Natural and artificial connections between atoll islets in the pacific,their process and environmental impact

Three types of natural connection between atoll islets are described. Causeway, as an artificial way of connecting islets, makes a connection to be completed in a few months. In this case shore adjustment becomes more vigorous than that in natural conditions, resulting in lagoon shore erosion. A causeway without short bridges or culverts should be built close to the lagoon shore to reduce lagoon shore erosion. A causeway-crossing channel assemblage is the worst type among all of the connection engineering constructions because the crossing channel traps sediment and further transports it out of the channel, resulting in long period coastal erosion. Reforming Nippon Causeway in Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati by simple means will stop sand loss, reduce shore erosion and greatly upgrade its stability.     

Seasonal variation of eddy shedding from the Kuroshio intrusion in the Luzon Strait

Altimeter data and output from the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model global assimilation run are used to study the seasonal variation of eddy shedding from the Kuroshio intrusion in the Luzon Strait. The results suggest that most eddy shedding events occur from December through March, and no eddy shedding event occurs in June, September, or October. About a month before eddy shedding, the Kuroshio intrusion extends into the South China Sea and a closed anticyclonic eddy appears inside the Kuroshio loop which then detaches from the Kuroshio intrusion. Anticyclonic eddies detached from December through February move westward at a speed of about 0.1 m s⁻¹ after shedding, whereas eddies detached in other months either stay at the place of origin or move westward at a very slow speed (less than 0.06 m s⁻¹). The HYCOM outputs and QuikSCAT wind data clearly show that the seasonal variation of eddy shedding is influenced by the monsoon winds. A comparison between eddy volume and integrated Ekman transport indicates that, once the integrated Ekman transport exceeds 2 × 10¹² m³ (which roughly corresponds to the volume of an eddy), the Kuroshio intrusion expands and an eddy shedding event occurs within 1 month. We infer that the Ekman drift of the northeasterly monsoon pushes the Kuroshio intrusion into the SCS, creates a net westward transport into the Strait, and leads to an eddy detachment from the Kuroshio.     

Influence of Current Width Variation on the Annual Mean Transport of the East Sakhalin Current: A Simple Model

Recent observations suggest that the annual mean southward transport of the East Sakhalin Current (ESC) is significantly larger than the annual mean Sverdrup transport. Motivated by this observational result, transport of a western boundary current has been investigated using a simple numerical model with a western slope. This transport is defined as the instantaneous barotropic transport integrated from the western boundary to the offshore point where the barotropic velocity vanishes. The model, forced by seasonally varying wind stress, exhibits an annual mean of the western boundary current transport that is larger than that of the Sverdrup transport, as observed. The southward transport from October to March in the model nearly equals the instantaneous Sverdrup transport, while the southward transport from April to September decreases slowly. Although the Sverdrup transport in July vanishes, the southward transport in summer nearly maintains the annual mean Sverdrup transport, because the barotropic Rossby wave cannot intrude on the western slope. This summer transport causes the larger annual mean. Although there are some uncertainties in the estimation of the Sverdrup transport in the Sea of Okhotsk, the seasonal variation of the southward transport in the model is qualitatively similar to the observations.     

Nonlinear Time Series Analysis of Volcanic Tremor Events Recorded at Sangay Volcano,Ecuador

The assumption that volcanic tremor may be generated by deterministic nonlinear source processes is now supported by a number of studies at different volcanoes worldwide that clearly demonstrate the low-dimensional nature of the phenomenon. We applied methods based on the theory of nonlinear dynamics to volcanic tremor events recorded at Sangay volcano, Ecuador in order to obtain more information regarding the physics of their source mechanism. The data were acquired during 21–26 April 1998 and were recorded using a sampling interval of 125 samples s^–1 by two broadband seismometers installed near the active vent of the volcano. In a previous study Johnson and Lees (2000) classified the signals into three groups: (1) short duration (<1 min) impulses generated by degassing explosions at the vent; (2) extended degassing chugging events with a duration 2–5 min containing well-defined integer overtones (1–5 Hz) and variable higher frequency content; (3) extended degassing events that contain significant energy above 5 Hz. We selected 12 events from groups 2 and 3 for our analysis that had a duration of at least 90 s and high signal-to-noise ratios. The phase space, which describes the evolution of the behavior of a nonlinear system, was reconstructed using the delay embedding theorem suggested by Takens. The delay time used for the reconstruction was chosen after examining the first zero crossing of the autocorrelation function and the first minimum of the Average Mutual Information (AMI) of the data. In most cases it was found that both methods yielded a delay time of 14–18 samples (0.112–0.144 s) for group 2 and 5 samples (0.04 s) for group 3 events. The sufficient embedding dimension was estimated using the false nearest neighbors method which had a value of 4 for events in group 2 and was in the range 5–7 for events in group 3. Based on these embedding parameters it was possible to calculate the correlation dimension of the resulting attractor, as well as the average divergence rate of nearby orbits given by the largest Lyapunov exponent. Events in group 2 exhibited lower values of both the correlation dimension (1.8–2.6) and largest Lyapunov exponent (0.013–0.022) in comparison with the events in group 3 where the values of these quantities were in the range 2.4–3.5 and 0.029–0.043, respectively. Theoretically, a nonlinear oscillation described by the equation ++g(x)=fcost can generate deterministic signals with characteristics similar to those observed in groups 2 and 3 as the values of the parameters ,,f, are drifting, causing instability of orbits in the phase space.     

