Impact of the equatorial Atlantic sea surface temperature on the tropical Pacific in a CGCM

Many coupled general circulation models (CGCMs) suffer from serious model bias in the zonal gradient of sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial Atlantic. The bias of the equatorial Atlantic SST (EASST) may affect the interannual variability of the equatorial Atlantic, which in turn may influence the state of the tropical Pacific. In this paper we investigate the impact of the bias and the interannual variability of the EASST on the tropical Pacific in a CGCM. To determine the impact of the interannual variability of the EASST on the tropical Pacific, we compare a run in a fully coupled mode (CTL run) and a run in which the EASST is nudged toward the climatological monthly mean of the SST in the CTL run, but full air-sea coupling is allowed elsewhere (AT_m run). We find that, when the interannual variability of the EASST is excluded, the thermocline depth in the eastern equatorial Pacific is deepened, and the amplitude of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation is reduced by 30 % compared to the CTL run. The impact of the bias of the EASST on the tropical Pacific is investigated by comparing the AT_m run and a run in which the EASST is nudged toward the observed climatological monthly mean SST (AT_o run). It is found that, when the bias of the EASST is removed (i.e. AT_o run), the Gill–Matsuno type response to the warm SST anomalies in the western equatorial Atlantic induces low-level cyclonic anomalies in the eastern South Pacific, which leads to a deeper thermocline and colder SST in the South Pacific as compared to AT_m. The colder SST in the South Pacific reduces the precipitation along the South Pacific convergence zone. Our results of the model experiments demonstrate the importance of the EASST to the tropical Pacific climate.     

Comparison of the dryness/wetness index in China with the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas

It is not clear how the frequency and amplitude of droughts have varied over the past 500 years in China, as the instrumental record is too short to identify centennial-scale trends. While the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas (MADA) provides some insights into past drought patterns, its accuracy in eastern China remains uncertain. A comparison of the MADA and Chinese historical documents indicates that the MADA alone cannot effectively represent dryness and wetness in eastern China, so it is not appropriate to use the MADA in this region.     

基于分层策略和模糊推理的北方石质山区土壤厚度制图——以滦平县虎什哈流域为例

土壤厚度信息对土壤碳储量估算、水文-生态过程模拟等有着重要影响,但我国北方石质山区缺乏现势性好、分辨率高的土壤厚度分布数据及其快速获取方法。基于北方石质山区土壤厚度的分布特点,先将地貌信息和植被类型叠加生成制图单元,再根据每类单元的特征,针对性地选取地形参数和地表覆被参数作为指示土壤厚度空间分布的环境变量,结合少量土壤样点,依据模糊推理模型,构建了基于分层制图策略的土壤厚度空间推测方法。以河北省滦平县虎什哈流域为例,利用从ASTER GDEMs提取的地形变量和从我国环境减灾卫星影像(HJ-A)提取的地表覆被信息对土壤厚度进行了推测。结果表明,该方法精度较高,是利用免费地形和遥感数据进行低成本快速土壤制图的实用途径。     

Oysters and Tsunami: Iterative Learning and Nested Governance as Resilience in Post-Disaster Aquaculture in Hokkaido,Japan

This article examines how a community of oyster farmers in Hokkaido, Japan recovered from the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami, which damaged their aquaculture in Lake Akkeshi. It focuses on how, over the years, nested governance structures facilitated iterative learning, which helped build resilience against unexpected external crises. Drawing on adaptive management and resilience studies, this study examines the historical development of the local fishery cooperative association (FCA) as a series of responses to socio-ecological disasters — responses that this article characterizes as iterative learning. During the recovery after the 2011 tsunami, the FCA functioned as an information hub that directed the flow of knowledge and resources through government and industrial hierarchies, to the benefit of the farmers. This research, conducted between 2015 and 2017, is based on interviews with farmers, cooperative administrators, and government officials, as well as an analysis of archived records, fishery regulations and post-disaster subsidy programs.     

