Numerical simulation of Pacific water intrusions into Otsuchi Bay,northeast of Japan,with a nested-grid OGCM

A numerical simulation of Otsuchi Bay located on the northeast coast of the Honshu, the largest island of Japan, is conducted, using an ocean general circulation model (OGCM) with a nested-grid system in order to illustrate seasonal variability of the circulation in the bay. Through a year, an anticlockwise circulation is dominant in the bay, as observational studies have implied, although it is modified in the bay-mouth-half of the bay in winter. In addition, there is an intense outflow at the surface layer during spring to autumn, influenced by river water discharge. Intrusion of the Pacific water into the bay is influened by mean circulations, but it is also influenced by baroclinic tides from spring to autumn. Pacific water intrusions affected by baroclinic tides may have an impact on the environment in Otsuchi Bay.     

Respiration and Calcification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crassostrea gigas</Emphasis>: Contribution of an Intertidal Invasive Species to Coastal Ecosystem CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Fluxes

Respiration and calcification rates of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas were measured in a laboratory experiment in the air and underwater, accounting for seasonal variations and individual size, to estimate the effects of this exotic species on annual carbon budgets in the Bay of Brest, France. Respiration and calcification rates changed significantly with season and size. Mean underwater respiration rates, deducted from changes in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), were 11.4 μmol DIC g⁻¹ ash-free dry weight (AFDW) h⁻¹ (standard deviation (SD), 4.6) and 32.3 μmol DIC g⁻¹ AFDW h⁻¹ (SD 4.1) for adults (80–110 mm shell length) and juveniles (30–60 mm), respectively. The mean daily contribution of C. gigas underwater respiration (with 14 h per day of immersion on average) to DIC averaged over the Bay of Brest population was 7.0 mmol DIC m⁻² day⁻¹ (SD 8.1). Mean aerial CO₂ respiration rate, estimated using an infrared gas analyzer, was 0.7 μmol CO₂ g⁻¹ AFDW h⁻¹ (SD 0.1) for adults and 1.1 μmol CO₂ g⁻¹ AFDW h⁻¹ (SD 0.2) for juveniles, corresponding to a mean daily contribution of 0.4 mmol CO₂ m⁻² day⁻¹ (SD 0.50) averaged over the Bay of Brest population (with 10 h per day of emersion on average). Mean CaCO₃ uptake rates for adults and juveniles were 4.5 μmol CaCO₃ g⁻¹ AFDW h⁻¹ (SD 1.7) and 46.9 μmol CaCO₃ g⁻¹ AFDW h⁻¹ (SD 29.2), respectively. The mean daily contribution of net calcification in the Bay of Brest C. gigas population to CO₂ fluxes during immersion was estimated to be 2.5 mmol CO₂ m⁻² day⁻¹ (SD 2.9). Total carbon release by this C. gigas population was 39 g C m⁻² year⁻¹ and reached 334 g C m⁻² year⁻¹ for densely colonized areas with relative contributions by underwater respiration, net calcification, and aerial respiration of 71%, 25%, and 4%, respectively. These observations emphasize the substantial influence of this invasive species on the carbon cycle, including biogenic carbonate production, in coastal ecosystems.     

Dinoflagellate cysts in recent marine sediment from Guangxi, China

Total of 33 species of dinoflagellate cysts were discovered from surface sediment in the searegion of Guangxi, among them 12 cyst types (Diplopsalopsis sp.1, D. sp. 2, D. sp. 3, Cochlodinium sp., Protoperidinium sp. 1, P. sp. 2, P. compressum , Scrippsiella sp. 1, S. sp. 2, Alexandrium sp. 1, A. sp. 2, A. sp. 3) were first reported from the South China Sea. And one cyst type (Cochlodinium sp.) was first reported in the world. Scrippsiella trochoidea is the dominant species in this area, accounting for 45% of all the cysts. There are 2 cysts of toxic dinoflagellate (Alexandrium tamarensis and Gymnodinium catenatum). But there is no relationship between cyst number and grain size distribution.     

Structural differences between the western and eastern Qiongdongnan Basin: evidence of Indochina block extrusion and South China Sea seafloor spreading

Located at the intersection between a NW-trending slip system and NE-trending rift system in the northern South China Sea, the Qiongdongnan Basin provides key clues for us to understand the proposed extrusion of the Indochina Block along with Red River Fault Zone and extensional margins. In this paper we for the first time systematically reveal the striking structural differences between the western and eastern sector of the Qiongdongnan Basin. Influenced by the NW-trending slip faults, the western Qiongdongnan Basin developed E–W-trending faults, and was subsequently inverted at 30–21 Ma. The eastern sector was dominated by faults with NE orientation before 30 Ma, and thereafter with various orientations from NE, to EW and NW during the period 30–21 Ma; rifting display composite symmetric graben instead of the composite half graben or asymmetric graben in the west. The deep and thermal structures in turn are invoked to account for such deformation differences. The lithosphere of the eastern Qiongdongnan Basin is very hot and thinned because of mantle upwelling and heating, composite symmetric grabens formed and the faults varied with the basal plate boundary. However, the Southern and Northern Uplift area and middle of the central depression is located on normal lithosphere and formed half grabens or simple grabens. The lithosphere in the western sector is transitional from very hot to normal. Eventually, the Paleogene tectonic development of the Qiongdongnan Basin may be summarized into three stages with dominating influences, the retreat of the West Pacific subduction zone (44–36 Ma), slow Indochina block extrusion together with slab-pull of the Proto-South China Sea (36–30 Ma), rapid Indochina block extrusion together with the South China Sea seafloor spreading (30–21 Ma).     