The new national climate change documents of Mexico: what do the regional climate change scenarios represent?

This paper presents a review of the methodology applied for generating the regional climate change scenarios utilized in important National Documents of Mexico, such as the Fourth National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Fourth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity and The Economics of Climate Change in Mexico. It is shown that these regional climate change scenarios, which are one of the main inputs to support the assessments presented in these documents, are an example of the erroneous use of statistical downscaling techniques. The arguments presented here imply that the work based on such scenarios should be revised and therefore, these documents are inadequate for supporting national decision- making.     

GIS-based determination of the mean long-term groundwater recharge in Lower Saxony

This paper presents the findings of a collaborative research project of the Geological Survey of Lower Saxony (NLfB) and the Programme Group Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (STE) of Research Centre Jülich on the GIS-based determination of the mean long-term groundwater recharge in Lower Saxony using high-resolution digital data (Dörhöfer and others 2001). The model calculations were performed on the basis of the water-balance model GROWA (Kunkel and Wendland 2002) with a spatial resolution of 100x100 m². The accuracy of the calculated groundwater recharge values for the period 1961–1990 was verified on the basis of data from gauging stations and displayed a good agreement between observed runoff values and model results.     

Some Homogeneous Bianchi type IX Viscous Fluid Cosmological Models with a Varying Λ

Some Bianchi type IX viscous fluid cosmological models are investigated. To get a solution, a supplementary condition between metric potentials is used. The viscosity coefficient of bulk viscous fluid is assumed to be a power function of mass density, whereas the coefficient of shear viscosity is considered as proportional to scale of expansion in the model. The cosmological constant Λ is found to be positive and is a decreasing function of time, which is supported by results from recent supernovae observations. Some physical and geometric properties of the models are also discussed.     

河南经济技术开发区发展前景与对策

文章阐述了经济技术开发区在区域经济发展过程中的作用。根据河南省经济技术开发区的发展现状和存在的问题，分析了加入WTO后开发区所面临的机遇和挑战，并在此基础上从开发区环境营造，运行机制，筹资方式，产业发展，城市建设等方面提出了加快河南省经济技术开发区发展的对策。     

Adakite-like signature of Late Miocene intrusions at the Los Pelambres giant porphyry copper deposit in the Andes of central Chile: metallogenic implications

Adakite-like features are recognized in the Late Miocene (~10 Ma) porphyritic intrusions of the Los Pelambres giant porphyry copper deposit, central Chile (32°S). Located within the southern portion of the flat-slab segment (28–33°S) of the Chilean Andes, the Al- and Na-rich porphyries of Los Pelambres display distinctly higher Sr/Y (~100–300) and La_N/Yb_N (~25–60) ratios than contemporaneous and barren magmatic units (e.g., La Gloria pluton, Cerro Aconcagua volcanic rocks) of the same Andean magmatic belt. Strong fractionation of heavy rare earth elements (HREE), absence of Eu anomalies, high Sr/Y and Zr/Sm and low Nb/Ta ratios suggest melt extraction from a garnet-amphibolite source. The Late-Miocene adakite-like porphyritic intrusions at Los Pelambres formed closely related in time and space to the subduction of the Juan Fernández Ridge (JFR) hotspot chain along the Chilean margin. Current tectonic reconstructions reveal that, at the time of formation of the Los Pelambres rocks, a W-E segment of the JFR started to subduct beneath them, producing a slow-down of a previously rapid southward migration of a NE-ridge—trench collision. These particular tectonic conditions are favorable for the origin of the Los Pelambres porphyry suite by melting of subducting young hotspot rocks under flat-slab conditions. The incorporation of crustal components into the oceanic lithopheric magma source by subduction erosion is evidenced by the Sr-Nd isotope composition of the Los Pelambres rocks different from the MORB signatures of true adakites. A close relationship apparently exists between the origin of this adakite-like magmatism and the source of the mineralization in the Los Pelambres porphyry copper deposit.Editorial handling: R.J. Goldfarb     

Total Lipid and Fatty Acid Classes in Decomposing Mangrove Leaves of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bruguiera gymnorrhiza</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kandelia candel</Emphasis>: Significance with respect to Lipid Input

Changes in the concentration of total lipid and fatty acids (FAs) during the decomposition of mangrove leaves were investigated by field experiments using yellow leaves of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Lamk. and Kandelia candel (L.) Druce, in order to quantify mangrove contribution to lipid and fatty acid inputs to marine sediments. Total lipid and total FA in the fresh (green and yellow) and decomposing leaves of both species were significantly higher during winter than summer. During decomposition, total lipid content and FA concentration, in particular branched chain fatty acids (BrFAs) and bacterial fatty acids (BFAs), increased to a maximum concentration in 45 days during winter and in 17 days during summer. Lipids were lost faster in K. candel leaf detritus than in B. gymnorrhiza leaf detritus in which >90% of the total lipid original weight was lost during the summer experiment and <60% during the winter experiment. The changes in the concentrations of total lipids and FAs in the decomposing leaves also indicate that mangrove leaves are significant sources of fatty acids and probably other lipid compounds to estuarine ecosystems and that tidal waters transport the lipids and FAs adsorbed to particulate matter from mangroves to adjacent estuarine sediments and the ocean.