Long Term Evolution of Solar Meridional Circulation and Phase Synchronization Viewed Through a Symmetrical Kuramoto Model

The solar-cycle oscillations of the toroidal and poloidal components of the solar magnetic field in the northern solar hemisphere have a persistent phase difference of about \(\pi \). We propose a symmetrical Kuramoto model with three coupled oscillators as a simple way to understand this anti-synchronization. We solve an inverse problem and reconstruct natural frequencies of the top and bottom oscillators under the conditions of a constant coupling strength and a non-delayed coupling. These natural frequencies are associated with angular velocities of the meridional flow circulation near the solar surface and in the deep layer of the solar convection zone. A relationship between our reconstructions of the shallow and the deep meridional flow speed during recent Solar Cycles 21?–?23 is in agreement with estimates obtained in helioseismology and flux-transport dynamo modeling. The reconstructed top oscillator speed presents significant solar-cycle like variations that agree with recent helioseismical reconstructions. The evolution of reconstructed natural frequencies strongly depends on the coupling strength. We find two stable regimes in the case of strong coupling with a change of regime during anomalous solar cycles. We see the onset of a new transition in Solar Cycle 24. We estimate the admitted range of coupling values and find evidence of cross-equatorial coupling between solar hemispheres not accounted for by the model.     

Hα Dimming Associated With the Eruption of a Coronal Sigmoid in the Quiet Sun

We report on the occurrence of Hα dimming associated with a sigmoid eruption in a quiet-sun region on 14 August 2001. The coronal sigmoid in soft X-ray images from the Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope was located over an Hα filament channel. Its eruption was accompanied by a flare of GOES X-ray class C2.3 and possibly associated with a halo coronal mass ejection (CME) observed with the Large Angle and Spectroscopic Coronagraphs (LASCO) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). During the eruption, coronal bipolar double dimming took place at the regions with opposite magnetic polarities around the two sigmoid ends, but the underlying chromospheric channel did not show observable changes corresponding to the coronal eruption. Different from the erupting coronal sigmoid itself, however, the coronal dimming had a detectable chromosphere counterpart, i.e., Hα dimming. By regarding the sigmoid as a coronal sign for a flux rope, these observations are explained in the framework of the flux rope model of CMEs. The flux rope is possibly deeply rooted in the chromosphere, and the coronal and Hα dimming regions mark its evacuated feet, through which the material is possibly fed to the halo CME.     

Tectonics of southwestern Mexico,isotopic evidence,nuclear Central America,Late Cretaceous break up

In the paleogeographic reconstruction of Mexico and northern Central America, an ever-increasing amount of evidence shows that the entire region is a collage of suspect terranes transported from abroad, whose timing and sense of motion are now beginning to be understood. Among these, the Chortis block (nuclear Central America) and the Baja California Peninsula have been proposed as pieces of continent separated from the Pacific coast of southwestern Mexico, that have moved either southeastward by the Farallon plate or northwestward by the Kula plate. Previous studies mainly confined to the northern margin of the Chortis block, confirmed a left-lateral displacement of 130 km in Neogene time. Further studies made northwestward along the Mexican coast provided a better understanding of magmatic and metamorphic processes in the area, and suggested times of detachment increased to 30 Ma, 40 Ma, and 66 Ma. The pre-detachment westernmost position of the block has changed, depending on the model chosen, from Puerto Vallarta and beyond, to the current position. Here we show that the isotopic mineral ages from coastal granites along the coast from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (80 Ma) to Puerto Angel, Oaxaca (11 Ma) record systematic decrease of cooling ages from NW to SE. This pattern is interpreted to result from the progressive uplift of rocks exposed at the present-day coast in that direction, such uplift occurred in response to the development of the Middle America Trench at the newly formed continental margin when the Chortis block was sliding at an average rate of 1.5 cm/year in a sinistral sense to its present position. Our results also constrain the position of the Kula-Farallon spreading axis north of Puerto Vallarta. These observations led us to conclude that several indicators point to this time and region for the onset of strike-slip drifting of the Chortis block toward its current position. Here, we also present several view points in terms of other possilble interpretations to different tectonic, geologic and isotopic data sets published recently by different authors.     

