Transition Periods Between Sea Ice Concentration and Sea Surface Air Temperature in the Arctic Revealed by an Abnormal Running Correlation

This study used the synthetic running correlation coefficient calculation method to calculate the running correlation coefficients between the daily sea ice concentration(SIC) and sea surface air temperature(SSAT) in the Beaufort-Chukchi-East Siberian-Laptev Sea(BCEL Sea), Kara Sea and southern Chukchi Sea, with an aim to understand and measure the seasonally occurring changes in the Arctic climate system. The similarities and differences among these three regions were also discussed. There are periods in spring and autumn when the changes in SIC and SSAT are not synchronized, which is a result of the seasonally occurring variation in the climate system. These periods are referred to as transition periods. Spring transition periods can be found in all three regions, and the start and end dates of these periods have advancing trends. The multiyear average duration of the spring transition periods in the BCEL Sea, Kara Sea and southern Chukchi Sea is 74 days, 57 days and 34 days, respectively. In autumn, transition periods exist in only the southern Chukchi Sea, with a multiyear average duration of only 16 days. Moreover, in the Kara Sea, positive correlation events can be found in some years, which are caused by weather time scale processes.     

Characterization of Turbot(Scophthalmus maximus) Skin and the Extracted Acid-Soluble Collagen

The biochemical composition of the turbot skin was investigated. The moisture level of the skin was found to be 51.4%. Based on dry matter content, there were relatively high protein(82.1%) and lipid(13.1%) concentrations in the turbot skin. Mineral element analysis revealed that the turbot skin had high Ca content(2069.0 mg kg^-1), and the concentrations of toxic heavy metals Hg and Pb were less than 0.005 mg kg^-1, which indicates that the turbot skin is a safe resource for collagen production. The sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE) analysis showed that acid-soluble collagen(ASC) extracted from the turbot skin was type-I collagen. The imino acid content of the ASC was 241.6 per 1000 amino acids, which suggests a relatively high denaturation temperature. The Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectra of ASC reflected a highly stable structure, and the measured denaturation temperature of ASC was 29.5℃, which is higher than those from many temperate fishes. ASC was the most soluble at pH 4.0, and when the pH values were below or above 4.0, the solubility decreased rapidly. The ASC exhibited a relatively high solubility when NaCl concentration was lower than 2%. These results show that turbo skin can be employed as a source for producing collagen with high quality.     

Characteristics of Sulfide Removal by Hydrogenovibrio thermophilus Strain TT in Mariculture System

To biologically inhibit the production of highly toxic sulfide in the aquaculture area, one bacterium, designated as Hydrogenovibrio thermophilus strain TT, was isolated from sediment in Jiaozhou Bay, China. The strain was found to be microaerobic mixtrophic, employing both carbon dioxide and organic carbons, e.g. citrate, lactate, glucose, and peptone as carbon sources. When it oxidized the sulfide and thiosulfate, oxygen was the optimal electron acceptor, followed by nitrite and nitrate, which benefited to removal of sulfide under low-oxygen mariculture environment. In addition, the strain TT exhibited remarkable tolerance of sulfide and thiosulfate in seawater, and it was able to oxidize 18.52 mmol L~(-1) S~(2-) in 12 h or 45 mmol L~(-1) S_2O_3~(2-) in 24 h at initial pH 7.0-9.0, 30-40℃. Therefore, this strain showed a quite promising application for biological remediation of sulfide-contaminated mariculture system.     

Comparisons of Salinity Adaptation in Terms of Growth,Body Composition,and Energy Budget in Juveniles of Rainbow and Steelhead Trouts (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

This study examined the effect of different salinities(0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30) on the growth performance and energy budget of juveniles of two different ecotypes of Oncorhynchus mykiss, landlocked rainbow trout and anadromous steelhead trout. In the 42 d experiment, fish were cultured in three replicate tanks per salinity treatment(eight fish per tank). At the end of the experiment, the growth of rainbow and steelhead trouts was significantly higher at salinities of 5 and 10, respectively, than at all other salinities. The protein, lipid and energy content of both ecotypes declined with the increase of salinity. Based on their energy budgets, the percentage of energy consumed for growth by rainbow and steelhead trouts were significantly higher at salinities of 5(34.00% ±1.69%) and 10(43.76% ± 1.29%), respectively, than at all other salinities. The percentage of energy consumed for respiration by rainbow and steelhead trouts was lower at salinities of 5(54.90% ± 1.77%) and 10(46.73% ± 0.62%), respectively, than at all other salinities. Our results indicated that the salinity adaptation ability of juvenile steelhead trout was slightly better than that of juvenile rainbow trout, and salinities of 10 and 5, respectively, were most suitable for growth of these two fishes.     

