Meteorological responses to Mt. Baekdu volcanic eruption over east asia in an offline global climate-chemistry model: A pilot study

We examine the meteorological responses due to the probable eruption of Mt. Baekdu using an off-line Climate-Chemistry model that is composed of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Climate Atmosphere Model version 3 (CAM3) and a global chemistry transport model (GEOS-Chem). Using the aerosol dataset from the GEOS-Chem driven by GEOS-5 meteorology, experiment and control simulations of the climate model are performed and their meteorological differences between the two simulations are analyzed. The magnitudes of volcanic eruption and column injection height were presumably set to 1/200 of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and 9 km, respectively. Significant temperature drop in the lower troposphere (850 hPa), which is mainly due to a direct effect of prescribed volcanic aerosols from Mt. Baekdu, has been simulated up to about ?4 K. The upper atmosphere (150 hPa) right above the volcano, however, shows significant warming due to the absorption of the infrared radiation by volcanic aerosols. As a result of the volcanic eruption in the climate model, wave-like patterns are shown in both the geopotential height and horizontal wind. The changes in the lower atmospheric temperature are well associated with the modification of the atmospheric circulation through the hydrostatic balance. In spite of limitations in our current simulations due to several underlying assumptions, our results could give a clue to understanding the meteorological impacts from Mt. Baekdu eruptions that are currently attracting considerable public attention.     

Efficiency of the modal shift and environmental policy on the Korean railroad

The Kyoto Protocol calls for industrialized nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5% from 1990 levels by 2008–2012, so developed countries are presenting various policies to reduce greenhouse gas that is produced in transport fields. One of those polices is a modal shift that changes from road freight to sea, inland waterways and railroad transportation that is eco-friendly. The increase of road freight brings road congestion, accidents, logistic costs, air pollution and greenhouse gases. Railroads are superior to the other modes of transportation in mass transportability, high speed, timeliness, safety and environmental-friendliness, but the railway industry has been pushed behind in competition. Korean railroads were used by passengers and for freight transport popularly until the middle of the 20th century. However, because of the sudden change of logistics environments, having time efficiency being most important, railroads lost logistic competitive power against the transportation by truck. This paper intends to examine the modal shift to railroad transportation, which enjoys high interest as environmentally-friendly logistics, i.e., the modal shift strategy. Efficiency analysis is conducted using DEA and exploratory factors are identified for the modal shift of the companies. This paper also proposes an alternative plan for green logistics and environmentally-friendly logistics, by analyzing the characteristics of the railroad cargo transportation system and the conditions of local railroad cargo transportation.     

Biomarker responses in caged rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) from Masan Bay and Haegeumgang, South Korea

The purpose of this study was to compare enzymatic biomarker activities in fish caged at two sites, Masan Bay (contaminated) and Haeguemgang (reference). In the present study, ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), brain acetyl cholinesterase (bAChE), muscle acetyl cholinesterase (mAChE) and butyryl cholinesterase (mBChE) in caged rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) were measured 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days after caging. The level of CYP1A mRNA and Protein expression was induced higher in Masan Bay at 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days after caging. EROD activity in the caged fish was significantly higher in Masan Bay than in Haeguemgang 3 and 7 days after caging, but not at 14 and 30 days after caging. bAChE activity was significantly inhibited at 7 and 14 days after caging in Masan Bay. However, mBChE activity was not significantly inhibited during the experiment. Taken together, the data suggest that the caged fish were exposed, at least transiently, to CYP1A inducers and ChE inhibitors, which is consistent with our previous observations.     

Occurrence and distribution of vibrios in fishes and shellfishes in coastal waters of Hong Kong

INTRODUCTIONTheoccurrenceanddistributionofhalophilicvibriosinthecoastalwatersofHongKonghasbeenrePorted(Chanetal.,l986).Theresultsshowedthatvibrioswerepresentduringthesum-mermonthsinHongKongcoastalwatersatconcentrationsof9oto67ooind./cm3,accountingo.4l%~4o%ofthetotalbacterialPOpulationofthe48isolatesexaminedindetail.Theyob-servedV.Paraheamolyticus,V.harvha,V.vulnfficus,V.camPbelliandV.fiuvialis.Becausemanyofthevibri0species,includingsome0ftheisolatesbyChanetal.(1986)fromHongKongwate…     

A Case Study of the Spatial Distribution of Seismic Hazard (El Salvador)

