台湾地区湖库水酸化之研究

本文旨在探讨酸雨对台湾地区湖泊、水库等自然水域酸化的影响程度。主要内容为建立水域酸化程度之资料，以及不ＰＨ值湖水中，铝离子释放的情形。     

A mid-depth front separating the South China Sea water and the Philippine sea water

In order to understand the influence of the South China Sea (SCS) water on the Kuroshio, and to study the dissolved carbonate system, we participated in six WOCE cruises aboard R/V Ocean Researcher 1. The areas studied were the northeast South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea near the Luzon Strait. Temperature, salinity, pH, alkalinity and total CO₂ were measured. Our data indicate that, although the Kuroshio and the SCS waters flow in and out of the Luzon Strait near surface, the SCS water seems mainly to flow out of the SCS at mid-depth. There exists a mid-depth front near 122°E between 350 and 1350 m in all seasons and years that we studied. The water mass between 350 and 1350 m east of the front belongs to the West Philippine Sea proper water, while on the west is the mixed water of the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea.     

Rates of calcium carbonate dissolution and organic carbon decomposition in the North Pacific ocean

Recent carbonate data collected in the North Pacific were combined with the data in the literature in order to understand more clearly the carbonate chemistry in the North Pacific. Our analyses show that inorganic CaCO₃ dissolution contributes about 26% of the total inorganic CO₂ increase of deep water, after leaving the Southern Ocean. The calcium and alkalinity data indicate a CaCO₃ dissolution rate of 0.060±0.010 and 0.053±0.005 µ mol kg^–1 yr^–1 respectively, for waters deeper than 2,000 m in reference to the Weddell Sea Deep Water. The organic carbon decomposition rate is 0.107±0.012 µ mol kg^–1 yr^–1 while the oxygen consumption rate is 0.13±0.002 µ mol kg^–1 yr^–1. These results which are based on the direct comparison of two water masses agree well with other estimates which are based on methods such as the one-dimensional-diffusion-advection model. Comparison of data along the two sections at 165°E and 150°W shows no significant difference in the ratio of the CaCO₃ dissolution rate and the organic carbon decomposition rate. The eastern section, however, has a higher TCO₂ input than the western section because of the older age of the deep water along the eastern section.     

Dissolved silica concentrations and reactions in pore waters from continental slope sediments offshore from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA

The pore water concentrations of dissolved silica in sediment cores from the continental slope offshore from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, varied from 150 to almost 700 μ,M with depth in the top 40 cm of sediment. Sediment cores from 630 to 2010 m depth had very similar profiles of dissolved silica in their pore waters, even though these cores came from regions greatly different in slope, topography, sedimentation rate, and abundance of benthic macrofauna. Cores from 474 to 525 m were more variable, both with respect to pore water dissolved silica profiles, and with respect to sediment texture. Experiments indicate that both the rate of dissolution of silica and the saturation concentration decrease as sediment depth below the sediment-seawater interface increases. These data are consistent with depletion of a reactive silica phase in surface sediment, which may be radiolarian tests, or the alteration of biogenic silica to a less reactive form over time. Experimental results suggest that the pore water dissolved silica concentration in sediments below the top few centimeters may be higher than the sediments could now achieve. The flux of dissolved silica out of these sediments is estimated to be 15 μmoles cm⁻² yr⁻¹.     

Open-ocean response and normal mode excitation in an eddy-resolving general circulation model

Abstract

Analysis of a two-layer, flat-bottom, steady-wind driven, eddy-resolving general circulation model reveals a distinct separation in frequency of baroclinic and barotropic motion in the region distant from the model Gulf Stream. The far-field motions at periods less (greater) than about 100 days are predominantly barotropic (baroclinic), unlike the near-field, eddy-generating, free-jet region which contains barotropic and baroclinic energy throughout the modei frequency range. The far-field barotropic energy produces a peak in the model sea-level spectra between 25 and 50 days with a magnitude comparable to energy levels observed in spectra of sea level from oceanic island tide gauges. The far-field barotropic motion is clearly composed of large-scale, resonant, barotropic normal modes drive by mesoscale activity of the turbulent, free-jet region. Oceanic mesoscale turbulence may therefore provide for planetary normal modes an excitation mechanism distinct from atmospheric forcing. The open-ocean, barotropic, model response is very similar to that of a fluctuating-wind driven model, which suggests that atmospheric and intrinsic forcing of mid-ocean eddies may be of comparable importance.     

