Environmental records of lacustrine sediments in different time scales: Sediment grain size as an example

Understanding the past is the key to know thepresent and to predict the future. As a core project ofthe International Geosphere Biosphere Program, PastGlobal Changes (PAGES) aims to reconstruct theevolution history of global climate, global environ-ment and global ecosystem with resort to all kinds ofnatural records, so as to reveal the change rules(change processes, change amplitude and change rate)of the global environment and thus provide scientificbasis for predicting climate changes p…     

Changes in biodiversity of the extremely polluted Golden Horn Estuary following the improvements in water quality

Long-term biological data supported by physicochemical parameters were evaluated to investigate the biodiversity of the Golden Horn Estuary from the past to the present. Limited observations dating back to 60 years ago indicated the existence of a diverse community in this small estuary. Unfortunately, in parallel with the increase in unplanned settlements and industry around the Golden Horn, pollution stress increased since the 1960s. Preliminary studies in the 1990s indicated survival of only a couple of pollution-resistant species, in the relatively cleaner lower estuary. Following the intensification of rehabilitation studies in 1998 and particularly after the opening of the floating bridge at the mid estuary; a remarkable day-by-day recovery in marine life has begun with the improving water quality. Nutrient concentrations decreased markedly; while water clarity significantly increased. Fecal coliform values decreased 10(3) fold. Phytoplankton composition changed and dense blooms of eukaryotic phytoplankters frequently occurred. Hydrogen sulfide almost completely disappeared even during the warmest periods of the year and dissolved oxygen concentrations increased. All results clearly depicted that the Golden Horn ecosystem shifted to eutrophic conditions from an anoxic environment. SCUBA dives in 2002, documented the level of diversification of life in the Golden Horn. All appropriate substratums were intensely covered by macrobenthic forms until the Halic Bridge and filter feeders dominated the plankton-rich ecosystem. Achieving the diversity of 1940s is not possible since the Black and Marmara seas, influencing water quality of the Golden Horn, are also suffering from anthropogenic impacts and are far less diverse than their rich diversity in 1940s. However, the Golden Horn is a good example that even the most polluted ecosystems can recover when appropriate measures are taken.     

Detection and quantification of local anthropogenic and regional climatic transient signals in temperature logs from Czechia and Slovenia

The paper reports on detection and quantification of the impact of local anthropogenic structures and regional climatic changes on subsurface temperature field. The analyzed temperature records were obtained by temperature monitoring in a borehole in Prague-Spo?ilov (Czechia) and by repeated logging of a borehole in ?empeter (Slovenia). The observed data were compared with temperatures yielded by mathematical 3D time-variable geothermal models of the boreholes’ sites with the aim to decompose the observed transient component of the subsurface temperature into the part affected by construction of new buildings and other anthropogenic structures in surroundings of the boreholes and into the part affected by the ground surface temperature warming due to the surface air temperature rise. A direct human impact on the subsurface temperature warming was proved and contributions of individual anthropogenic structures to this change were evaluated. In the case of Spo?ilov, where the mean annual warming rate reached 0.034°C per year at the depth of 38.3?m during the period 1993–2008, it turned out that about half of the observed warming can be attributed to the air (ground) surface temperature change and half to the human activity on the surface in the immediate vicinity of the borehole. The situation is similar in ?empeter, where the effect of the recently built surface anthropogenic structures is detectable down to the depth of 80?m and the share of the anthropogenic signal on the non-stationary component of the observed subsurface temperature amounts to 30% at the depth of 50?m.     

Estimation of relative humidity based on artificial neural network approach in the Aegean Region of Turkey

The aim of this study is to estimate the monthly mean relative humidity (MRH) values in the Aegean Region of Turkey with the help of the topographical and meteorological parameters based on artificial neural network (ANN) approach. The monthly MRH values were calculated from the measurement in the meteorological observing stations established in Izmir, Mugla, Aydin, Denizli, Usak, Manisa, Kutahya and Afyonkarahisar provinces between 2000 and 2006. Latitude, longitude, altitude, precipitation and months of the year were used in the input layer of the ANN network, while the MRH was used in output layer of the network. The ANN model was developed using MATLAB software, and then actual values were compared with those obtained by ANN and multi-linear regression methods. It seemed that the obtained values were in the acceptable error limits. It is concluded that the determination of relative humidity values is possible at any target point of the region where the measurement cannot be performed.     

草温、0cm地温、气温间变化规律分析

利用2008年信阳、郑州、南阳、商丘4个国家基本(准)站草温、0 cm地温和气温资料,分析了不同季节(冬、夏)、不同天气条件下草温、0 cm地温、气温的变化关系,结果表明:冬季无积雪和夏季的晴天,草温变化的振幅最大,位相靠前,0 cm地温居中,气温变幅最小;冬季有积雪时,0 cm地温在0 ℃左右变动,草温和气温表现出一定的变化幅度.从全年月平均值变化来看,0 cm地温>草温>气温;逐月极端最高值,0 cm地温>草温>气温;逐月极端最低值,草温＜0 cm地温＜气温.用草温比用0 cm地温和气温能更好地判定霜的出现.     

