Changes in cyanobacterial dominance following the invasion of the zebra mussel<Emphasis Type="Italic">Dreissena polymorpha</Emphasis>: Long-term results from the Hudson River estuary

The introduction of invasive bivalves such as the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) can have profound effects on aquatic ecosystems, including decreases in phytoplankton biomass and changes in the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton. Zebra mussel introductions have been associated with increased dominance of cyanobacteria, especiallyMicrocystis, but this change may depend on interacting physical, chemical, or biotic conditions. We used a 12-yr record in the Hudson River to explore the relationship between phytoplankton composition and zebra mussel filtration. During this period (1993–2005), the mean July–September filtration rate of the zebra mussel (ZMF) varied by 8-fold, and the mean biovolume of cyanobacteria, which was dominated byMicrocystis, varied from 0 to 4.2 mm³ 1⁻¹ and comprised up to 52% of total phytoplankton biovolume. There was a tendency for high cyanobacterial biomass to be associated with low rather than high ZMF. Neither the absolute nor the relative amounts of either total cyanobacteria orMicrocystis were significantly correlated to ZMF alone or in combination with total phosphorus or any other, physical or chemical parameters that we measured. Cyanobacteria dominance and abundance were both strongly correlated to temperature, and over 80% of the among year variance in cyanobacterial dominance could be explained by temperature in a linear model. Temperature in combination with dissolved SiO₃ explained 90% of the variation in cyanobacterial dominance. At higher temperatures and lower dissolved SiO₃, cyanobacterial abundance increased, at the expense of diatoms that dominated at lower temperatures and a higher SiO₃ years. The high explanatory value of temperature is surprising as the variation in temperature among years was relatively low (24.0–26.8°C). The results suggest that event slightly increased temperatures could lead to higher biomass and dominance of cyanobacteria in some aquatic systems.     

Changing compositions in the Iceland plume; Isotopic and elemental constraints from the Paleogene Faroe flood basalts

Elemental and Sr, Nd, Hf and high precision Pb isotopic data are presented from 59 low-Ti and high-Ti lavas from the syn-break up part of the Faroe Flood Basalt Province. The depleted MORB-like low-Ti lavas erupted in the rift zone between the Faroe Islands and central East Greenland around the time of break up of the North Atlantic have isotopic end-member compositions different from the depleted Iceland lavas. We suggest that the main low-Ti mantle component is NAEM (North Atlantic End-Member (Ellam and Stuart, 2000, J. Petrol. 41, 919) and that the ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb value of the component should be 15.35 and ε_Hf = + 16.5. NAEM is the main depleted component in the early Iceland plume. This is supported by high mantle potential temperatures (up to 1550 °C) calculated for the source of the low-Ti basalts. The unique mantle isotopic composition of NAEM with low ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (17.5) and Δ7/4Pb (? 3.8) precludes a derivation from recycled MORB lithosphere. Instead we suggest that NAEM represents a plume component of recycled depleted Archean lithospheric mantle that was further depleted ~ 500 Ma ago, possibly in connection with the recycling process. Two other isotopic end-members are required to explain the variation of the Faroe low-Ti basalts: (1) The Faroe depleted component (FDC), with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.7025, ε_Nd = + 11, ε_Hf = + 19.5, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.2, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.454 and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 37.75, which is similar in composition to some Atlantic MORB and is regarded as a local upper mantle source. (2) An enriched EM-type component similar in geochemistry to the Icelandic Öræfajökull lavas. This component is believed to be recycled pelagic sediments in the plume but it can alternatively be a local crustal or lithospheric mantle component. The enriched Faroe high-Ti lavas erupted inland from the rift have isotopic compositions very similar to the enriched Icelandic neo-volcanics and these lava suites apparently share the two enriched plume end-members IE1 and IE2 (Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 68, 2, 2004). The lack of mixing between high and low-Ti melts at the time of break up, is explained by a zoned plume where only low-Ti sources were present beneath the rift zone surrounded by high-Ti sources on both sides of the rift. The enriched plume components in the high-Ti lava sequences on the Faroe Islands and central East Greenland changed rapidly on a ka-scale which implies, from geophysical modelling, that this area was positioned above the center of the plume, and that the Iceland plume was centered under the Atlantic ridge already from the Paleocene.     

