Water and nutrient fluxes off Northwest Africa

A historical data set is used to describe the coastal transition zone off Northwest Africa during spring 1973 and fall 1975, from 17° to 26°N, with special emphasis on the interaction between subtropical (North Atlantic Central Waters) and tropical (South Atlantic Central Waters) gyres. The near-surface geostrophic circulation, relative to 300 m, is quite complex. Major features are a large cyclonic pattern north of Cape Blanc (21°N) and offshore flow at the Cape Verde front. The large cyclone occurs in the region of most intense winds, and resembles a large meander of the baroclinic southward upwelling jet. The Cape Verde frontal system displays substantial interleaving that may partly originate as mesoscale features at the coastal upwelling front. Property–property diagrams show that the front is an effective barrier to all properties except temperature. The analysis of the Turner angle suggests that the frontal system is characterized by large heat horizontal diffusion as a result of intense double diffusion, which results in the smoothing of the temperature horizontal gradients. Nine cross-shore sections are used to calculate along-shore geostrophic water-mass and nutrient transports and to infer exchanges between the coastal transition zone and the deep ocean (import: deep ocean to transition zone; export: transition zone to deep ocean). These exchanges compare well with mean wind-induced transports and actual geostrophic cross-shore transport estimates. The region is divided into three areas: southern (18–21°N), central (21–23.5°N), and northern (23.5–26°N). In the northern area geostrophic import is roughly compensated with wind-induced export during both seasons. In the central area geostrophic import is greater than wind-induced export during spring, resulting in net import of both water (0.8 Sv) and nitrate (14 kmol s⁻¹), but during fall both factors again roughly cancel. In the southern area geostrophy and wind join to export water and nutrients during both seasons, they increase from 0.6 Sv and 3 kmol s⁻¹ during fall to 2.9 Sv and 53 kmol s⁻¹ during spring.     

Oxygen isotope composition of phenocrysts from Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island lavas: variation with fractional crystallization and evidence for assimilation

We have measured the δ¹⁸O values of the major phenocrysts (olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase) present in lavas from Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island. These islands, which result from the same mantle plume, have enriched radiogenic isotope ratios and are, therefore, prime candidates for an oxygen isotope signature that is distinct from that of MORB. Consistent differences between the δ¹⁸O values of olivine, pyroxene and feldspar in the Gough lavas show that the phenocrysts in the mafic Gough Island lavas are in oxygen isotope equilibrium. The olivines in lavas with SiO₂ <50 wt% have a mean δ¹⁸O value of 5.19‰, consistent with crystallization from a magma having the same oxygen isotope composition as MORB. Phenocrysts in all the Gough lavas show a systematic increase in δ¹⁸O value as silica content increases, which is consistent with closed-system fractional crystallization. The lack of enrichment in δ¹⁸O of the Gough magmas suggests that the mantle source contained <2% recycled sediment. In contrast, the Tristan lavas with SiO₂ >48 wt% contain phenocrysts which have δ¹⁸O values that are systematically ∼0.3‰ lower than their counterparts from Gough. We suggest that the parental mafic Tristan magmas were contaminated by material from the volcanic edifice that acquired low δ¹⁸O values by interaction with water at high temperatures. The highly porphyritic SiO₂-poor lavas show a negative correlation between olivine δ¹⁸O value and whole-rock silica content rather than the expected positive correlation. The minimum δ¹⁸O value occurs at an SiO₂ content of about 45 wt%. Below 45 wt% SiO₂, magmas evolved via a combination of assimilation, fractionational crystallization and crystal accumulation; above 45 wt% SiO₂, magmas appeared to have evolved via closed-system fractional crystallization. Received: 23 November 1998 / Accepted: 27 September 1999     

青岛市区夏季暑热指数初探

统计分析了青岛市区夏季 (6～ 9月 )与体感温度关系密切的最高气温、相对湿度和风速的气候概况 ;根据体感温度的计算型式和有关气象要素的分布特征 ,得出其经验计算公式 ;分布在不同区间内的体感温度对应着不同的暑热指数及户外人群的舒适感受。     

绿洲演变及其调控因素初析

绿洲是荒漠区适宜多种生物共同生息繁衍的地域。它通过人为干扰、气候波动和构造活动等因素的变化调控而发生演变。构造活动对绿洲演变的影响具有空间差异性和时间滞后性;气候波动则表现为区域相对一致性, 随时间发展的渐变性和过程的复杂性;人为干扰无论是空间上还是时段上都有很强的局限性, 但其发展迅速和时空不稳定性(社会原因)成为影响绿洲演变的调控因素, 同时也是人工干预绿洲演变, 实施永序管理的重要途径。     

Interplay of orbital forcing and tectonic pulses in the Cambrian Iberian platform, NE Spain

The stratigraphy of carbonate/shale couplets, cycles and cycle-stacking patterns in a Cambrian shallow water platform (Iberian Chains, NE Spain) are related to sea-level changes driven by orbital forcing and by tectonic pulses. The interplay of both effects can be discriminated in the Iberian fault-controlled platform, in which the tectonic activity can be analysed by accurate and detailed biostratigraphic correlations based on trilobite zonation. The stratigraphic hierarchy of rhythmically interbedded limestones and shales, in two coeval but structurally separated geodynamic settings, yields cycle ratios of 1.44 :1. This ratio is supported by time thickness and spectral analysis, which is based on a graphic method of analysis: the Map of Grey Lines. The cycle ratio seems to be evidence for orbital forcing by obliquity and precession cycles predicted for early Paleozoic time. Carbonate/shale couplets, the smallest rhythmic units recognisable in the field, represent short-term, periodic fluctuations in supply of terrigenous sediments and carbonate productivity of uncertain origin, which could be associated with one of several harmonics of the former orbital cycles. The pulsating tectonic activity was approximated by using a quantitative analysis of tectonically induced subsidence (Shaw method). Recurrence frequencies of tectonic pulses were estimated and dated by biostratigraphy. As a result, tectonic disturbances in the Cambrian Iberian platform show an episodic periodicity comparable to that of orbital eccentricity cycles, which could mask their recognition. Received: 15 November 1999 / Accepted: 9 February 2000     