Integration of reflection seismic and sediment grain-size data from Lake Khubsugul (Northern Mongolia): a reply to Prokopenko and Kendall

Prokopenko and Kendall (J Paleolimnol doi:, 2008) criticise the work presented in Fedotov et al. (J Paleolimnol 39:335–348, 2008), and instead propose an alternative interpretation for the grain-size evolution recorded in the KDP-01 core, retrieved from the central part of Lake Khubsugul. Their interpretation is based (i) on a seismic-stratigraphic re-interpretation of sparker seismic profile khub012 (which they copied from Fedotov et al. (EOS Trans 87:246–250, 2006)), (ii) on the presupposition that changes in lake level are the dominant control on facies distribution in Lake Khubsugul, and (iii) on the invalidation of our age-depth model. In this reply to their comment, we demonstrate that they interpreted seismic artefacts and geometries caused by changes in profile orientation as true stratigraphic features and that the lake-level reconstruction they derive from this interpretation is therefore incorrect. We also demonstrate that their grain-size predictions, which they consider to be predominantly driven by changes in lake level, are inconsistent with the measured sulphate concentration, which is a demonstrated proxy of lake level in Lake Khubsugul, and with the measured grain-size record. Finally, we point out that even if there would be a problem with the age-depth model, this problem would not affect the part of the sedimentary sequence discussed in Fedotov et al. (J Paleolimnol 39:335–348, 2008).     

Estimating Solar Flux Density at Low Radio Frequencies Using a Sky Brightness Model

Sky models have been used in the past to calibrate individual low radio frequency telescopes. In this article we generalize this approach from a single antenna to a two element interferometer, and formulate the problem in a way that allows us to estimate the flux density of the Sun using the normalized cross-correlations (visibilities) measured on a low resolution interferometric baseline. For wide field-of-view instruments, typically the case at low radio frequencies, this approach can provide robust absolute solar flux calibration for well characterized antennas and receiver systems. It can provide a reliable and computationally lean method for extracting parameters of physical interest using a small fraction of the voluminous interferometric data, which can be computationally prohibitively expensive to calibrate and image using conventional approaches. We demonstrate this technique by applying it to data from the Murchison Widefield Array and assess its reliability.     

Report on Pontoniinae shrimps （Crustacea：Decapoda）collected by Joint Chinese—German Marine Biology Expeditions to Hainan lsland ,South China Sea：Ⅱ.Harpiliopsis,Ischnopontonia,Jocaste,Palae—mone

The present paper reports 9 species of pontoniine shrimps collected from Hainan IS-land ,South China Sea ,by the Joint Chinese-German Marine Biology Expeditions,in which Peri-climenaeus arabicus (Calman,1939) and Periclimenaeus hecate (Nobili,1904) are recorded for the first time from Hainan Island.     

EFFECTS OF FISH OIL,DHA OIL AND LECITIHIN IN MICROPARTICULATE DIETS ON STRESS TOLERANCE OF LARVAL GILTHEAD SEABREAM（SPARUS AURATA）

The effects of natural fish oil,DHA oil and soybean lecithin in microparticulate diets on stress tolerance of larval gilthead seabream(Sparus aurata)were investigated after 15 days feeding trials.The tolerance of larval gilthead seabream to various stress factors such as exposure to air(lack of dissolved oxygen),changes in water temperature(low)and salinity(high) were determined.This study showed that microparticulate diet with natural fish oil and soybean lecithin was the most effective for in-creasing the tolerance of larval gilthead seabream to various stresses,and that microparticulate diet with natural fish oil and palmitic acid(16:0)was more effective than microparticulate diet with DHA oil and soybean lecithin.     