Properties of Magnetic Neutral Line Gradients and Formation of Filaments

We investigate the gradients of magnetic fields across neutral lines (NLs) and compare their properties for NLs with and without chromospheric filaments. Our results show that there is a range of preferred magnetic field gradients where the filament formation is enhanced. On the other hand, a horizontal gradient of the magnetic field across an NL alone does not appear to be a single factor that determines if a filament will form (or not) in a given location.     

Structure and chemistry of (111) twin boundaries in MgAl<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> spinel crystals from Mogok

The atomic scale structure and chemistry of (111) twins in MgAl₂O₄ spinel crystals from the Pinpyit locality near Mogok (Myanmar, formerly Burma) were analysed using complementary methods of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To obtain a three-dimensional information on the atomic structure, the twin boundaries were investigated in crystallographic projections and Using conventional electron diffraction and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) analysis we have shown that (111) twins in spinel can be crystallographically described by 180° rotation of the oxygen sublattice normal to the twin composition plane. This operation generates a local hcp stacking in otherwise ccp lattice and maintains a regular sequence of kagome and mixed layers. In addition to rotation, no other translations are present in (111) twins in these spinel crystals. Chemical analysis of the twin boundary was performed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) using a variable beam diameter (VBD) technique, which is perfectly suited for analysing chemical composition of twin boundaries on a sub-nm scale. The VBD/EDS measurements indicated that (111) twin boundary in spinel is Mg-deficient. Quantitative analyses of HRTEM (phase contrast) and HAADF-STEM (Z-contrast) images of (111) twin boundary have confirmed that Mg²⁺ ions are replaced with Be²⁺ ions in boundary tetrahedral sites. The Be-rich twin boundary structure is closely related to BeAl₂O₄ (chrysoberyl) and BeMg₃Al₈O₁₆ (taaffeite) group of intermediate polysomatic minerals. Based on these results, we conclude that the formation of (111) twins in spinel is a preparatory stage of polytype/polysome formation (taaffeite) and is a result of thermodynamically favourable formation of hcp stacking due to Be incorporation on the {111} planes of the spinel structure in the nucleation stage of crystal growth. The twin structure grows as long as the surrounding geochemical conditions allow its formation. The incorporation of Be induces a 2D-anisotropy and exaggerated growth of the crystal along the (111) twin boundary.     

Do Cloud Properties in a Puerto Rican Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Depend on Occurrence of Long-Range Transported African Dust?

We investigated cloud properties of warm clouds in a tropical montane cloud forest at Pico del Este (1,051 m a.s.l.) in the northeastern part of Puerto Rico to address the question of whether cloud properties in the Caribbean could potentially be affected by African dust transported across the Atlantic Ocean. We analyzed data collected during 12 days in July 2011. Cloud droplet size spectra were measured using the FM-100 fog droplet spectrometer that measured droplet size distributions in the range from 2 to 49 µm, primarily during fog events. The droplet size spectra revealed a bimodal structure, with the first peak (D < 6 µm) being more pronounced in terms of droplet number concentrations, whereas the second peak (10 µm < D < 20 µm) was found to be the one relevant for total liquid water content (LWC) of the cloud. We identified three major clusters of characteristic droplet size spectra by means of hierarchical clustering. All clusters differed significantly from each other in droplet number concentration ( \(N_{\rm tot}\) ), effective diameter (ED), and median volume diameter (MVD). For the cluster comprising the largest droplets and the lowest droplet number concentrations, we found evidence of inhomogeneous mixing in the cloud. Contrastingly, the other two clusters revealed microphysical behavior, which could be expected under homogeneous mixing conditions. For those conditions, an increase in cloud condensation nuclei—e.g., from processed African dust transported to the site—is supposed to lead to an increased droplet concentration. In fact, one of these two clusters showed a clear shift of cloud droplet size spectra towards smaller droplet diameters. Since this cluster occurred during periods with strong evidence for the presence of long-range transported African dust, we hypothesize a link between the observed dust episodes and cloud characteristics in the Caribbean at our site, which is similar to the anthropogenic aerosol indirect effect.     

