacial periods, pollen assemblages were dominated by pine similar to those of the present day, suggesting that the paleoenvironment of the interglacial periods was similar to that of the present day, whereas the glacial periods are marked by an increase in herbaceous pollen, mainly Gramineae and Cyperaceae, indicating that grassland covered the exposed continental shelf when sea level declined. Increased Artemisia percentages and the highest     

The July 14, 2003 Qianjiangping landslide,Three Gorges Reservoir,China

The Qianjiangping landslide occurred after the first impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir in July 2003. Field investigation revealed that failure occurred when the reservoir reached 135 m, but the stability of the affected slope was already reduced by pre-existing bedding-plane shears, quarrying of mudstone from the landslide toe, and previous heavy rain. A possible explanation of the rapid and long runout mechanism of the landslide is that movement on a bedding-plane shear ruptured the calcite cement and rapidly reduced the sandstone strength to residual shear strength.     

“7·22”云南盐津地震房屋震害分析

本文根据地震现场的考查情况,介绍了2006年7月22日云南盐津5.1级地震的灾害概况,归纳和分析了灾区生土墙结构、石结构、钢筋混凝土框架结构和木构架结构房屋的震害特征及其破坏原因,并对我国村镇房屋的防震减灾研究提出了若干建议。     

基于生态足迹模型的南宁市生态承载力分析

生态足迹模型是用于计算人类生态消费、衡量生态可持续性发展的一种定量方法。本文运用此方法对广西南宁市2009年生态足迹和生态承载力进行了测算,并将之与其他区域进行对比分析,得出了南宁市当前社会资源的供给与需求存在严峻的矛盾,进而提出了减轻生态赤字、加强可持续发展的措施和建议,试为该区可持续发展战略的实施提供科学决策依据。     

国外脆弱性理论模型与评估框架研究评述

目前,脆弱性研究作为一种新的研究范式已经在多学科领域中得到了广泛应用,并取得了丰硕成果.但随着研究的深入,学者们发现,由于学科背景及研究视角的差异性,不同研究领域之间存在着结论不兼容和工作重复等问题,迫切需要一个可行的理论模型与评估框架来整合其理论和实践的研究.在对脆弱性概念内涵的发展演变过程分析的基础上,对国外多学科领域中的脆弱性理论模型及评估框架进行了对比研究和评述.研究发现:脆弱性概念的泛化是制约通用脆弱性理论模型与评估框架的关键因素,结合未来脆弱性研究的发展方向,对整合的脆弱性理论模型与评估框架提出了4个方面的要求,即多时空尺度特征、多重扰动特征、耦合系统特征和人文特征.     

A Large-Eddy Simulation Study of Water Vapour and Carbon Dioxide Isotopes in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

A large-eddy simulation model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is extended to simulate the transport and diffusion of C¹⁸OO, H₂¹⁸O and ¹³CO₂ in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). The simulation results show that the ¹⁸O compositions of leaf water and the ABL CO₂ are moderately sensitive to wind speed. The variations in the ¹⁸O composition of water vapour are an order of magnitude greater than those in the ¹³C and ¹⁸O compositions of CO₂ both at turbulent eddy scales and across the capping inversion. In a fully-developed convective ABL, these isotopic compositions are well mixed as with other conserved atmospheric quantities. The Keeling intercepts determined with the simulated high-frequency turbulence time series do not give a reliable estimate of the ¹⁸O composition of the surface water vapour flux and may be a reasonable approximation to the ¹³C and ¹⁸O compositions of the surface CO₂ flux in the late afternoon only after a deep convective ABL has developed. We suggest that our isotopic large-eddy simulation (ISOLES) model should be a useful tool for testing and formulating research hypotheses on land–air isotopic exchanges.     

Changes in soil organic carbon stocks as affected by cropping systems and cropping duration in China’s paddy fields: a meta-analysis

Great uncertainties remain in the impact of cropping systems on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in paddy fields that hold a large potential for carbon (C) sequestration. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed to examine trends on SOC stocks in unfertilized and fertilized fields from three of the most common rice cropping systems in China. Results showed that rice cropping without any nutrient application (Control) significantly increased SOC stocks by 9% compared to the initial level in double rice cropping systems (DR), whereas no significant effects were observed in single rice cropping systems (SR) and rice-upland crop rotation systems (RU). Paddy soils sequestered C in all the three cropping systems under inorganic NPK fertilization, and the magnitude of the increase in SOC stocks was in the order DR > RU > SR. Soil C stocks increased with the increasing cropping duration. Continuous rice cropping for more than 20?years led to average SOC gains of 15% and 23% in the control and NPK treatments, respectively. Furthermore, it seems that C sequestration was still occurring in the longest fields from the included studies. Thus, no SOC saturation trend was found over the investigated cropping duration. However, the negative relationship between SOC changes and their initial C stocks suggests indirectly the possibility of SOC saturation in paddy fields.     

Critical roles of convective momentum transfer in sustaining the multi-scale Madden–Julian oscillation

To understand the nature and role of multi-scale interaction involved in the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), a dynamical model is built based on two essential processes: the convective complex of the MJO modulates the strength and location of synoptic-scale motions, which in turn feed back to the MJO through the convective momentum transfer (CMT). Our results exhibit that: (1) The lower tropospheric easterly CMT coming from the 2-day waves slows down the MJO dramatically; (2) although the lower tropospheric westerly CMT coming from the superclusters can produce the horizontal quadrupole vortex and vertical westerly wind-burst structures of the MJO, it drives the large-scale motions to propagate eastward too fast; (3) the planetary boundary layer provides an instability source for the MJO and pulls the MJO to propagate eastward at a speed of 0～10?ms^?1; and (4) the optimal structure of the multi-scale MJO should be: the stronger superclusters/2-day waves prevail in the rear/front part of the MJO and produce lower tropospheric westerly/easterly CMT there. These theoretical results emphasize the role of CMT and encourage further observations in the multi-scale MJO.     

Connection of the stratospheric QBO with global atmospheric general circulation and tropical SST. Part II: interdecadal variations

The interdecadal variation of the association of the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) with tropical sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (SSTA) and with the general circulation in the troposphere and lower stratosphere is examined using the ERA40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalyses, as well as other observation-based analyses. It is found that the relationship between the QBO and tropical SSTA changed once around 1978–1980, and again in 1993–1995. During 1966–1974, negative correlation between the QBO and NINO3.4 indices reached its maximum when the NINO3.4 index lagged the QBO by less than 6?months. Correspondingly, the positive correlations were observed when the NINO3.4 index led the QBO by about 11–13?months or lagged by about 12–18?months. However, maximum negative correlations were shifted from the NINO3.4 index lagging the QBO by about 0–6?months during 1966–1974 to about 3–12?months during 1985–1992. During 1975–1979, both the negative and positive correlations were relatively small and the QBO and ENSO were practically unrelated to each other. The phase-based QBO life cycle composites also confirm that, on average, there are two phase (6–7?months) delay in the evolution of the QBO-associated anomalous Walker circulation, tropical SST, atmospheric stability, and troposphere and lower stratosphere temperature anomalies during 1980–1994 in comparison with those in 1957–1978. The interdecadal variation of the association between the QBO and the troposphere variability may be largely due to the characteristic change of El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation. The irregularity of the QBO may play a secondary role in the interdecadal variation of the association.