Sensitivity of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to downscaling ratios and storm types in rainfall simulation

Accurate information of rainfall is needed for sustainable water management and more reliable flood forecasting. The advances in mesoscale numerical weather modelling and modern computing technologies make it possible to provide rainfall simulations and forecasts at increasingly higher resolutions in space and time. However, being one of the most difficult variables to be modelled, the quality of the rainfall products from the numerical weather model remains unsatisfactory for hydrological applications. In this study, the sensitivity of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is investigated using different domain settings and various storm types to improve the model performance of rainfall simulation. Eight 24‐h storm events are selected from the Brue catchment, southwest England, with different spatial and temporal distributions of the rainfall intensity. Five domain configuration scenarios designed with gradually changing downscaling ratios are used to run the WRF model with the ECMWF 40‐year reanalysis data for the periods of the eight events. A two‐dimensional verification scheme is proposed to evaluate the amounts and distributions of simulated rainfall in both spatial and temporal dimensions. The verification scheme consists of both categorical and continuous indices for a first‐level assessment and a more quantitative evaluation of the simulated rainfall. The results reveal a general improvement of the model performance as we downscale from the outermost to the innermost domain. Moderate downscaling ratios of 1:7, 1:5 and 1:3 are found to perform better with the WRF model in giving more reasonable results than smaller ratios. For the sensitivity study on different storm types, the model shows the best performance in reproducing the storm events with spatial and temporal evenness of the observed rainfall, whereas the type of events with highly concentrated rainfall in space and time are found to be the trickiest case for WRF to handle. Finally, the efficiencies of several variability indices are verified in categorising the storm events on the basis of the two‐dimensional rainfall evenness, which could provide a more quantitative way for the event classification that facilitates further studies. It is important that similar studies with various storm events are carried out in other catchments with different geographic and climatic conditions, so that more general error patterns can be found and further improvements can be made to the rainfall products from mesoscale numerical weather models. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late-Quaternary biogeographic scenarios for the brown bear (Ursus arctos), a wild mammal model species

This review provides an up-to-date synthesis of the matrilineal phylogeography of a uniquely well-studied Holarctic mammal, the brown bear. We extend current knowledge by presenting a DNA sequence derived from one of the earliest known fossils of a polar bear (dated to 115 000 years before present), a species that shares a paraphyletic mitochondrial association with brown bears. A molecular clock analysis of 140 mitochondrial DNA sequences, including our new polar bear sequence, provides novel insights into the times of origin for different brown bear clades. We propose a number of regional biogeographic scenarios based on genetic data, divergence time estimates and paleontological records. The case of the brown bear provides an example for researchers working with less well-studied taxa: it shows clearly that phylogeographic models based on patterns of modern genetic variation alone can be substantially improved by including data on historical patterns of genetic diversity in the form of ancient DNA sequences derived from accurately dated samples and by using an approach to divergence-time estimation that suits the data under analysis. Using such approaches it has been possible to (i) establish that the processes shaping modern genetic diversity in brown bears acted recently, within the last three glacial cycles; (ii) distinguish among hypotheses concerning species’ responses to climatic oscillations in accordance with the lack of phylogeographic structure that existed in brown bears prior to the last glacial maximum (LGM); (iii) reassess theories linking monophyletic brown bear populations to particular LGM refuge areas; and (iv) identify vicariance events and track analogous patterns of migration by brown bears out of Eurasia to North America and Japan.