Subsurface ocean temperature indices for Central-Pacific and Eastern-Pacific types of El Ni?o and La Ni?a events

Subsurface ocean temperature indices are developed to identify two distinct types of tropical Pacific warming (El Ni?o) and cooling (La Ni?a) events: the Eastern-Pacific (EP) type and the Central-Pacific (CP) type. Ocean temperature anomalies in the upper 100?m are averaged over the eastern (80°W?C90°W, 5°S?C5°N) and central (160°E?C150°W, 5°S?C5°N) equatorial Pacific to construct the EP and CP subsurface indices, respectively. The analysis is performed for the period of 1958?C2001 using an ocean data assimilation product. It is found that the EP/CP subsurface indices are less correlated and show stronger skewness than the sea surface temperature (SST)-based indices. In addition, while both quasi-biennial (??2?years) and quasi-quadrennial (??4?years) periodicities appear in the SST-based indices for these two types, the subsurface indices are dominated only by the quasi-biennial periodicity for the CP type and by the quasi-quadrennial (??4?years) periodicity for the EP type. Low correlation, high skewness, and single leading periodicity are desirable properties for defining indices to separate the EP and CP types. Using the subsurface indices, major El Ni?o and La Ni?a events identified by the Ni?o-3.4 SST index are classified as the EP or CP types for the analysis period. It is found that most strong El Ni?o events are of the EP type while most strong La Ni?a events are of the CP type. It is also found that strong CP-type La Ni?a events tend to occur after strong EP-type El Ni?o events. The reversed subsequence (i.e., strong EP El Ni?o events follow strong CP La Ni?a events) does not appear to be typical. This study shows that subsurface ocean indices are an effective way to identify the EP and CP types of Pacific El Ni?o and La Ni?a events.     

A research on the estimation of coefficient roughness in open channel applying entropy concept

Manning’s roughness coefficient is one of the most important parameters in establishing the plan, design, operation, and maintenance of the water resource projects for hydraulic engineers, and since the worth of this value has a significant effect on the analysis of the water level and flow rate distribution, it is very important to carry out the calculation of flood stage, design of the stream/river structure, and safety assessment of the stream. Due to the importance of these factors, the calculation of objective and quantitative roughness coefficient has long drawn attention from researchers at home and abroad. Many studies have been conducted to estimate the roughness coefficient based on the actual measurements for various types of streams, such as gravel and sand streams, and many others have produced experience equation for various levels of materials and relative depth. Despite many of these efforts, the roughness coefficient uses constant values when applied to the actual model or real design. This application is a major source of error in simulating flood and unsteady flow. To solve these problems, good results were obtained by attempting to calculate the roughness coefficient applied with the entropy concept in open-channel flow. In particular, the proposed roughness coefficient based on the measurements taken from laboratories under conditions showed very similar to the actual stream flow which was found to be about the same as the value from the unsteady flow. Accordingly, the newly developed roughness coefficient equation, which is the result of this study, is a very practical one formula that can be applied to the flood flow of real natural streams. It can also be used as an alternative to make up for the disadvantages of the Manning’s roughness coefficient.     

Determination of Trace Elements in Geological Reference Materials G‐3, GSP‐2 and SGD‐1a by Low‐Dilution Glass Bead Digestion and ICP‐MS

We present a revised alkali fusion method for the determination of trace elements in geological samples. Our procedure is based on simple acid digestion of powdered low‐dilution (flux : sample ≈ 2 : 1) glass beads where large sample dilution demanded by high total dissolved solids, a main drawback of conventional alkali fusion, could be circumvented. Three geological reference materials (G‐3 granite, GSP‐2 granodiorite and SGD‐1a gabbro) decomposed by this technique and routine tabletop acid digestion were analysed for thirty trace elements using a quadrupole ICP‐MS. Results by conventional acid digestion distinctly showed poor recoveries of Zr, Hf and rare earth elements due to incomplete dissolution of resistant minerals. On the other hand, results obtained by our method were in reasonable agreement with reference data for most analytes, indicating that refractory minerals were efficiently dissolved and volatile loss was insignificant.     

