Stable isotope-guided analysis of biomagnification profiles of arsenic species in a tropical mangrove ecosystem

We performed stable carbon and nitrogen-guided analyses of biomagnification profiles of arsenic (As) species, including total As, lipid-soluble As, eight water-soluble As compounds (arsenobetaine (AB), arsenocholine (AC), tetramethylarsonium ion (TETRA), trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), arsenate (As[V]), and arsenite (As[III])), and non-extracted As in a tropical mangrove ecosystem in the Ba Ria Vung Tau, South Vietnam. Arsenobetaine was the predominant As species (65-96% of water-soluble As). Simple linear regression slopes of log-transformed concentrations of total As, As fractions or individual As compounds on stable nitrogen isotopic ratio (δ15N) values are regarded as indices of biomagnification. In this ecosystem, lipid-soluble As (slope, 0.130) and AB (slope, 0.108) were significantly biomagnified through the food web; total As and other water-soluble As compounds were not. To our knowledge, this is one of the first reports on biomagnification profiles of As compounds from a tropical mangrove ecosystem.     

Convective instability and overstability in the sunspot umbra

Convective instability and overstability of a plane-parallel medium in the presence of a uniform vertical magnetic field is studied. We take into account both the effect of penetration of disturbances into sub-adiabatically stratified semi-infinite upper and lower layers, and the effect of thermal damping of disturbances introduced by the compressibility of the medium. If the degree of super-adiabaticity in temperature stratification in the middle layer is relatively large compared with that of sub-adiabaticity in the upper and lower layers, the range of physical conditions in which overstable convection occurs is very narrow. However, if it is not the case the range is rather wide. In the normal sunspot umbra, only disturbances with selected sizes in vertical dimension will be able to become overstable. The overstable convection might be a cause of some dynamical features (such as dots) in the sunspot umbra, but will not be the main contributor for transporting mechanical energy in the sunspot region.     

针对IPCC评估报告中海洋碳循环的疑问——δ13C收支平衡法的验证

 通过对比IPCC历次评估报告中全球碳循环的收支发现,尽管评估报告在估算各主要碳库及其间的通量时差别不大,但表层至中深层海水间溶解无机碳通量却存在巨大差异。利用δ¹³C的收支平衡检验了这一通量的适用范围,结果表明：IPCC 1996年和2007年评估报告对此通量估计过大,而1990年和2001年评估报告估计偏小。     

Subsurface thermal and hydrothermal characterization based on geothermal resources map, drill hole thermal gradients, Curie point depths and hypocenter distribution — Examples of Tohoku district, Japan

Subsurface thermal structure in Tohoku district are characterized by existing data such as geothermal resources maps, drill hole thermal gradients, Curie point depths and hypocenters distribution maps. The collected data are registered in a database system, then, compared in plan view, cross-section and bird's-eye pictures. The comparison indicates that subsurface temperatures extrapolated from drill hole thermal gradients are generally concordant to the Curie point depth, assumed to be 650 °C. Tohoku district is generally divided into 5 type areas; fore arc lowland, fore arc mountain country, Quaternary volcanic terrain, back arc lowland and back arc mountain country. The surface thermal manifestations in Quaternary volcanic terrain are mainly controlled by the magma chambers as heat sources, while, surface thermal features such as hot springs in non-volcanic areas are controlled by degrees of heat flows, and hydrothermal flows in permeable Cenozoic formations and along permeable fault zones.     

Implications for behavior of volatile elements during impacts—Zinc and copper systematics in sediments from the Ries impact structure and central European tektites

Moldavites are tektites genetically related to the Ries impact structure, located in Central Europe, but the source materials and the processes related to the chemical fractionation of moldavites are not fully constrained. To further understand moldavite genesis, the Cu and Zn abundances and isotope compositions were measured in a suite of tektites from four different substrewn fields (South Bohemia, Moravia, Cheb Basin, Lusatia) and chemically diverse sediments from the surroundings of the Ries impact structure. Moldavites are slightly depleted in Zn (~10–20%) and distinctly depleted in Cu (>90%) relative to supposed sedimentary precursors. Moreover, the moldavites show a wide range in δ⁶⁶Zn values between 1.7 and 3.7‰ (relative to JMC 3‐0749 Lyon) and δ⁶⁵Cu values between 1.6 and 12.5‰ (relative to NIST SRM 976) and are thus enriched in heavy isotopes relative to their possible parent sedimentary sources (δ⁶⁶Zn = ?0.07 to +0.64‰; δ⁶⁵Cu = ?0.4 to +0.7‰). In particular, the Cheb Basin moldavites show some of the highest δ⁶⁵Cu values (up to 12.5‰) ever observed in natural samples. The relative magnitude of isotope fractionation for Cu and Zn seen here is opposite to oxygen‐poor environments such as the Moon where Zn is significantly more isotopically fractionated than Cu. One possibility is that monovalent Cu diffuses faster than divalent Zn in the reduced melt and diffusion will not affect the extent of Zn isotope fractionation. These observations imply that the capability of forming a redox environment may aid in volatilizing some elements, accompanied by isotope fractionation, during the impact process. The greater extent of elemental depletion, coupled with isotope fractionation of more refractory Cu relative to Zn, may also hinge on the presence of carbonyl species of transition metals and electromagnetic charge, which could exist in the impact‐induced high‐velocity jet of vapor and melts.     

Mathematical Derivation of Spatially-Averaged Momentum Equations for an Urban Canopy Model Using Underlying Concepts of the Immersed Boundary Method

We propose a new approach to derive spatially-averaged momentum equations for an urban canopy model that resolves buildings vertically and not horizontally. First, in order to mathematically describe the actual momentum field as a completely continuous field, the underling concepts of the immersed boundary method are employed, where we assume that (i) the entire simulation space, including that occupied by buildings, is filled with a fluid, and (ii) an external body force field exists that reduces the wind speed to zero at all positions coinciding with the space occupied by the buildings. Then, in order to obtain the required spatially-averaged momentum equations in a self-consistent manner, a spatial-averaging operation is applied to the Navier–Stokes equations that include a term representing the external force field. The applied spatial-averaging operation is equivalent to the conventional spatial filtering operation used in large-eddy simulations. To examine the significance of the subgrid-scale (SGS) stresses of the spatially-averaged momentum equations, a numerical simulation is performed for a flow around a regular array of cubical blocks with a grid resolution that is sufficient to resolve the blocks. By estimating the individual terms in the spatially-averaged momentum equations using the simulation results, we show that the SGS stresses contribute significantly to the spatially-averaged momentum budget, and therefore they should not be neglected in urban canopy modelling.