Distribution of convection associated with tropical cyclones making landfall along the South China coast

Summary This study examines the convection distribution associated with 18 TCs that made landfall along the South China coast during 1995 and 2005. Cloud-top temperatures from high-resolution satellite imageries of the Geosynchronous Meteorological Satellite 5 are used as proxy of strong convection. It is found that convection tends to be enhanced on the western side of the TC as it makes landfall in 10 of the cases, in agreement with the conclusion of some previous studies. Four cases have stronger convection on the eastern side. This “deviation” from the general rule appears to be related to the TCs being more slow-moving or their interaction of the TC with another land surface prior to its making landfall along the South China coast. For the remaining cases in which no significant asymmetries in convection can be identified, the vertical wind shear appears to enhance convection on the east side.     

Soil–pile–structure interaction under SH wave excitation

A continuum model for the interaction analysis of a fully coupled soil–pile–structure system under seismic excitation is presented in this paper. Only horizontal shaking induced by harmonic SH waves is considered so that the soil–pile–structure system is under anti‐plane deformation. The soil mass, pile and superstructure were all considered as elastic with hysteretic damping, while geometrically both pile and structures were simplified as a beam model. Buildings of various heights in Hong Kong designed to resist wind load were analysed using the present model. It was discovered that the acceleration of the piled‐structures at ground level can, in general, be larger than that of a free‐field shaking of the soil site, depending on the excitation frequency. For typical piled‐structures in Hong Kong, the amplification factor of shaking at the ground level does not show simple trends with the number of storeys of the superstructure, the thickness and the stiffness of soil, and the stiffness of the superstructure if number of storeys is fixed. The effect of pile stiffness on the amplification factor of shaking is, however, insignificant. Thus, simply increasing the pile size or the superstructure stiffness does not necessarily improve the seismic resistance of the soil–pile–structure system; on the contrary, it may lead to excessive amplification of shaking for the whole system. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Where Have All the Beaches Gone? Coastal Erosion In The Tropics

From a physical geography perspective, tropical coasts are characterised by coral reefs, mangroves and carbonate beaches on atolls and low reef islands. They face threats not only from sea level rise, but also from human activities that destroy mangroves, degrade coral reefs and accelerate beach erosion. Physical conditions in the tropics are suitable for the ideal tourist beach. Conceptually, the tourist coast can be considered as the integration of a physical system (the coast) and a human system (tourism). Studies have been carried out on various types of tourist coasts in Southeast Asia. For many atoll island states, sea level rise is more than just a threat to their tourism; it also determines their survival. In recent years, assessments of their vulnerability and adaptation have favoured a more integrative approach of physical and human sciences. Hopefully, this should result in a better analytical tropical geography that could play an important role in reducing coastal erosion and assist the small island states.     

Organic geochemical characteristics of time-series settling particles in northern South China Sea and their implications

Organic carbon, total nitrogen, amino acids, sugars, and chlorophyll were determined in < 1 mm fractions of the samples collected by successive large aperture time-series sediment traps (Honjo-Mark M) in northern South China Sea during September 1987 to October 1988. The ratio of C/N and the relative abundance of amino acids and sugars show that organic matter in the settling particles from northern South China Sea is derived mainly from marine plantkon (especially phytoplankton). The organic carbon fluxes in our sediment traps are lower than those in other sediment traps. But the relative contents of C_org/total particulate matter are generally similar to those in the Panama Basin, Arabian Sea and Subarctic Pacific. It is suggested that monsoon-caused changes of physical and chemical conditions in the upper euphotic layer would control the fluxes of organic matter as well as its composition and transport in northern South China Sea. This project was financially supported by both Sino-German Scientific Cooperation Program and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 49070269, 49776297).     

Fractionation of stable carbon isotopes by marine phytoplankton

Stable carbon isotope fractionation by seventeen species of marine phytoplankton, representing the classes of Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Prasinophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Haptophyceae and Dinophyceae have been determined in laboratory culture experiments using bicarbonate enriched artificial sea water. The values (Δ_HCO3^? = δ¹³C of algae vs HCO₃^?) range from ?22.1 to ?35.5%. Nitzschia closterium shows the smallest fractionation of ? 22.1% and Isochrysis galbana, the greatest of ?35.5%,. Since these algae were cultured under identical laboratory conditions, the wide range of Δ_HCO3^? values is seemingly due to the presence of different metabolic pathways within these organisms.A temperature dependent fractionation of 0.36% per °C with decreasing temperatures was measured for Skeletonema costatum whereas, smaller temperature dependencies of ?0.13, +0.15 and ?0.07%. per °C were observed for Dunaliella sp., Monochrysis lutheri and Glenodinium foliaceum, respectively.The consistency of values of Skeletonema costatum, Dunaliella sp. and Monochrysis lutheri grown at salinities of 22, 26, 32 and 36% indicates that natural salinity variations have negligible effects on the isotopic composition of marine phytoplankton.     

A geographical analysis of multiethnic households in the United States

"Using the household-level data provided by the 5% PUMS [Public Use Microdata Sample] data from the 1990 Census, this paper reports the pattern of ethnic mixing at the household level in the U.S. and also describes the geographical patterns of different types of multiethnic households at both the state level and the PUMA [Public Use Microdata Area] level. Several of the largest metropolitan areas are also examined in greater detail. The strong dominance of whites in the process of ethnic mixing is clear, as is the expected dominance of blacks in southeastern U.S. and the dominance of Hispanics in the southwest at the state level. The PUMA-level analysis reveals local clusters of ethnic mixing that are not apparent at the state-level analysis."     

Effects of pressure on the micromechanics of faulting in San Marcos gabbro

Samples of San Marcos gabbro were deformed to both pre- and post-failure stages at confining pressures of 100, 250 and 350 MPa. Scanning electron microscope observations were performed on the samples after ion-milling. The unstressed gabbro has insignificant crack porosity but a high volume fraction of healed and sealed cracks. Extensive stress-induced cracking at high angles to the maximum compressive stress is observed at the two higher pressures. Such high-angle cracks are mostly associated with the pre-existing healed cracks or cleavage planes, and they control the geometry and length scale of crack networks in plagioclase. Intensive kinking in biotite is widely observed at 350 MPa pressure, which together with the crack networks control the brittle fracture process. Stress-induced cracks in samples deformed at 100 MPa pressure are predominantly subparallel to the maximum compressive stress, and their coalescence leads to shear localization.Quantitative measurements of crack density as a function of differential stress indicate that crack interaction is appreciable beyond about 90% peak stress for all three pressures. The data also show significant decreases in stress-induced anisotropy as pressure increases, suggesting that there may be a threshold pressure beyond which stress-induced anisotropy vanishes with the onset of cataclasis.     

The distribution of particulate iodine in the Atlantic Ocean

The iodine content of marine suspended matter obtained from thirteen stations in the Atlantic between 75°N and 55°S has been measured. The concentration of particulate iodine is high in the surface, up to 127 ng/kg of seawater being observed. Below the euphotic zone, it drops sharply to 1–2 ng/kg. The iodine-containing particles are probably biogenic. A simple box-model calculation shows that only 3% of the particulate iodine produced in the surface water may reach the deep sea and that the residence time of these particles in the surface water is about 0.1 year.