Isotopic evidence for the moisture origin and influencing factors at Urumqi Glacier No.1 in upstream Urumqi River Basin,eastern Tianshan Mountains

The stable isotope has been extensively applied as an effective tracer especially in precipitation. In glacierized area of arid northwest China, temperature is widely considered to be a major factor affecting isotopes in precipitation, while the influences of precipitation amount, relative humidity and other meteorological parameters are still not clear. Based on analyses on stable isotope values of water samples and NCEP/NCAR(National Centers of Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA) re-analysis data, the moisture source and characteristics of isotopes in the precipitation, meltwater and river water isotopes at Urumqi Glacier No.1 of the upstream Urumqi River Basin, eastern Tianshan Mountains from spring to autumn during four years(from 2008 to 2011) was studied. Results indicated that meltwater are the main source of water for the upper Urumqi River. Seasonal variation of δ~(18) O in precipitation demonstrated that δ18 O was more enriched in summer and depleted in spring and autumn. Temperature was positively correlated with isotopes, while precipitation amount and relative humidity was negatively correlated with isotopes. The water vapor was affected by westerly air mass and regional water vapor cycle. Meanwhile, back trajectory clustering analyses showed that the moisture mainly from Europe and central Asia. The moisture was more likely to be locally sourced with the ratio was 46.8%～52.1%.     

GIS-based landslide susceptibility mapping using hybrid integration approaches of fractal dimension with index of entropy and support vector machine

The loess area in the northern part of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, China is a region with frequently landslide occurrences. The main aim of this study is to quantitatively predict the extent of landslides using the index of entropy model(IOE), the support vector machine model(SVM) and two hybrid models namely the F-IOE model and the F-SVM model constructed by fractal dimension. First, a total of 179 landslides were identified and landslide inventory map was produced, with 70%(125) of the landslides which was optimized by 10-fold crossvalidation being used for training purpose and the remaining 30%(54) of landslides being used for validation purpose. Subsequently, slope angle, slope aspect, altitude, rainfall, plan curvature, distance to rivers, land use, distance to roads, distance to faults, normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI), lithology, and profile curvature were considered as landslide conditioning factors and all factor layers were resampled to a uniform resolution. Then the information gain ratio of each conditioning factors was evaluated. Next, the fractal dimension for each conditioning factors was calculated and the training dataset was used to build four landslide susceptibility models. In the end, the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves and three statistical indexes involving positive predictive rate(PPR), negative predictive rate(NPR) and accuracy(ACC) were applied to validate and compare the performance of these four models. The results showed that the F-SVM model had the highest PPR, NPR, ACC and AUC values for training and validation datasets, respectively, followed by the F-IOE model.Finally, it is concluded that the F-SVM model performed best in all models, the hybrid model built by fractal dimension has advantages than original model, and can provide reference for local landslide prevention and decision making.     

Soil erosion of unpaved loess roads subjected to an extreme rainstorm event: a case study of the Jiuyuangou watershed on the Loess Plateau,China

Rainfall can cause serious soil loss in the Loess Plateau hilly and gully region, but little focus has been placed on the extreme rainstorm effects on unpaved loess road soil erosion. A field survey method was used to investigate the erosional effects of the "7·26" heavy rainfall event on unpaved loess roads in the Jiuyuangou watershed of the Loess Plateau, China. The results showed that the average and maximum widths of the eroded gullies that formed on the unpaved roads were 0.65-1.48 m and 1.00-3.60 m, respectively. The average and maximum depths of theeroded gullies were 0.42-1.13 m and 0.75-4.30 m, respectively. The average width-to-depth ratio was 1.31, indicating that the widening effect was greater than the downcutting effect in the eroded gullies. In addition, the gully density ranged from 0.07 to 0.29 m m~(-2), and the road surface dissection degree ranged from 0.03 to 0.41 km~2 km~(-2). Eroded gullies generally developed at the slope toe of the cut bank side. The average eroded gully width and depth at turns in the road were 1.47-2.64 times and 1.30-3.47 times greater, respectively, than those in other road sections. The road erosion modulus increased from the upper section to the lower section of the roads. The average road erosion modulus of the study catchment was 235,000 t km~(-2). Turns in the road were associated with collapses, sinkholes and other gravitational erosion phenomena. The amount of road erosion under extreme rainfall conditions is mainly related to the interactions among road length, width, slope and soil bulk density. Our results provide a useful reference for developing further measures for preventing road erosion on the Loess Plateau.     

