Spatio-temporal Evolution Characteristics and Driving Forces of Winter Urban Heat Island: A Case Study of Rapid Urbanization Area of Fuzhou City,China

Under the influence of anthropogenic and climate change, the problems caused by urban heat island(UHI) has become increasingly prominent. In order to promote urban sustainable development and improve the quality of human settlements, it is significant for exploring the evolution characteristics of urban thermal environment and analyzing its driving forces. Taking the Landsat series images as the basic data sources, the winter land surface temperature(LST) of the rapid urbanization area of Fuzhou...     

The effects of asymmetric potential vorticity forcing on the instability of South Asia High and Indian summer monsoon onset

Based on the theory of potential vorticity(PV),the unstable development of the South Asia High(SAH)due to diabatic heating and its impacts on the Indian Summer Monsoon(ISM)onset are studied via a case diagnosis of 1998.The Indian Summer Monsoon onset in 1998 is related to the rapidly strengthening and northward moving of a tropical cyclone originally located in the south of Arabian Sea.It is demonstrated that the rapid enhancement of the cyclone is a consequence of a baroclinic development characterized by the phase-lock of high PV systems in the upper and lower troposphere.Both the intensification of the SAH and the development of the zonal asymmetric PV forcing are forced by the rapidly increasing latent heat released from the heavy rainfall in East Asia and South East Asia after the onsets of the Bay of Bengal(BOB)monsoon and the South China Sea(SCS)monsoon.High PV moves southwards along the intensified northerlies on the eastern side of the SAH and travels westwards on its south side,which can reach its northwest.Such a series of high PV eddies are transported to the west of the SAH continuously,which is the main source of PV anomalies in the upper troposphere over the Arabian Sea from late spring to early summer.A cyclonic curvature on the southwest of the SAH associated with increasing divergence,which forms a strong upper tropospheric pumping,is generated by the anomalous positive PV over the Arabian Sea on 355 K.The cyclone in the lower troposphere moves northwards from low latitudes of the Arabian Sea,and the upper-layer high PV extends downwards and southwards.Baroclinic development thus occurs and the tropical low-pressure system develops into an explosive vortex of the ISM,which leads to the onset of the ISM.In addition,evolution of subtropical anticyclone over the Arabian Peninsula is another important factor contributing to the onset of the ISM.Before the onset,the surface sensible heating on the Arabian Peninsula is very strong.Consequently the subtropical anticyclone which dominated the Arabian Sea in spring retreats westwards to the Arabian Peninsula and intensifies rapidly.The zonal asymmetric PV forcing develops gradually with high PV eddies moving southwards along northerlies on the eastern side of the anticyclone,and a high PV trough is formed in the middle troposphere over the Arabian Sea,which is favorable to the explosive barotropic development of the tropical cyclone into the vortex.Results from this study demonstrate that the ISM onset,which is different from the BOB and the SCS monsoon onset,is a special dynamical as well as thermodynamic process occurring under the condition of fully coupling of the upper,middle,and lower tropospheric circulations.     

Black band disease as a possible factor of the coral decline at the northern reef-flat of Yongxing Island,South China Sea

Black band disease(BBD),characterized by the Cyanobacterial dominated pathogenic consortium,is thought to play a key role in the global decline of the coral reef ecosystems.The present paper originally documents a case of BBD from Yongxing Island(Xisha Islands,South China Sea),and further probes the reasons of this abnormal phenomenon.Prior to 2007,corals at northern reef-flat of Yongxing Isand were in healthy growth.Catastrophic coral mortality occurred between 2007 and 2008.The 16S rRNA gene sequencing and PCR amplification,with universally conserved primers,were applied to detect the contagious bacterial community of the microbial mat.The results demonstrated that six bacterial divisions constituted the clone libraries derived from the BBD mat,and that Cyanobacteria are the most diversely represented group that inhabit BBD bacterial mats,despite the fact that species in five others divisions(α-Proteobacteria,γ-Proteobacteria,Bacteroidetes,Verrucomicrobia and Actinobacteria) are also consistently diverse within the BBD mats of diseased coral.Other factors such as coral bleaching,typhoons,ocean acidification and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks,are not primarily responsible for the coral mortality within such a short time interval.The disaster expansion of BBD associated with Cyanobacterial blooms is a more likely mechanism impacting these coral reefs.Excessive human activity enhances the eutrophication of the marine water of the reefal region and may result in occurrence of the BBD.     

