Holocene transgression of the Rhine river mouth area,The Netherlands/Southern North Sea: palaeogeography and sequence stratigraphy

This study presents a detailed reconstruction of the palaeogeography of the Rhine valley (western Netherlands) during the Holocene transgression with systems tracts placed in a precise sea‐level context. This approach permits comparison of actual versus conceptual boundaries of the lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts. The inland position of the highstand Rhine river mouth on a wide, low‐gradient continental shelf meant that base‐level changes were the dominant control on sedimentation for a relatively short period of the last glacial cycle. Systems in such inland positions predominantly record changes in the balance between river discharge and sediment load, and preserve excellent records of climatic changes or other catchment‐induced forcing. It is shown here that the transgressive systems tract‐part of the coastal prism formed in three stages: (i) the millennium before 8·45 ka bp , when the area was dominated by fluvial environments with extensive wetlands; (ii) the millennium after 8·45 ka, characterized by strong erosion, increasing tidal amplitudes and bay‐head delta development; and (iii) the period between 7·5 and 6·3 ka bp when the Rhine avulsed multiple times and the maximum flooding surface formed. The diachroneity of the transgressive surface is strongly suppressed because of a pulse of accelerated sea‐level rise at 8·45 ka bp . That event not only had a strong effect on preservation, but has circum‐oceanic stratigraphical relevance as it divides the early and middle Holocene parts of coastal successions worldwide. The palaeogeographical reconstruction offers a unique full spatial–temporal view on the coastal and fluvial dynamics of a major river mouth under brief rapid forced transgression. This reconstruction is of relevance for Holocene and ancient transgressive systems worldwide, and for next‐century natural coasts that are predicted to experience a 1 m sea‐level rise.     

Projections of ocean climate for northwestern Pacific Ocean

The long-term adjustment processes of atmosphere and ocean in response to gradually increased atmospheric CO2 concentration have been analyzed in 70 and 140a integrations with NCAR fully-coupled climate system model (CSM). In these experiments the CO2 concentration has been increased to double and quadruples the initial concentration, respectively. After 70a, at the time of CO2 doubling, the model predicts surface air temperature rises by 1.2 and 1.5K for the globe and the northwestern Pacific Ocean, respectively. The behavior of the quadrupling run is similar: each global and regional mean surface air temperatures increase by 2.8 and 3.0K at the time of CO2 quadrupling. From the experiments, surface air temperature changes in the northwestern Pacific Ocean will be more distinctive compared with the global average, mainly due to exceptionally large warming and sea level change near the entrance of the Kuroshio extension.     

Geology and Hydrothermal Alteration of the Milyang Pyrophyllite Deposit, Southeast Korea

Abstract: The Milyang pyrophyllite deposit, which is embedded in the Late Cretaceous Yuchon Group of the Kyongsang Supergroup, is one of the largest hydrothermal clay deposits in the Kyongsang basin, southeast Korea. Host rocks of the deposit are porphyritic andesite lava and minor andesitic lapilli tuff. In the Milyang district, a hydrothermally altered zone is about 2 × 3 km in extent; we can recognize the concentric arrangement of advanced argillic, propylitic, and sericitic alteration zones from the central to peripheral parts of the zone. The Milyang pyrophyllite deposit forms a part of the advanced argillic alteration zone. The Milyang pyrophyllite deposit is subdivided into the following four zones based on mineral assemblages: the pyrophyllite zones 1, 2, 3, and the silicified zone. The pyrophyllite zone 1, which occupies the central part of the deposit, comprises mainly pyrophyllite, kaolinite, and diaspore without quartz. Diaspore nodules often concentrate in beds 40–50 cm thick. Andalusite, dumortierite, and tourmaline locally occur as network veins, crack‐filler, or small spherulitic spots. The Al₂O₃ content of the ore ranges from 27 to 36 wt%. The pyrophyllite zone 2, which constitutes a major part of the deposit, comprises mainly pyrophyllite, kaolinite, and quartz. The Al₂O₃ content of the ore ranges from 15 to 24 wt%. The pyro‐phyllite zone 3 is the hematite‐rich marginal facies of the deposit. The silicified zone, which occurs as beds and septa, is mostly composed of quartz with minor pyrophyllite and kaolinite; the SiO₂ contents range from 79 to 90 wt%. Comparing chemical compositions of the high‐Al ores with those of unaltered host andesite, the Fe, Ca, alkalis, HFSE, and HREE contents are significantly depleted, whereas S, B, As, Sr, and LREE are enriched. The hydrothermal alteration of the Milyang pyrophyllite deposit can be classified into the following four stages: 1) extensive sericitic and propylitic alteration, 2) medium‐temperature (200–250°C) advanced argillic alteration, 3) high‐temperature (250–350°C or more) advanced argillic alteration, and 4) retrograde low‐temperature alteration. The heat and some volatile components such as B and S would be derived from the Pulguksa Granite intruded underneath the deposit.     