Evaluation of the integrated multi-satellite retrievals for global precipitation measurement over the Tibetan Plateau

The availability of high-resolution satellite precipitation measurement products provides an opportunity to monitor precipitation over large and complex terrain and thus accurately evaluate the climatic, hydrological and ecological conditions in those regions. The Global Precipitation Measurement(GPM) mission is an important new program designed for global satellite precipitation estimation, but little information has been reported on the applicability of the GPM’s products for the Tibetan Plateau(TP). The object of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of the Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM(IMERG) Final Run product under different terrain and climate conditions over the TP by using 78 ground gauges from April 2014 to December 2017. The results showed the following:(1) the 3-year average daily precipitation estimation in the IMERG agrees well with the rain gauge observations(R~2=0.58, P0.01), and IMERG also has a considerable ability to detect precipitation, as indicated by a high probability of detection(78%-98%) and critical success index(65%-85%);(2) IMERG performed better at altitudes from 3000 m to 4000 m with a small relative bias(RB) of 6.4%. Precipitation change was not significantly affected by local relief;(3) the climate system of the TP was divided into four climate groups with a total of 12 climate types based on the K?ppen climate classification system, and IMERG performed well in all climate types with the exception of the arid-desert-cold climate(Bwk) type. Furthermore, although IMERG showed the potential to detect snowfall, it still exhibits deficiencies in identifying light and moderate snow. These results indicate that IMERG could provide more accurate precipitation data if its retrieval algorithm was improved for complex terrain and arid regions.     

Mechanism of toppling and deformation in hard rock slope: a case of bank slope of Hydropower Station,Qinghai Province,China

Recently, various toppling slopes have emerged with the development of hydropower projects in the western mountainous regions of China. The slope on the right bank of the Laxiwa Hydropower Station, located on the mainstream of the Yellow River in the Qinghai Province of Northwest China, is a typical hard rock slope. Further, its deformation characteristics are different from those of common natural hard rock toppling. Because this slope is located close to the dam of the hydropower station, its deformation mechanism has a practical significance. Based on detailed geological engineering surveys, four stages of deformation have been identified using discrete element numerical software and geological engineering analysis methods, including toppling creep, initial toppling deformation, intensified toppling deformation, and current slope formation. The spatial and time-related deformation of this site also exhibited four stages, including initial toppling, toppling development, intensification of toppling, and disintegration and collapse. Subsequently, the mechanism of toppling and deformation of the bank slope were studied. The results of this study exhibit important reference value for developing the prevention–control design of toppling and for ensuring operational safety in the hydropower reservoir area.     

Dynamic changes in lakes in the Hoh Xil region before and after the 2011 outburst of Zonag Lake

Zonag, Kusai, Hedin Noel and Yanhu Lakes are independent inland lakes in the Hoh Xil region on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In September2011, Zonag Lake burst after the water level had increased for many years. Floods flowed through Kusai and Hedin Noel Lakes into Yanhu Lake; since then, the four small endorheic catchments merged into one larger catchment. This hydrological process caused the rapid shrinkage of Zonag Lake and continuous expansion of Yanhu Lake. In this study,based on satellite images, meteorological data and field investigations, we examined the dynamic changes in the four lakes and analyzed the influencing factors. The results showed that before 2011, the trends in the four lake areas were similar and displayed several stages. The change in the area of Zonag Lake corresponded well to the change in annual precipitation(AP), but the magnitude of the change was less than that of a non-glacier-fed lake. Although increased precipitation was the dominant factor that caused Zonag Lake to expand, increased glacier melting and permafrost thawing due to climate warming also had significant effects. After the 2011 outburst of Zonag Lake, due to the increasing AP and accelerating glacier melting, the increases in water volume of the three lakes were absorbed by Yanhu Lake, and Yanhu Lake expanded considerably. According to the rapid growth rates in water level and lake area, Yanhu Lake is likely to burst in 1-2 years.