Influence of non-feedback variations of radiation on the determination of climate feedback

Recent studies have estimated the magnitude of climate feedback based on the correlation between time variations in outgoing radiation flux and sea surface temperature (SST). This study investigates the influence of the natural non-feedback variation (noise) of the flux occurring independently of SST on the determination of climate feedback. The observed global monthly radiation flux is used from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) for the period 2000–2008. In the observations, the time lag correlation of radiation and SST shows a distorted curve with low statistical significance for shortwave radiation while a significant maximum at zero lag for longwave radiation over the tropics. This observational feature is explained by simulations with an idealized energy balance model where we see that the non-feedback variation plays the most significant role in distorting the curve in the lagged correlation graph, thus obscuring the exact value of climate feedback. We also demonstrate that the climate feedback from the tropical longwave radiation in the CERES data is not significantly affected by the noise. We further estimate the standard deviation of radiative forcings (mainly from the noise) relative to that of the non-radiative forcings, i.e., the noise level from the observations and atmosphere–ocean coupled climate model simulations in the framework of the simple model. The estimated noise levels in both CERES (>13 %) and climate models (11–28 %) are found to be far above the critical level (~5 %) that begins to misrepresent climate feedback.     

The impact of lateral flow contraction on the rock plucking process under sub-critical flow conditions

Rock plucking is the vertical removal of chunks of rock along intersection joint planes by flowing water. The plucking of durable jointed rock in a natural stream alters stream morphology and potentially damages a bridge substructure situated on a rock foundation by local erosion. Despite its importance, the mechanics of bedrock erosion by plucking are not well understood. In this study, we conduct laboratory experiments to investigate the threshold of block entrainment through plucking near a flow obstruction under sub-critical conditions. In a laboratory flume, we reproduce a wide range of typical lateral flow contraction scenarios that occur around a large rock or bridge substructure and investigate the process of the vertical entrainment of blocks near the obstruction. Two different modes of block removal process (impulsive plucking and accumulative plucking) are observed near the bluff structure. We find that under severe flow contraction, blocks are more likely to escape quickly via impulsive plucking because higher flow contraction and the resulting strong local turbulence around the structure generate large instantaneous uplift force that removes the block within a short period of time; however, we observe accumulative plucking under weaker flow contraction near the bluff structure. From the experimental results, we develop a formula for the threshold point of block dislocation caused by plucking with respect to the degree of lateral flow contraction. The results indicate that increasing the flow contraction ratio reduces block stability because of higher flow acceleration and the increased turbulence effect near the upstream edge of the obstruction. The results of this study should be useful to those who estimate the rate of rock erosion by plucking in natural open channels around a bluff structure.     

Study of shear stress in laminar pipe flow using entropy concept

In fluid mechanics, the shear stress is calculated from the frictional force caused by viscosity and fluctuating velocity. Shear stress equations are used widely because of their simplicity. On the other hand, they have a critical limitation of requiring an energy gradient, which is generally difficult to estimate in practice. In particular, measuring the shear stress and velocity gradient on the boundary layer is difficult. The point velocity throughout the entire cross section is needed to calculate the velocity gradient. This study proposes the shear stress distribution equations for laminar flow based on entropy theory using the mean velocity and entropy coefficient. The proposed equations were compared with the measured shear stress distribution using Nikuradse’s data. The results revealed a correlation coefficient of approximately 0.99, indicating that the proposed method fits the Nikuradse’s data. Therefore, the shear stress distribution can be estimated easily and accurately using the proposed equations, which can be used in future for the management and design of a water pipeline.     