1978和2005年宫城近海地震的动力学震源模拟:破裂能解释

对1978和2005年发生在同一板块边界而震级不同的日本宫城近海地震建立了自发动力破裂模型,再现了由运动学震源模型所预测的滑动和破裂速度。对这两次地震的动力学震源参数进行比较,可使我们看到同一断层上不同震源过程的破裂动力学特征。特别是,我们比较了应力降和破裂能,在这两次地震中,二者可以进行稳定的评估。在整个断层面上和两次地震破裂的凹凸体上,两个模型中应力降的最大值和平均值几乎相同。另外,1978年地震的震级比2005年的大,它的破裂能值不仅是在整个断层面上,而且在多次破裂的凹凸体上也比2005年的大。这些结果与先前用地震矩所做的破裂能标度的研究结果一致。我们还将破裂能值与以前研究中所估算的其他内陆地震的能值进行了对比,我们得到的宫城近海地震的值较小。造成这种不一致的原因可能是内陆浅源地震和俯冲带深源地震在构造背景上的差异。     

多场耦合作用下溶质运移模型及机制研究

最新研究表明,多孔介质中溶质运移现象受化学渗透和土壤表面电荷的多重影响。随着城市化进程的加快,卫生填埋场衬垫系统的长期安全性和淤泥脱水问题也愈加严重。为了综合研究水头,电场和化学渗透等物理作用对离子在土壤介质中迁移特性的影响,建立了一个新的多场耦合模型。该模型用有限元法取得数值解,并且利用移动边界成功实现了对淤泥脱水和填埋场衬垫系统中水溶液和化学溶质迁移问题的数值模拟。对于衬垫系统而言,化学渗透现象和渗透电势两者均可减缓溶质击穿土层的时间,有助于延长衬垫的工程寿命。对于淤泥脱水问题的分析结果表明,水力渗透系数和电渗系数分别是主导压滤式和电渗式脱水处理的主要变量。孔隙淤堵是压滤脱水中最主要的问题,土工织物表面所积聚的滤饼会导致水流量急剧下降     

Phenocryst crystallization during ascent of alkali basalt magma at Rishiri Volcano, northern Japan

Phenocrysts in volcanic rocks are commonly used to deduce crystallization processes in magma chambers. A fundamental assumption is that the phenocrysts crystallized in the magma chambers at isobaric and nearly equilibrium conditions, on the basis of their large sizes. However, this assumption is not always true as demonstrated here for a porphyritic alkali basalt (Kutsugata lava) from Rishiri Volcano, northern Japan. All phenocryst phases in the Kutsugata lava, plagioclase, olivine, and augite, have macroscopically homogeneous distribution of textures showing features characteristic of rapid growth throughout the crystals. Rarely, a core region with distinct composition is present in all phenocryst phases. Phenocrysts, excluding this core, are occasionally in direct contact with each other, forming crystal aggregates. The equilibrium liquidus temperature of plagioclase, the dominant phase (35 vol%) in the Kutsugata lava, can never exceed the estimated magmatic temperature, unless the liquidus temperature increases significantly due to vesiculation of the magma during ascent. This suggests that most phenocrysts in the Kutsugata lava were formed by decompression of the magma during ascent in a conduit, rather than by cooling during residence in a magma reservoir. In the magma chamber before eruption, probably located at depth of more than 7 km, only cores of the phenocrysts were present and the magma was nearly aphyric (<5 vol% crystals), though the observed rock is highly porphyritic with up to 40 vol% crystals. The Kutsugata magma is inferred to have been rich in dissolved H₂O (>4 wt.%) in the magma chamber, and liquidus temperatures of phenocryst phases were significantly suppressed. Large undercooling caused by decompression and degassing of the magma was the driving force for significant crystallization during ascent because of the increase in liquidus temperature due to vapor exsolution. Low ascent rate of the Kutsugata magma, which is suggested by pahoehoe lava morphology and no association of pyroclastics, gave sufficient time for crystallization. Furthermore, the large degree of superheating of plagioclase in the magma chamber caused plagioclase crystallization with low population density and large crystal size, which characterizes the porphyritic nature of the Kutsugata lava. Alkali basalt is likely to satisfy these conditions and similar phenomena are suggested to occur in other volcanic systems.     

Ground temperature change observed at Unzen Volcano associated with the 1990–1995 eruption

Ground temperature associated with eruptive activity of Unzen Volcano, southwestern Japan, was observed in a cave about 680 m west of the central vent. Based on the data during 1991–1996, eliminating the effects of seasonal change, the temperature rose to the highest level probably around the first half of 1992. Hereafter the temperature decreased gradually year by year at least up to the autumn of 1996, beyond the level recovered at the beginning of the lava extrusion in May 1991. Although it is not necessarily conclusive, the present observation suggests a possible rise in ground temperature prior to the commencement of the first phreatic eruption in November 1990. If so, a careful observation may help to predict future eruptions by detecting a precursory rise of the ground temperature in this volcano.