沙尘分析及等离子空气清洁系统沙尘去除效果的评价

本研究对在中国和韩国采集的沙尘的粒径分布及质量浓度进行了测定,使用黄沙标准物质对基于静电沉降原理的等离子空气清洁系统的去除沙尘效率进行了评价。本研究所使用的黄沙采集于北京和汉城,其粒径中值在7.0~80μm之间,浓度范围为300~1462μg·m^-3。在单通道测试中,沙尘去除效果随粒径增大和流速降低而增加。系统速度为1.0m·s^-1时,去除率大于80%。在27m2的房间中,进行多通道测试时,浓度为300μg·m^-3的大气颗粒物仅用10min即可降至150μg·m^-3。因此,等离子空气清洁系统能够有效地去除沙尘及保持室内空气质量。     

Effects of Trichoderma harzianum YC_(459) and soil types on seed germination and seedling growth in rock slope restoration

We carried out experiments with various concentrations of Trichoderma harzianum YC459 in different soil types(forest soil, mixed soil,merchantable soil, and leaf mold soil) to evaluate its effect on seed germination and seedling establishment of four species(Festuca arundinacea Schreb., Dianthus barbatus var. asiaticus Nakai,Lespedeza cyrtobotrya Miq., and Parthenocissus tricuspidata Planch) for rock slope restoration. We also investigated the use of drilled slanted holes on the rock slopes for seedling establishment. The results showed that T. harzianum concentration had significant effects on seed germination, seedling growth, and seedling survival for all the species with different soil types. Seed germination and survival rates peaked at 5% T. harzianum concentration with leaf mold soil and decreased as T. harzianum concentration increased from 5% to 10%. Seedling survival rates of all four species were generally lowest at 0% T. harzianum concentration in all soil types.The height of F. arundinacea and L. cyrtobotrya peaked at 5% T. harzianum concentration whereas that of D. barbatus and P. tricuspidata peaked at 10%T. harzianum concentration. We concluded that 5% T. harzianum concentration with leaf mold soil is appropriate for seed germination and seedling survival rates of most species, thus enhancing seedling establishment. Practical application of the findings of this study will contribute in the vegetation restoration of steep rocks in mountain environments.     

Evaluation of geochemical behavior and heavy metal distribution of sediments：The case study of the Tirumalairajan river estuary,southeast coast of India

The purpose of this study was to assess the chemical partitioning of selected heavy metals(Fe,Mn,Cu,Zn,Pb,Cr,Co and Ni) in 10 surface sediments at Tirumalairajan River Estuary in the southeastern coast of India.A five-step sequential extraction technique was used to assess the environmental status of heavy metals.Most of metals were considered to be immobile due to the high availability in the residual fraction of heavy metals.The sediments of Tirumalairajan River estuary had not been polluted by heavy metals,and they didn’t pose any high ecological risk.The seasonal variations of heavy metals were slightly higher in summer than in monsoon season.Factor analysis was also carned out to understand the associations of metals in different fractions with sand,silt,clay,organic matter,pH,salinity and other metals.The relationship between the Q-mode and R-mode cluster analyses was useful for identifying the pollution levels in both seasons.It was proved that the enrichment of heavy metals was related with geogenic and anthropogenic sources.The information on total metal concentrations in sediments was not sufficient for assessing the metal behavior in the environment,but the sequential extraction technique was more effective in estimating the environmental impact of contaminated sediments.     

Global parameter estimation of the Cochlodinium polykrikoides model using bioassay data

Cochlodinium polykrikoides is a notoriously harmful algal species that inflicts severe damage on the aquacultures of the coastal seas of Korea and Japan. Information on their expected movement tracks and boundaries of influence is very useful and important for the effective establishment of a reduction plan. In general, the information is supported by a red-tide(a.k.a algal bloom) model. The performance of the model is highly dependent on the accuracy of parameters, which are the coefficients of functions approximating the biological growth and loss patterns of the C. polykrikoides. These parameters have been estimated using the bioassay data composed of growth-limiting factor and net growth rate value pairs. In the case of the C. polykrikoides, the parameters are different from each other in accordance with the used data because the bioassay data are sufficient compared to the other algal species. The parameters estimated by one specific dataset can be viewed as locally-optimized because they are adjusted only by that dataset. In cases where the other one data set is used, the estimation error might be considerable. In this study, the parameters are estimated by all available data sets without the use of only one specific data set and thus can be considered globally optimized. The cost function for the optimization is defined as the integrated mean squared estimation error, i.e., the difference between the values of the experimental and estimated rates. Based on quantitative error analysis, the root-mean squared errors of the global parameters show smaller values, approximately 25%–50%, than the values of the local parameters. In addition, bias is removed completely in the case of the globally estimated parameters. The parameter sets can be used as the reference default values of a red-tide model because they are optimal and representative. However, additional tuning of the parameters using the in-situ monitoring data is highly required.As opposed to the bioassay data, it is necessary because the bioassay data have limitations in terms of the in-situ coastal conditions.     

A teleconnection pattern in upper-level meridional wind over the North African and Eurasian continent in summer

One-point correlation analysis on upper-level meridional wind identified the existence of a teleconnection pattern in July, which emerges from North Africa to East Asia along the westerly jet in the middle latitudes. We examined the spatial and temporal structures of this teleconnection pattern, and found the unique characteristics rather different from the patterns in other elements such as geopotential height, streamfunction and vorticity. We also investigated the relationship between this teleconnection and precipitation, and suggested that the teleconnection is a possible linkage of the EASM to the Indian monsoon, and even to subtropical heating anomalies over Atlantic.