地图编制中的字形曲线变换

在信息完整的情况下,用在图形系统中作为标准图元形态的三次Bezier曲线来表达空间数据对数据加工、处理及传输具有重要意义。在地图文字的字库中,普遍的做法是用直线和二次Bezier曲线的集合来描述字符的字形轮廓,而二次Bezier曲线是非标准的曲线,在处理过程中带来很多不便。针对这一问题,本文研究用三次Bezier曲线拟合二次Bezier曲线的工作,提出了用三次Bezier曲线拟合二次Bezier曲线的方法并推证其计算公式。通过从字库中取出不同字体的字的轮廓曲线段进行实验,证明该方法实现了文字曲线图形的数据处理,对字库文字到地图文字的变换提供了有效的途径。     

Eigen analysis of tree-ring records: part 2, posing the eigen problem

The technique of expanding meteorological fields on eigenvectors of the field covariation matrix is popular. In this paper, we propose for the first time to use a mathematically similar technique to solve the main problem of dendrochronology: classifying variations in tree-ring records as either age- and microenvironment-dependent or climate-induced. Applying this technique to a sample of very long-lived Qilian junipers (Sabina przewalskii Kom.) from the Dulan region in western China, we demonstrate that the ring-width variations projected on the first eigenvector are age-dependent, but those projected on several of the first subsequent vectors are mainly climate-induced. In particular, the second and third projections capture multi-centennial climatic variations, and the variations projected on the fourth through seventh eigenvectors show periodic variations that are probably induced by the 178-year solar cycle. The projections on the smallest eigenvectors seem to be negligible.     

Touhuanping Fault, an active wrench fault within fold-and-thrust belt in northwestern Taiwan, documented by spatial analysis of fluvial terraces

This study aims at the recent activity and development of an active wrench fault, the Touhuanping Fault in northwestern Taiwan. Northwestern Taiwan has been proposed in a current situation between the mature to waning collision in terms of tectonic evolution. The main drainage in this area, the Chungkang River, flows close to the trace of the fault mentioned above. We examined various types of deformation of fluvial terraces along the Chungkang River as a key to understanding the nature and rate of the late Quaternary tectonics. The E–W trending Touhuanping Fault has long been mapped as a geological boundary fault, but its recent activity was suspected. Field survey revealed that its late Quaternary activity is recorded in the offset fluvial terraces. Our result shows dextral slip and vertical offset with upthrown side on the south, and activated at least twice since the emergence of terrace 4 (older terrace 3 with OSL date of ca. 80 ka). Total amount of offset recorded in the Touhuanping terrace sequence is 15 m for dextral and 10 m for vertical offset. Estimated recurrence time of earthquake rupture may be a few tens of thousand years. Uplift on the upthrown side of the Touhuanping Fault also resulted in the formation of drowned valleys which were graded to terrace 4. Other deformation features, such as back-tilting, westward warping, and a range-facing straight scarp, were also identified. A second-order anticline roughly parallel to the Touhuanping Fault is suggested to be the origin of the northward tilting on terrace 3; it could have resulted from a flower structure on the Touhuanping Fault at shallow depth. This may demonstrate that the buried segment of the Touhuanping Fault has also been active since 80 ka. In the northern study area, the westward warping at terrace 2 probably represents late Quaternary activity of another NE–SW trending Hsincheng Fault.     

地裂缝场地地铁隧道地震动力响应的振动台试验研究

以西安轨道交通3号线地铁隧道近距离通过地裂缝场地为工程背景,采用几何比1:30的大型振动台模型试验,研究不同地震波作用下通过地裂缝带上盘场地地铁隧道的地震动力响应。试验结果表明:地裂缝场地上盘加速度响应表现出明显的放大效应;浅埋地铁隧道对地震波在土层中的传播具有一定阻碍作用,而隧道两侧拱腰位置围岩土层加速度放大效应最强;隧道特征部位PGA放大系数拱腰最大,拱底次之,拱顶最小,其中靠近地裂缝侧拱腰的PGA放大系数大于远离一侧;地裂缝附近动土压力增量明显增加,而靠近隧道附近,动土压力增量明显降低;地震作用下隧道通过地裂缝场地上下盘出现差异沉降,地表出现多条与地裂缝近似平行和正交的裂缝;隧道环向受剪切作用在靠近地裂缝一侧的拱肩部位环向应变最大,而隧道轴向受挤压作用在左右拱腰处应变出现最大值。研究结果可为地裂缝场地地铁隧道结构抗震设计与防灾减灾提供重要科学参考与借鉴。