The republic of El Salvador in Central America is an area of high seismic hazard where at least twelve destructive earthquakes have occurred this century alone. The principal sources of seismic hazard are earthquakes associated with the subduction of the Cocos plate in the Middle America Trench and upper-crustal earthquakes in the chain of Quaternary volcanoes that runs across the country parallel to the subduction trench. Hazard assessments for Central America have suggested almost uniform distribution of hazard throughout El Salvador. Seismic zonations for three successive building codes in El Salvador simply divide the country into two regions, with the higher hazard zone containing the volcanoes and the coastal areas. Historical records suggest that the greatest hazard is posed by the upper-crustal earthquakes concentrated on the volcanic centres which, although of smaller magnitude than the subduction events, are generally of shallow focus and coincide with the main population centres. These earthquakes have repeatedly caused intense damage over small areas in the vicinity of some of the main volcanoes. This study focuses on El Salvador to explore the capability of different approaches to hazard assessment to reflect significant variations of seismic hazard within small geographical areas. In the study, three 'zone-free' methods are employed as well as the Cornell–McGuire approach. The results of the assessments are compared and their implications for seismic zoning for construction and insurance purposes are discussed.     

Separation of incident and reflected waves in wave–current flumes

A technique is developed to separate the incident and reflected waves propagating on a known current in a laboratory wave–current flume by analyzing wave records measured at two or more locations using a least squares method. It can be applied to both regular and irregular waves. To examine its performance, numerical tests are made for waves propagating on quiescent or flowing water. In some cases, to represent the signal noise and measurement error, white noise is superimposed on the numerically generated wave signal. For all the cases, good agreement is observed between target and estimation.     

Pb on groundwater particles,Door County,Wisconsin

Pb was detected on groundwater particles larger than 0.45m. Pb concentration (micrograms per liter) showed positive correlations with particle concentration (milligrams per liter) at five sampled wells, although the slopes of the best-fit lines were different. X-ray fluorescence scans suggested that the particles primarily consist of K-Al silicate minerals, and that Pb is absorbed onto Fe oxyhydroxide coatings on Mg-rich silicates. Particle compositions varied at wells, but remained consistent at each well through the sampling period of a month. The particulate nature of Pb in groundwater could cause the spatial and temporal variations due to: (1) the unique composition of particles at wells, (2) the irregular pathways for groundwater particles, (3) the unpredictable amount of Pb-carrying particles entering the groundwater system during recharge events, and (4) the irregular sampling of groundwater particles subsequently dispersed along the advective flow path.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In-situ</Emphasis> measured primary productivity of ice algae in Arctic sea ice floes using a new incubation method

Recent changes in climate and environmental conditions have had great negative effects such as decreasing sea ice thickness and the extent of Arctic sea ice floes that support ice-related organisms. However, limited field observations hinder the understanding of the impacts of the current changes in the previously ice-covered regions on sea ice algae and other ice-related ecosystems. Our main objective in this study was to measure recent primary production of ice algae and their relative contribution to total primary production (ice plus pelagic primary production). In-situ primary productivity experiments with a new incubation system for ice algae were conducted in 3 sea ice cores at 2 different ice camps in the northern Chukchi Sea, 2014, using a ¹³C and ¹⁵N isotope tracer technique. A new incubation system was tested for conducting primary productivity experiments on ice algae that has several advantages over previous incubation methods, enabling stable carbon and nitrogen uptake experiments on ice algae under more natural environmental conditions. The vertical C-shaped distributions of the ice algal chl-a, with elevated concentrations at the top and bottom of the sea ice were observed in all cores, which is unusual for Arctic sea ice. The mean chl-a concentration (0.05 ± 0.03 mg chl-a m^?3) and the daily carbon uptake rates (ranging from 0.55 to 2.23 mg C m^?2 d^?1) for the ice algae were much lower in this study than in previous studies in the Arctic Ocean. This is likely because of the late sampling periods and thus the substantial melting occurring. Ice algae contributed 1.5–5.7% of the total particulate organic carbon (POC) contents of the combined euphotic water columns and sea ice floes. In comparison, ice algae contributed 4.8–8.6% to the total primary production which is greater than previously reported in the Arctic Ocean. If all of the ice-associated productions were included, the contributions of the sea ice floes to the total primary production would be greater in the Arctic Ocean and their importance would be greater in the arctic marine ecosystems.