Molecular characterization and morphology of the photosynthetic dinoflagellate Bysmatrum caponii from two solar saltons in western Korea

Species belonging to the genus Bysmatrum are peridinoid, thecate, photosynthetic dinoflagellates. The plate formula of Bysmatrum spp., arranged in a Kofoidian series, is almost identical to that of Scrippsiella spp. Bysmatrum spp., which were originally classified as Scrippsiella spp., but were transferred to the genus Bysmatrum spp. because of separation of the intercalary plates 2a and 3a by plate 3??. Whether this transfer from Scrippsiella spp. to Bysmatrum spp. is reasonable should be genetically confirmed. Dinoflagellates were isolated from 2 solar saltons located in western Korea in 2009?C2010 and 3 clonal cultures from Sooseong solar saltons and 2 clonal cultures from Garolim solar saltons were successfully established. All of these dinoflagellates were identified as Bysmatrum caponii based on morphology analysis by light and electron microscopy. The plates of all Korean strains of B. caponii were arranged in a Kofoidian series of Po, X, 4??, 3a, 7??, 6c, 4s, 5?, 0 (p), and 24??. When properly aligned, the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences of the 3 Sooseong strains of B. caponii were identical, as were those of the 2 Garolim strains. Furthermore, the sequences of the 3 Sooseong strains were 0.01% different from those of the Garolim strains. However, the sequences of SSU rDNA of these Korean B. caponii strains were 9% different from that of Bysmatrum subsalsum and > 10% from that of any other dinoflagellate thus far reported. In the phylogenetic trees generated using SSU and LSU rDNA sequences, these Korean B. caponii strains formed a clade with B. subsalsum which was clearly divergent from the Scrippsiella clade. However, this Bysmatrum clade was phylogenetically close to the Protoperidinium and/or Peridinium clades. The results of the present study suggest that Bysmatrum spp. are markedly different genetically from Scrippsiella spp..     

A study of igneous rocks related to Zn–Pb mineralization in the Shinyemi and Gagok deposits of the Taebaeksan Basin,South Korea

The Shinyemi and Gagok deposits, located in the Taebaeksan Basin, South Korea, display Zn–Pb mineralization along a contact between Cretaceous granitoids and Cambrian–Ordovician carbonates of the Joseon Supergroup. The Shinyemi mine is one of the largest polymetallic skarn‐type magnetite deposits in South Korea and comprises Fe and Fe–Mo–Zn skarns, and Zn–Cu–Pb replacement deposits. Both deposits yield similar Cretaceous mineralization ages, and granitoids associated with the two deposits displaying similar mineral textures and compositions, are highly evolved, and were emplaced at a shallow depth. They are classified as calc‐alkaline, I‐type granites (magnetite series) and were formed in a volcanic arc. Compositional variation is less in the Shinyemi granites and aplites (e.g., SiO₂ = 74.4–76.6 wt% and 74.4–75.1 wt%, respectively) than in the Gagok granites and aplites (e.g., SiO₂ = 65.6–68.0 wt% and 74.9–76.5 wt%, respectively). Furthermore, SiO₂ vs K/Rb and SiO₂ vs Rb/Sr diagrams indicate that the Shinyemi granitoids are more evolved than the Gagok granitoids. Shinyemi granitoids had been already differentiated highly in deep depth and then intruded into shallow depth, so both granite and aplite show the highly evolved similar chemical compositions. Whereas, less differentiated Gagok granitoids were separated into two phases in the last stage at shallow depth, so granite and aplite show different compositions. The amounts of granites and aplite are similar in the Shinyemi deposit, whereas the aplite appears in an amount less than the granite in the Gagok deposit. For this reason, the Shinyemi granitoids caused not only Fe enrichment during formation of the dolomite‐hosted magnesian skarn but also was associated with Mo mineralization in the Shinyemi deposit. Zn mineralization of the Gagok deposit was mainly caused by granite rather than aplite. Our data suggest that the variation in mineralization displayed by the two deposits resulted from differences in the compositions of their associated igneous intrusions.