The growth of central and satellite galaxies in cosmological smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations

We examine the accretion and merger histories of central and satellite galaxies in a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) cosmological simulation that resolves galaxies down to  7 × 10⁹ M_⊙  . Most friends-of-friends haloes in the simulation have a distinct central galaxy, typically 2–5 times more massive than the most massive satellite. As expected, satellites have systematically higher assembly redshifts than central galaxies of the same baryonic mass, and satellites in more massive haloes form earlier. However, contrary to the simplest expectations, satellite galaxies continue to accrete gas and convert it to stars; the gas accretion declines steadily over a period of 0.5–1 Gyr after the satellite halo merges with a larger parent halo. Satellites in a cluster mass halo eventually begin to lose baryonic mass. Typically, satellites in our simulation are 0.1–0.2 mag bluer than in models that assume no gas accretion on to satellites after a halo merger. Since   z = 1  , 27 per cent of central galaxies (above  3 × 10¹⁰ M_⊙  ) and 22 per cent of present-day satellite galaxies have merged with a smaller system above a 1:4 mass ratio; about half of the satellite mergers occurred after the galaxy became a satellite and half before. In effect, satellite galaxies can remain 'central' objects of halo substructures, with continuing accretion and mergers, making the transition in assembly histories and physical properties a gradual one. Implementing such a gradual transformation in semi-analytic models would improve their agreement with observed colour distributions of satellite galaxies in groups and with the observed colour dependence of galaxy clustering.     

Distribution and significance of novel low molecular weight sterenes in an immature evaporitic sediment from the Jinxian Sag,North China

An unusual series of C₂₂–C₂₇ monounsaturated sterenes and C₂₄–C₃₀ tetracyclic terpanes (17,21-secohopanes) were detected in relatively high concentrations in an immature evaporitic marl sediment of the Jinxian Sag, Bohai Bay Basin, North China. The site of unsaturation in these novel sterenes is assigned tentatively to the D ring on the basis of mass spectral interpretation, which also distinguishes them from reported unsaturated sterenes. Other hydrocarbon biomarker or stable isotope characteristics are indicative of microbial (e.g. methyl hopanes), phytoplankton or higher plant (depleted δ¹³C values of isoprenoids and hopanes) inputs and an anoxic carbonate depositional environment (hexacyclic hopanes; tetracyclic terpanes). The hydrocarbon composition showed no obvious biodegradation and the relatively high concentration of unsaturated terpenoids (e.g. gammacerene) and low values of other established maturity parameters (T_s/T_m = 0.23; R_o = 0.44%; T_max = 417 °C), are consistent with sediments of low maturity. The novel, low molecular weight sterenes and the tetracyclic terpanes may be early diagenetic products of microbial sources in a carbonate environment.     

First evidence of Campanian radiolarians in Turkey and implications for the tectonic setting of the Upper Antalya Nappes

The definition and inventory of the upper units of the Antalya Nappes or “Calcareous Antalya Nappes” (CAN) are still a matter of controversies and often conflicting interpretations. In the Gedeller type locality, we logged a new succession that sheds light on the detailed stratigraphy of the Upper Antalya Nappes. The lower part of the series corresponds to the uppermost part of the Kemer Gorge Nappe and is overthrust by the Ordovician Seydişehir Formation of the Tahtalı Dağ Nappe. The newly described Gedeller Formation belongs to the Kemer Gorge Nappe and is represented by Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Scaglia-type pelagic limestones, which yielded radiolarians of the Amphipyndax pseudoconulus Zone. It is demonstrated that the “Calcareous Antalya Nappes” are composed of three different nappes, the Kemer Gorge, Bakırlı and the Tahtalı Dağ nappes, all of them belonging to the Upper Antalya Nappes system.     

Search for New Parent Bodies of Meteoroid Streams Among Comets. I. Showers of Comets 126P/1996 P1 and 161P/2004 V2 with Radiants on Southern Sky

We deal with theoretical meteoroid streams the parent bodies of which are two Halley-type comets in orbits situated at a relatively large distance from the orbit of Earth: 126P/1996 P1 and 161P/2004 V2. For two perihelion passages of each comet in the far past, we model the theoretical stream and follow its dynamical evolution until the present. We predict the characteristics of potential meteor showers according to the dynamical properties of theoretical particles currently approaching the orbit of the Earth. Our dynamical study reveals that the comet 161P/2004 V2 could have an associated Earth-observable meteor shower, although no significant number of theoretical particles are identified with real, photographic, video, or radar meteors. However, the mean radiant of the shower is predicted on the southern sky (its declination is about −23°) where a relatively low number of real meteors has been detected and, therefore, recorded in the databases used. The shower of 161P has a compact radiant area and a relatively large geocentric velocity of ∼53 km s⁻¹. A significant fraction of particles assumed to be released from comet 126P also cross the Earth’s orbit and, eventually, could be observed as meteors. However, their radiant area is largely dispersed (declination of radiants spans from about +60° to the south pole) and, therefore, mixed with the sporadic meteor background. An identification with real meteors is practically impossible.     

Hydromechanical behavior of unsaturated soil with different initial densities over a wide suction range

Acta Geotechnica - Many civil engineering projects are related to hydromechanical behavior of unsaturated soils over a wide suction range, which was investigated by imposing suctions on clayey silt...