A climatology of mesoscale model simulated low-level wind jets over Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait, Alaska

Weather in the North Gulf of Alaska is characterized by a high frequency of deep synoptic-scale low-pressure systems, especially during the cold season. The strong pressure gradients of these storms interact with the extremely rugged terrain of the coastal mountains to produce a variety of channeled flows. These surface wind regimes are not well documented in the scientific community, due to the paucity of observations. Modeling of these phenomena in regions of complex terrain is of great interest to those working with hydrodynamic, wave, and pollutant transport models in coastal and shelf areas. Such models, when coupled with ocean and coastal-ecology counterparts, give a broad view of the role surface winds play in shaping local coastal marine ecosystem in this region. This paper presents a climatology of simulated low-level wind jets over the domain of Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait along Alaska's south-central coast. Daily simulations using the RAMS model were conducted in a 36-h forecast mode for the cold-season period 10/1/03 to 3/31/04. Systematic analysis of the resulting simulated low-level wind field makes it possible to characterize these jets and gap flows in spatial and temporal detail. The comparison between the RAMS winds and the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-derived winds when available verifies the existence of these wind jets and the capability of the model to simulate these cases. Clearly, the results of a study in this region depend on the fidelity of the model at these scales (O[5 km]). The SAR comparisons attempt to help establish this. From the 6 months of simulations over Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait, the low-level wind jets are classified into 10 different regimes by location and orientation. These regimes are categorized into four more general groups: cross-channel westerly, easterly, and up and down Inlet flows. The nature of a particular regime is largely a function of pressure gradient orientation and local topography. Jets in the same group have a similar occurrence distribution with time. Some form of jet occurred in the study region almost daily each month of the period, with December 2003 having the highest frequency of wind jets.     

Changes in the water regime of the caspian sea

The article deals with issues of structure and dynamics of the Caspian Sea water balance. On the base of historical, paleogeomorphological and other data the evolution history of the Caspian Sea and its basin has been observed for different time intervals down to 400 thous. years ago. Presented are computerized data on water balance components in the current centenary obtained from instrumental observations, revealed are causes of the sea-level fluctuations within that time interval and anthropogenic factor contribution to this process. Based on the analysis of this material, an attempt has been undertaken to present a scenarion of a possible sea-level position of the Caspian Sea with the expected versions of climatic changes at the end of the XX and beginning of the XXI centuries.     

Über stratigraphische Untersuchungsmethoden in rezenten Tiefseesedimenten

Zusammenfassung Durch Bestimmung der Foraminiferenanzahl in I g Sediment wird die biostratigraphische Untersuchungsmethode, die mittels einer qualitativen und quantitativen Erfassung der Foraminiferenfauna in den Tiefseekernen der deutschen Meteor-Expedition und schwedischen Albatroß-Expedition durchgeführt werden ist, auf ihre Richtigkeit hin geprüft. Die Untersuchung hat die Anwendbarkeit dieser stratigraphischen Methode bestätigt. Sie hat daneben wiederum gezeigt, daß die Verbreitung und Entwicklung der einzelnen Foraminiferenarten vor allem von der Temperatur des Meerwassers abhängig sind; andere Faktoren wie Phosphatgehalt des Wassers usw. scheinen in dieser Hinsicht eine mehr untergeordnete Rolle zu spielen. Unter gewissen Voraussetzungen können Tiefseekerne durch Bestimmung der Foraminiferenanzahl je 1 g Sediment in groben Zügen stratigraphisch gegliedert werden; auch kann die Individuenanzahl der einzelnen Foraminiferenarten aus der Foraminiferenanzahl in 1 g Sediment und aus der prozentualen Zusammensetzung der Gesamtfauna errechnet werden. Mit den hier gewonnenen Erkenntnissen wird versucht, die engen Bezichungen zwischen dem prozentualen Anteil der Warmwasserforaminiferen in der Gesamtfauna und dem CO₂-Gehalt des Sedimentes, dieOvey im Kern 241 der schwedischen Albatroß-Expedition beobachtet hat, zu deuten.Herrn Professor Dr.Carl W. Correns zum 60. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Spatial variations in the progress of land reform in Romania