Apatite Fission Track Thermochronology of Granite from the Xiazhuang Uranium Ore Field, South China: Implications for Exhumation History and Ore Preservation

Xiazhuang uranium ore field, located in the southern part of the Nanling Metallogenic Belt, is considered one of the largest granite-related U regions in South China. In this paper, we contribute new apatite fission track data and thermal history modeling to constrain the exhumation history and evaluate preservation potential of the Xiazhuang Uranium ore field. Nine Triassic outcrop granite samples collected from different locations of Xiazhuang Uranium ore field yield AFT ages ranging from 43 to 24 Ma with similar mean confined fission track lengths ranging from 11.8 ± 2.0 to 12.9 ± 1.9 μm and Dpar values between 1.01 and 1.51 μm. The robustness time-temperature reconstructions of samples from the hanging wall of Huangpi fault show that the Xiazhuang Uranium ore field experienced a time of monotonous and slow cooling starting from middle Paleocene to middle Miocene (~60–10 Ma), followed by relatively rapid exhumation in the late Miocene (~10–5 Ma) and nearly thermal stability in the Pliocene–Quaternary (~5–0 Ma). The amount of exhumation after U mineralization since the Middle Paleogene was estimated as ~4.3 ± 1.8 km according to the integrated thermal history model. Previous studies indicate that the ore-forming ages of U deposits in the Xiazhuang ore field are mainly before Middle Paleocene and the mineralization depths are more than 4.4 ± 1.2 km. Therefore, the exhumation history since middle Paleocene plays important roles in the preservation of the Xiazhuang Uranium ore field.     

The preliminary study of the high chlorophyll in the central Bohai Sea in summer

In the central Bohai Sea, both historical data and in situ observations show that the distribution of high chlorophyll concentration is consistent with warm water. The previous studies confirm that the warm water is caused by a joint effect of wave and tidal mixing. In this paper, the authors have coupled the Princeton ocean model (POM) with a biochemical model to further investigate the formation of the high chlorophyll concentration. When the wave mixing is excluded, the water temperature is lower and the chlorophyll concentration is also lower than the observation. However, if the wave mixing is included, strong wave mixing in the upper layer brings the warm water downward and nutrients upward so that both temperature and nutrients tend to be uniformly high from the surface to the bottom. This provides an environment which is favorable for the growth of the phytoplankton. Therefore the chlorophyll concentration, as a symbol of phytoplankton, shows high value in the central Bohai Sea. In conclusion, the wave mixing plays an important role in the formation of high chlorophyll concentration in the central Bohai Sea.     

Frost heave control of fine round gravel fillings in deep seasonal frozen regions

Fine round gravel soil is widely employed in the subgrade of high speed railways in cold regions to prevent frost heaving and thawing. The lower the fines content in fine round gravel soil, the smaller the quantities of frost heaving and thawing, but compaction difficulty increases. This study is to obtain the optimum fines content and limited frost heaving and thawing. The fine round gravel soil filling (FRGSF) used in the Harbin-Qiqihaer Passenger Dedicated Line is taken as the study object. Influence of fines content on optimum water content, maximum dry density and frost heaving properties of FRGSF were studied by means of compaction and frost heaving tests. Results show that the maximum dry density of the FRGSF increases first and then decreases with an increase of fines content, namely there is an optimum fines content for easy compaction. The method of surface-vibratory instrument is fit for coarse-grained soils, and wet state of coarse-grained soil is in favor of compaction. Considering the relationship of fines content with maximum dry density and the frost heaving ratio of FRGSF, the fines content should be limited to within the range of 9%-10%, so that the frost heaving ratio is less than 1%, and the FRGSF is easily compacted. Water supply is proved to be an important factor influencing the amount of frost heaving of FRGSF. We also conclude that in the field, it is imperative to control waterproofing and drainage measures.     

Lake Area Changes and the main causes in the hinterland of Badain Jaran Desert during 1973–2010, China

Lake area information in the Badain Jaran Desert in 1973, 1990, 2000, and 2010 was obtained by visual interpretation and water index analysis of remote sensing images, based on the spatial and temporal characteristics of lake area changes during 37 years. Results indicated that the number of lakes declined from 94 to 82 and the total surface area was reduced by 3.69 km² during 1973–2010. The desert lake area reduced by different degrees in different periods, but this occurred most rapidly during 1973–1990. According to the statistics of lake area changes, lake area decreases mainly occurred in the lakes with areas less than 0.2 km², while the areas of lakes greater than 0.9 km² only fluctuated. The changes of lake areas were probably due to changes in the quantity of underground water supplies rather than the effects of local climate change or human factors.     

渤海湾西岸全新世地层的分段与划组

本文以岩性地层、气候地层(CaCO3含量、古温度和Rb/Sr比值等)、年代地层、沉积化学地层和生物组合地层等资料为基础,根据地层规范以及建组要求将渤海湾西岸全新世地层划分为3个组:独流镇组( Qh3 dl)、大黄洼组(Qh2dh)和西翟庄组(Qh1xz).其地层埋深界线及测年界线分别为:晚全新世独流镇组(Qh3dl)与...     

Two new species of Leodamas Kinberg, 1866(Annelida,Orbiniidae) from China seas

Two species of Leodamas(Annelida, Orbiniidae) from China seas are described based on both material of the Marine Biological Museum(Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao), and newly collected specimens. Leodamas robustus sp. n. is characterized by having uncini arranged in two short rows, anterior row with 3–5 uncini, increasing in size, with uncini on posterior chaetigers thicker, heavier and more curved than those on precedent chaetigers; posterior row with 2–5 uncini, thin and delicate, nearly ...