Artificial light at night: implications for early life stages development in four temperate freshwater fish species

Flora and fauna have both evolved under a natural cycle of light and dark. But especially in urban areas, the night is now increasingly disturbed by artificial light. Many traits and behaviours in fish are triggered by a circadian clock, for example hatching and swim bladder inflation, which predominantly take place at dusk or night. As lighting becomes brighter and extends farther into rural areas, the distinction between day and night becomes increasingly blurred. Therefore, the loss of diurnal trigger by artificial light at night was hypothesized having deleterious effects on these traits and impact fish reproduction. To assess these effects, eggs of four native freshwater fishes, Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis, roach Rutilus rutilus, bleak Alburnus alburnus and chub Leuciscus cephalus, were incubated under two different light conditions: a photoperiod of 14 h light:10 h darkness (LD) and continuous illumination (LL). The time to hatch and swim bladder inflation was recorded. The species showed inconsistent reactions to the light treatments. In roach and bleak, the time to 50% hatch was longer in LL, whereas continuous lighting had an accelerating effect in chub. Incubation in LL elongated the hatching period in perch and roach and, in perch, the onset of darkness seemed to trigger hatching. The swim bladder inflation was significantly promoted by continuous light in chub and bleak but was not affected in roach. In conclusion, nocturnal artificial illumination could have an effect on hatching and initial swim bladder filling by masking the day–night-change and thereby diminish the trigger effect. However, the reactions were species specific and the increase in variation indicated a lack of diurnal triggering, whilst a general deleterious effect of artificial light at night has not been identified on early life stages.     

Spatial patterns and storage composition of woody debris in a natural secondary forest dominated by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus tabulaeformis</Emphasis> on Loess Plateau,China

Woody debris (WD) is an important part of natural Pinus tabulaeformis mixed stands, and it affects the forest ecosystem stability and development. The WD spatial patterns are especially important structural characteristics that can provide insights into forest dynamics. In this paper, the WD storage, WD spatial patterns and WD associations among the main species were examined in the natural secondary forest on Loess Plateau in northwest China. Data were collected in a 1 ha (100 m × 100 m) permanent plot, and all the trees with a diameter at breast height of more than 3 cm were measured and stem-mapped. Ripley’s K functions from the spatial-point-pattern-analysis method were used to analyze the spatial distribution and associations. The results showed that: (1) The total storage of WD was 10.73 t/ha, fallen wood was the main source of WD, and the majority diameters were greater than 20 cm, and in intermediate levels of decay; (2) The overall spatial pattern was closely related to the spatial scale, which exhibited an aggregated pattern on a small scale, and a random pattern on a large scale. The spatial patterns of coarse woody debris also gradually transitioned from an aggregated pattern in fine scales to a random pattern in broader spatial scales, which matched the overall spatial pattern. The spatial intensity was gradually decreased with the increasing diameters, and increased with the decomposition classes; (3) The WD of Pinus tabulaeformis species was negatively associated with Betula platyphylla and Populus davidiana on a small scale but positively associated with these species on a large scale. The spatial pattern and interspecies relations were the results of long-term interactions between the natural secondary forest community and the surrounding natural environment. These findings would provide a scientific basis for the sustainable management and protection of natural secondary forest ecosystems on Loess Plateau.     

Radiation condensation instability in a plasma with ionization and recombination

In this work, we consider radiation (thermal) instability in a weakly ionized plasma with continuous ionization and recombination. The situation can be visualized in the case of envelopes of planetary nebulae, which are envelopes of ionized plasmas surrounding red giant stars. Various observations report continuous photoionization of these plasmas by the highly energetic streams of photons emanating from the parent star. Recently, it has been shown that thermal instability can be a probable candidate in such plasmas for the existence of small scale structures (viz., striations) whose kinematic age is much smaller than that of the parent nebula. We therefore report a systematic study of these plasmas with photoionization and determine the instability domain. We have shown that the continuous ionization and recombination may lead to modification of the underlying instability, which may limit the size of the small structures that are believed to form from these instabilities, and may thus provide an explanation of the physical processes responsible for the existence of these structures. We further show that in many cases the system bifurcates to an ovserstable (growing wave) state from a condensation instability (monotonic) and vice versa.