Thermodynamic efficiencies of an idealized global climate model

We employ the heat engine framework to derive a simple method for assessing the strength of irreversible processes in global climate models (GCMs). Using the explicit energy budget of an idealized GCM, we show that the thermodynamic efficiencies based on the net heating rate and frictional work rate provides a measure of physical and numerical irreversibilities present in either open (e.g., the Hadley circulation) or closed (e.g., the general circulation) circulations. In addition, we show that the Carnot efficiency is useful for assessing the maximum possible efficiency attained by closed circulations. Comparison of the work-based efficiency with that based on the net heating rate and the Carnot efficiency provides a gauge of how close to reversible and ideal the circulations are. A series of experiments with the idealized GCM demonstrate the usefulness of our method and show the sensitivity of an essentially reversible model to changes in physical and numerical parameters such as rotation period and resolution.     

Deposition and provenance of the Early Pleistocene Siliceous Member in Westbury Cave,Somerset, England

The Early Pleistocene is an important interval in the Quaternary period as a time not only of climatic and environmental change, but also of key events in human evolution. However, knowledge of this period in northwest Europe is hampered by the limited extent of deposits of this age. Westbury Cave in the Mendip Hills of Somerset preserves an understudied example of fossil-bearing Early Pleistocene sediments, with rare potential to inform our understanding of British Early Pleistocene stratigraphy and landscape evolution outside the East Anglian Crag Basin. This study identifies the processes responsible for deposition of the Early Pleistocene Siliceous Member in Westbury Cave, thereby aiding taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental interpretations of associated fossil assemblages. New excavations revealed over ten metres of Siliceous Member stratigraphy, dominated by fine-grained silts/clays with interbedded sands and gravels, interpreted as being deposited within a subterranean lake or flooded conduit with fluvial input. All sediments sampled were reversely magnetised and are assigned to the Matuyama Reversed Chron. Lithological analysis of gravel clasts revealed variable components of durable non-local and non-durable local clasts. Gravels containing the latter are interpreted as distal talus slope deposits, and those lacking non-durable lithologies as stream or flood deposits. However, it remains unclear from available data whether apparently non-local clasts were sourced from long distance or stem from a more local, now denuded catchment. Siliceous Member bio- and magnetostratigraphy suggest that deposition occurred late in the Early Pleistocene, a period apparently otherwise unrepresented in the UK.     

有机和常规农业管理方式下的浮游植物群落特征及其影响因素

为了解不同农业施肥管理方式对水体浮游植物群落的影响,本研究以江苏句容戴庄有机示范村和常规农业管理区池塘浮游植物为对象,分析冬夏两季浮游植物群落特征及相关水环境因子.结果表明：冬季有机和常规农业区域的浮游植物分别检到7门95种和7门111种,夏季分别检到7门102种和6门112种,有机农业区浮游植物由冬季的隐藻—绿藻型向夏季的蓝藻—绿藻型变化,常规农业区从隐藻—绿藻型向蓝藻—硅藻型变化,蓝藻逐渐取代隐藻的优势地位.夏季各池塘浮游植物alpha多样性没有显著的区域差异,但冬季常规农业区浮游植物物种丰富度、蓝藻和裸藻的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数显著较高.指示物种分析显示,谷皮菱形藻(Nitzschia palea)和梅尼小环藻(Cyclotella meneghiniana)为有机农业区指示物种,而梭形裸藻(Euglena acus)、针形纤维藻(Ankistrodesmus acicularis)、肘状针杆藻(Synedra ulna)和狭形纤维藻(Ankistrodesmus angustus)为常规农业区指示物种,此6种藻为中、富营养化藻类,说明水体氮磷营养盐浓度较高,这与...     

Exhumation and incision history of the Lahul Himalaya, northern India, based on (U–Th)/He thermochronometry and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide methods

Low-temperature apatite (U–Th)/He (AHe) thermochronology on vertical transects of leucogranite stocks and ¹⁰Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) surface exposure dating on strath terraces in the Lahul Himalaya provide a first approximation of long-term (10⁴–10⁶ years) exhumation rates for the High Himalayan Crystalline Series (HHCS) for northern India. The AHe ages show that exhumation of the HHCS in Lahul from shallow crustal levels to the surface was ~ 1–2 mm/a and occurred during the past ~ 2.5 Ma. Bedrock exhumation in Lahul fits into a regional pattern in the HHCS of low-temperature thermochronometers yielding Plio-Pleistocene ages. Surface exposure ages of strath terraces along the Chandra River range from ~ 3.5 to 0.2 ka. Two sites along the Chandra River show a correlation between TCN age and height above the river level yielding maximum incision rates of 12 and 5.5 mm/a. Comparison of our AHe and surface exposure ages from Lahul with thermochronometry data from the fastest uplifting region at the western end of the Himalaya, the Nanga Parbat syntaxis, illustrates that there are contrasting regions in the High Himalaya where longer term (10⁵–10⁷ years) erosion and exhumation of bedrock substantially differ even though Holocene rates of fluvial incision are comparable. These data imply that the orogen's indenting corners are regions where focused denudation has been stable since the mid-Pliocene. However, away from these localized areas where there is a potent coupling of tectonic and surface processes that produce rapid uplift and denudation, Plio-Pleistocene erosion and exhumation can be characterized by disequilibrium, where longer term rates are relatively slower and shorter term fluvial erosion is highly variable over time and distance. The surface exposure age data reflect differential incision along the length of the Chandra River over millennial time frames, illustrate the variances that are possible in Himalayan river incision, and highlight the complexity of Himalayan environments.     

Coral reef productivity and diversity—Contributions from enhanced photosynthesis via demand for carbohydrate from the host

Coral reefs’ high productivity has been attributed mainly to photosymbioses between the coral animal and algae of the family Symbiodiniaceae, with recognition that the host can increase algal photosynthesis by concentrating nutrients and enhancing the efficiency of light absorption. Here, we propose that an additional effect, consumption of carbohydrate by the host, may also enhance algal photosynthesis. We examine evidence from symbiosis between terrestrial plants and root fungi that indicates a link between carbohydrate consumption by the symbiotic partner and photosynthetic upregulation in the plant system. In addition, we review evidence from free-living algae manipulated to exude carbohydrate into the external medium, which was associated with strong upregulation of photosynthetic capacity. We offer suggestions on how host-induced carbohydrate release may increase photosynthesis rates in the symbionts in the intact photosymbiosis and how this relationship evolved.