Enhancement of particulate organic carbon export flux induced by atmospheric forcing in the subtropical oligotrophic northwest Pacific Ocean

The effects of extreme atmospheric forcing on the export flux of particulate organic carbon (POC) in the warm oligotrophic nitrogen-limited northwest Pacific Ocean were examined in 2007 during the spring Asian dust storm period. Several strong northeast monsoon events (maximum sustained wind speeds approaching 16.7 m s^? 1, and gusts up to 19.0 m s^? 1) accompanied by dust storms occurred during a 1-month period. The cold stormy events decreased surface water temperature and induced strong wind-driven vertical mixing of the water column, resulting in nutrient entrainment into the mixed layer from subsurface waters. As a result, the export flux of POC ranged from 49 to 98 (average value = 71 ± 16) mg m^? 2 day^? 1, approximately 2–3 times greater than average values in other seasons. As dry and wet deposition of nitrogen attributable to Asian dust storm events does not account for the associated increases in POC stocks in this N-limited oligotrophic oceanic region, the enhancement of POC flux must have been caused by nutrient entrainment from subsurface waters because of the high winds accompanying the dust storm events.     

The feeding habits of Austrolethops wardi, a gobiid fish inhabiting burrows of the thalassinidean shrimp Neaxius acanthus

The feeding habit of Austrolethops wardi (Gobiidae) in the seagrass beds of Barrang Lompo and Bone Batang Island in the Spermonde Archipelago, South West Sulawesi, Indonesia, was investigated through gut content analysis. The feeding preferences of this species are very similar on both islands: A. wardi, a burrow associate of Neaxius acanthus, was found to feed almost exclusively on seagrass (which was found in 100% of the investigated stomachs and made up >94% of food items). However, seagrass epiphytes (<5% of food items) and animal food (<1% of food items) occurred in the guts as well, the latter predominantly in terms of copepods and to a lesser degree in other small invertebrates. These results indicate that animal food is of little importance for A. wardi. Some specimens even contained no parts of animal food.     

Stone cover and slope factors influencing hillside surface runoff and infiltration: laboratory investigation

In this study, laboratory rainfall simulation in an extensive area was used to study the infiltration, and interception and storage from surface runoff in points with different stone cover percentages (0, 10, 20 and 30%) and slopes (5°, 10° and 20°). The experimental results of this study showed that the interrelationships among the slope, stone cover percentage, groundwater level, surface runoff amount, and interception and storage of the ponds were varied and irregular. No systematic patterns were detected for the change in the groundwater level, surface runoff amount, and interception and storage of the ponds with different stone cover percentages at different slopes and no threshold values were apparent. For a 5° slope, if the stone cover percentage was increased, the amount of surface runoff was reduced, the infiltration and the groundwater level experienced no significant change, and the interception and storage of the ponds increased. For a 10° slope, if the stone cover percentage was increased, the amount of surface runoff increased, the infiltration decreased, the groundwater level experienced no significant change or decreased slightly at certain points, and the interception and storage of the ponds increased. For a 20° slope, if the stone cover percentage was increased, the amount of runoff increased, the infiltration decreased, the groundwater level experienced no significant change or decreased slightly at certain points, and the interception and storage of the ponds increased. With or without stone cover, when the hydraulic conductivity of the top material is close to that of fine sand or laterite, an increase in the slope gradient decreased the amount of surface runoff and increased the storage amount of the ponds. As for the stone distribution, an interlaced style showed better performance in the interception and storage of ponds than that of a regular style. There was no significant change in the groundwater level. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mortality risk of a future heat event across a subtropical city: implications for community planning and health policy

Natural Hazards - In this study, we applied the Weather Research and Forecasting model to project 2050 urban and rural temperature. We applied a time-stratified analysis to compare it with...     

Stochastic sediment transport: anomalous diffusions and random movement

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment - A sediment particle in a flow not only follows the flow direction but also randomly diffuses through the surrounding fluid, because of the...     

Quasi-Saturated Layer: Implications for Estimating Recharge and Groundwater Modeling

This study presents an extension of the concept of “quasi-saturation” to a quasi-saturated layer, defined as the uppermost dynamic portion of the saturated zone subject to water table fluctuations. Entrapped air here may cause substantial reductions in the hydraulic conductivity (K) and fillable pore water. Air entrapment is caused by a rising water table, usually as a result of groundwater recharge. The most significant effects of entrapped air are recharge overestimation based on methods that use specific yield (S_y), such as the water table fluctuation method (WTF), and reductions in K values. These effects impact estimation of fluid flow velocities and contaminant migration rates in groundwater. In order to quantify actual groundwater recharge rates and the effects of entrapped air, numerical simulations with the FEFLOW (Version 7.0) groundwater flow model were carried out using a quasi-saturated layer for a pilot area in Rio Claro, Brazil. The calculated recharge rate represented 16% of the average precipitation over an 8-year period, approximately half of estimates using the WTF method. Air entrapment amounted to a fillable porosity of 0.07, significant lower that the value of 0.17 obtained experimentally for S_y. Numerical results showed that the entrapped air volume in the quasi-saturated layer can be very significant (0.58 of the air fraction) and hence can significantly affect estimates of groundwater recharge and groundwater flow rates near the water table.     

几种消暖云（雾）催化剂性能的实验研究

本文选取了十一种吸湿性物质,对它们的吸湿特性进行了实验研究,对其中一些吸湿性能较好的催化剂开展了云室消雾试验,结果表明,这些物质的吸湿能力及其随相对湿度变化的分布有较大的区别,其饱和状态下的平衡增长率也有较大差异,水泥类物质中,矿渣水泥及普通４２５＾＃Ｋ水泥的吸湿特性与氯化钠类似,氯化钠、氯化铵及矿潭水泥的云室消雾效果较好,但其作用机理可能有所不同。