Romania's socialist agricultural sector has been transformed by a series of measures taken after the revolution of 1989. A new farm structure is emerging out of the restitution provided for under the Land Law of 1991. There are striking spatial variations in different aspects of the privatisation process, especially the contrasting situations between the hill country (with heavy pressure on land) and the plains (where there is much better supply in relation to demand). Very small units of land ownership are being grouped into larger functional units for management by associations which are especially prominent in the main cropping zones. Meanwhile individual smallholdings are predominant in the hill and mountain zones. Despite a desire for owner-occupation, association is often advantageous through efficient deployment of machinery and some 40 percent of land allocated to individual peasants is being worked by some 20,000 associations. However, the situation has not yet stabilised and it is emphasised that small farms should be regarded not simply as agricultural units but as the cores of diversified enterprises characterised increasingly by pluriactivity     

Shape of the Cassini division in different colors

The true shape of the Cassini division of Saturn's rings in red, yellow, green, and blue light has been derived from photographs of high quality, taking into account the correction due to the spreading of light. It is evident that the division is not completely dark. Its minimum brightness is about 20% of that of ring B and the width of the division 0″.44±0″.05.     

Diffractometric clay mineral analysis of Recent sediments of Lake Constance (Central Europe)

Mica, smectite, and chlorite are the characteristic clay minerals in about 120 Recent sediment samples of Lake Constance as shown by semiquantitative clay mineral analysis. Interstratified clay minerals are practically absent, kandites were not found.The decrease of the smectite/mica ratio from West to East is apparently due to the dominance of the mica-chlorite assemblage of the Rhine river derived from the northern Alps in the eastern part of the lake. With increasing distance from the delta of the Rhine river, the Tertiary Molasse clay minerals (mainly mica and smectite) derived from rocks surrounding the lake become more abundant.

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Zusammenfassung An 120 Sedimentproben aus dem Bodensee wurde der Tonmineralbestand der Fraktion <2 durch die röntgenographische Phasenanalyse halbquantitativ ermittelt.Glimmer, Smectit und Chlorit sind die charakteristischen Tonmineralgruppen in den Sedimenten. Mixed-layer-Minerale treten so gut wie nicht auf, Kandite konnten nicht nachgewiesen werden.Aus der Bestimmung der relativen Häufigkeit von Glimmer und Smectit ergibt sich, daß das Smectit/Glimmer-Verhältnis von Osten (Einmündung des Alpenrheins) nach Westen ständig zunimmt.Diese Verteilung ist durch die Zufuhr von Glimmer und Chlorit durch den Alpenrhein aus den nördlichen Alpen bedingt, die jedoch mit zunehmender Entfernung vom Delta durch die Molasse-Distributiv-Provinz mit vorherrschend Glimmer und Smectit überlagert wird.

     

Recent variations in the general circulation as related to glacier retreat in northern Scandinavia

Summary A review is given of the investigations on variations in the general circulation in middle latitudes made byWillett andPetterssen. According toWillett a «high-index» type of circulation pattern with a strong zonal flow has probably caused the recent climatic improvement in the northern latitudes while the «low-index» type with meridional flow would create a cooling off in the same areas. According toPetterssen an other type of «low-index» pattern with a weak zonal flow and strong meridional exchange of air has been the essential cause of the warming up of the northern latitudes in Europe. This implies that the definition of the «low-index» type is not clear and gives rise to misunderstanding. Making use of our experience on glacier retreat in northern Scandinavia it is concluded that thePetterssen type of circulation more probably than the «high-index» type has caused the warming-up in the North Atlantic area from which the retreat of the glaciers has followed.     

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: luminosity dependence of galaxy clustering

We investigate the dependence of the strength of galaxy clustering on intrinsic luminosity using the Anglo-Australian two degree field galaxy redshift survey (2dFGRS). The 2dFGRS is over an order of magnitude larger than previous redshift surveys used to address this issue. We measure the projected two-point correlation function of galaxies in a series of volume-limited samples. The projected correlation function is free from any distortion of the clustering pattern induced by peculiar motions and is well described by a power law in pair separation over the range     . The clustering of     galaxies in real space is well-fitted by a correlation length     and power-law slope     . The clustering amplitude increases slowly with absolute magnitude for galaxies fainter than M *, but rises more strongly at higher luminosities. At low luminosities, our results agree with measurements from the Southern Sky Redshift Survey 2 by Benoist et al. However, we find a weaker dependence of clustering strength on luminosity at the highest luminosities. The correlation function amplitude increases by a factor of 4.0 between     and −22.5, and the most luminous galaxies are 3.0 times more strongly clustered than L * galaxies. The power-law slope of the correlation function shows remarkably little variation for samples spanning a factor of 20 in luminosity. Our measurements are in very good agreement with the predictions of the hierarchical galaxy formation models of Benson et al.