二滩库区蓄水前地震活动本底研究

1991年 7月建成投测的二滩水库地震遥测台网 ,经过 7年的连续运行 ,为我们提供了宝贵的第一手资料。笔者根据这些地震记录资料 ,用多种地震学方法进行分析研究后发现 ,该区域内 1～ 2级地震是库区主要的地震活动 ;小震活动基本上符合 G- R震级频度关系式 ,正常背景下的平均 b值为 0 .58;1 .5级以上地震的平均月频度为 9次 ;其能量累计蠕变也具有较好的稳定增长关系 ;地震活动的时空分布与库区几条主要断裂有一定关系。可将它们作为研究蓄水后地震活动的参照本底     

Mytilus californianus as an indicator of heavy metals on the northwest coast of Baja California, Mexico.

Samples of Mytilus californianus were analyzed to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of Ag, Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn concentrations on the northwest coast of Baja California and to compare the results with levels reported for California, USA. The samples were collected at eight sites from the US-Mexican border to San Quintín, BC (300 km south of the border) in February and July 1982 and 1994. During both years, north-south gradients in the concentration of Ag and Pb were observed, with the highest values close to the US-Mexican border (Ag = 0.60-1.54 and Pb = 0.21-2.89 micrograms g-1) and the lowest in the southern part of the study area (Ag = 0.05-0.10 and Pb = not detectable-0.03 microgram g-1). The Ag and Pb gradients suggest that their distributions are affected by anthropogenic activities close to the US-Mexican border. South-north gradients in the concentration of Cd (minimum = 0.59-2.16 and maximum = 2.61-12.93 micrograms g-1), for both 1982 and 1994, were observed. The geographic annual means of Pb for California (average of six stations along the entire state) were significantly higher than those of this study (average of the eight sampling sites) in 1982 and 1994. Cu in California was significantly greater than that of this study only in 1994. Cluster analyses on all metals indicate three similar geographic zones in 1982 and 1994, suggesting a relative consistency in the processes that determine the spatial variability of the concentration of some metals in M. californianus on the northwest coast of Baja California.     

The requirements for stable metallothionein clusters examined using synthetic lobster domains.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are small, cysteine-rich proteins which detoxify xenobiotic metals such as cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg). In crustaceans and mammals they consist of two independent domains which are folded around metal-thiolate clusters. MT clusters of different origins, exhibiting distinct, highly conserved cysteine positions on their sequences, show differences in metal-cysteine coordination and reactivity. Lobster-MT, containing two Cd3 beta domains, is an important model for structure-function relationships among the clusters. The influence of (1) the position of the cysteine residues and (2) steric and electrostatic effects of neighboring amino acids on the folding and stability of MT cluster were investigated. Thus, the native lobster beta C and beta N domains (each having nine cysteines and binding three M2+ ions) and a modified domain Cd3 beta C-->N, in which the cysteines of the C-terminal domain were relocated to match the positions of those in the N-terminal domain, were chemically prepared and characterized. The synthetic native domains (Cd3 beta C and Cd3 beta N) were found to exhibit spectroscopic properties, metal-binding affinities and kinetic reactivity similar to the holo-protein. However, the modified Cd3 beta C-->N domain was unusually reactive and in the presence of Chelex, metal chelation resin, aggregated to a Cd5(beta C-->N)2 dimer, which exhibited unusual structure as observed by its 113Cd-nuclear magnetic resonance. These differences in structure and reactivity demonstrated that the requirements for formation of a stable Cd3S9 beta-cluster are more stringent than simply the sequential positions of the cysteines along the peptide chain and must include interactions involving neighboring, noncysteine amino acids.     

藻类中植物生长素的研究

植物生长素(auxins)是指能引起与(吲哚乙酸IAA)有同样作用的物质的总称(山田长雄等,1997),作为植物激素(phytohormones)的一种,它广泛存在于水生、陆生植物中,对其生产发育起着至关重要的生物活性作用。相对于高等植物,藻类植物生长素的研究起步较晚。本文综合了国内、外相关文献,对藻类中的植物生长素的研究作了较为全面系统的综述。     

僧帽牡蛎二倍体和三倍体卵母细胞发育的超微结构比较

本文利用电子显微镜技术观察僧帽牡蛎二倍体和三倍体初级卵母细胞发育过程中细胞和细胞器的超微结构变化,结果表明：二倍体和三倍体卵母细胞发育差异明显。在卵黄形成期,二倍体卵母细胞呈椭圆形,细胞核呈伪足状突起,核仁呈颗粒状聚合体,细胞器多发达,合成卵黄粒我,细胞膜外有生绒毛,卵母细胞生物合成旺盛、代谢活动强;而三倍体卵母细胞大都呈不规则形状,该仁小、致密,细胞器少且不发达,卵黄粒少,细胞膜外无微绒毛,卵母细胞生物合成及代谢弱。