中国南极维多利亚地新站气象特征分析

中国南极新站选择在维多利亚地特拉诺瓦湾难言岛上进行建设,其气象环境状况是开展科学研究的基础工作,也是考察队员生命安全保障的基础资料。因此,通过2013年度难言岛气象站的观测资料,结合附近地区历史气象资料,对该区域气象要素特征进行了分析。结果表明:(1)由于地处罗斯海与东南极冰盖交界处,难言岛年均气压为987.8 h Pa,与中山站非常接近;(2)年均温为-16.1℃,最低气温为-39.3℃,且冬季气温波动较大,标准差可达±6.0℃;(3)年均相对湿度为42.1%,年均比湿为0.6 g·kg-1且冬季比湿极低,空气非常干燥,降水量非常低;(4)盛行风向为WNW,5—7级风出现频率超过50%,但夏季风速明显低于冬季风速,一般不超过8.0 m·s~(-1),有利于中国在夏季开展工程建设和补给;(5)难言岛年总辐射量为3 342.8 MJ·m~(-2),明显低于中山站,但两站反照率非常接近。     

Chemical signature of intermediate water masses along western Portuguese margin

Although the circulation of intermediate water masses in the eastern North Atlantic remains poorly defined, the presence of fresher intermediate waters, the Sub-Artic (SAIW) and the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), as well the saline intermediate Mediterranean Water (MW), has been tracked using biogeochemical properties. Here we assess the hydrographic and chemical structures of intermediate waters along the western Portuguese margin by examining the vertical distributions and property-property plots of chemical tracers (oxygen and nutrients). AAIW was traced by low oxygen and high nutrients, while SAIW was recognized by low nutrients. The Mediterranean Water (MW) undercurrent is shown to spread towards the eastern flank of Gorringe bank. Concurrently, the fresher waters gained salt by direct incorporation of MW, while this water was enriched in nutrients on its way northward and westward owing, to a great extent, to the entrainment of an AAIW branch. The distributions of nutrients and apparent oxygen utilization are discussed in terms of regional ocean circulation. Our analysis suggests a circulation pattern of the various intermediate waters along the western Portuguese margin: MW extends all over the area, but its presence is more pronounced around cape St. Vincent; SAIW apparently moves southward, reaching the Gorringe bank region, and AAIW flows northward along the coast and around the bank.     

Present-day oxidative subsidence of organic soils and mitigation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,California, USA

Subsidence of organic soils in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta threatens sustainability of the California (USA) water supply system and agriculture. Land-surface elevation data were collected to assess present-day subsidence rates and evaluate rice as a land use for subsidence mitigation. To depict Delta-wide present-day rates of subsidence, the previously developed SUBCALC model was refined and calibrated using recent data for CO₂ emissions and land-surface elevation changes measured at extensometers. Land-surface elevation change data were evaluated relative to indirect estimates of subsidence and accretion using carbon and nitrogen flux data for rice cultivation. Extensometer and leveling data demonstrate seasonal variations in land-surface elevations associated with groundwater-level fluctuations and inelastic subsidence rates of 0.5–0.8 cm yr^–1. Calibration of the SUBCALC model indicated accuracy of ±0.10 cm yr^–1 where depth to groundwater, soil organic matter content and temperature are known. Regional estimates of subsidence range from <0.3 to >1.8 cm yr^–1. The primary uncertainty is the distribution of soil organic matter content which results in spatial averaging in the mapping of subsidence rates. Analysis of leveling and extensometer data in rice fields resulted in an estimated accretion rate of 0.02–0.8 cm yr^–1. These values generally agreed with indirect estimates based on carbon fluxes and nitrogen mineralization, thus preliminarily demonstrating that rice will stop or greatly reduce subsidence. Areas below elevations of –2 m are candidate areas for implementation of mitigation measures such as rice because there is active subsidence occurring at rates greater than 0.4 cm yr^–1.     

New stacked central configurations for the planar 5-body problem

A stacked central configuration in the n-body problem is one that has a proper subset of the n-bodies forming a central configuration. In this paper we study the case where three bodies with masses m ₁, m ₂, m ₃ (bodies 1, 2, 3) form an equilateral central configuration, and the other two with masses m ₄, m ₅ are symmetric with respect to the mediatrix of the segment joining 1 and 2, and they are above the triangle generated by {1, 2, 3}. We show the existence and non-existence of this kind of stacked central configurations for the planar 5-body problem.     

陕西黄土高原人工林土壤干层及形成原因

1 Introduction Abroad, a lot of research on soil water removal, seeping and evaporation has been done (Ole, 1998; Rapp, 2000). A seeping model of soil water was suggested (Yuin, 1998) and it was known that water removal is very slow in the unsaturated zon…     

Element sets for high-order Poincaré mapping of perturbed Keplerian motion

The propagation and Poincaré mapping of perturbed Keplerian motion is a key topic in Celestial Mechanics and Astrodynamics, e.g., to study the stability of orbits or design bounded relative trajectories. The high-order transfer map (HOTM) method enables efficient mapping of perturbed Keplerian orbits using the high-order Taylor expansion of a Poincaré or stroboscopic map. The HOTM is only accurate close to the expansion point and therefore the number of revolutions for which the map is accurate tends to be limited. The proper selection of coordinates is of key importance for improving the performance of the HOTM method. In this paper, we investigate the use of different element sets for expressing the high-order map in order to find the coordinates that perform best in terms of accuracy. A new set of elements is introduced that enables extremely accurate mapping of the state, even for high eccentricities and higher-order zonal perturbations. Finally, the high-order map is shown to be very useful for the determination and study of fixed points and center manifolds of Poincaré maps.