The role of equatorial waves in the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon and the demise of El Niño during 1998

The observed sequence of events leading to the onset of the summer monsoon in the South China Sea (SCS) is described, with a particular focus on conditions during the South China Sea monsoon experiment (SCSMEX) in May–June 1998. During SCSMEX, SCS monsoon onset occurred within the context of a multitude of scale interactions within the ocean-atmosphere system on intraseasonal time scales. Results from the 1998 SCSMEX case study illustrate that SCS monsoon onset is preceded by the development of an eastward-propagating Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in the Indian Ocean, as suggested by previous authors, and the subsequent emanation of a convectively coupled Kelvin wave into the Pacific. Remarkably similar results are obtained in an independent composite of 25 years of data. Since both the MJO and Kelvin waves generate westerly surface winds in their wake, it is suggested that these waves may accelerate or trigger the monsoon onset process in the southern SCS. A detailed analysis of the Kelvin wave that propagated through the SCS during SCSMEX shows that it was responsible for a large portion of the surface wind shift leading to monsoon onset in 1998. Finally, easterly wind anomalies in the eastern Pacific associated with the Indian Ocean MJO event during the SCSMEX period are shown to result in the sudden demise of the 1997–1998 El Niño event.     

Field validation of antioxidant enzyme biomarkers in mussels (Perna viridis) and clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) transplanted in Hong Kong coastal waters

Green-lipped mussels, Perna viridis, and Manila clams, Ruditapes philippinarum were sourced from “clean” sites in the Hong Kong region, depurated in a laboratory using uncontaminated filtered seawater for 8 days, and transplanted to a suspected gradient of chemically polluted sites in Hong Kong. After 14- and 28-days of field exposure, several antioxidant parameters including glutathione S transferase (GST), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione (GSH) were quantified in gill and hepatopancreas tissues. Whole body tissue concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCs) were determined in pooled site samples. Chemical analyses indicated that: (a) clams had higher levels of PAHs, PHCs, DDTs and PCBs, whereas mussels had higher hexachlorocyclohexane (HCHs) and there was no difference between species for dieldrin and remaining OCs; (b) Kat O should not be continued as a “clean” reference site for Hong Kong, because of the levels of contaminants measured and (c) PAH concentrations in the current survey were similar to those previously measured. Toxicological conclusions were: (a) antioxidant responses were different between species; (b) CAT and GST have highest utility in clams for field use in Hong Kong, whereas CAT in both gill and hepatopancreas tissue showed most potential in mussels; (c) significant induction of antioxidant responses over day 0 (excluding GPx in both tissues, and GST in mussel hepatic tissue); (d) groups of contaminants do not consistently induce antioxidant responses and (e) organochlorines and PCBs correlated significantly with CAT and GST in clam hepatopancreas and with CAT in mussel gill and hepatic tissue. Multivariate statistical techniques indicated little relationship between the site patterns for antioxidant responses and the contaminant gradients identified in body burden analysis.     

GIS-Based Slope Stability Analysis,Chuquicamata Open Pit Copper Mine,Chile

The risk of slope failure in the Chuquicamata open-pit mine was analyzed using Geographic Information System (GIS) software and modeling techniques. Models incorporated various component layers at a relatively large map scale (1:5000): alteration, geotechnical unit, proximity to major faults (VIF), GSI (geological strength index), slope (from digital elevation model), proximity to watertable (difference grid between topography and modeled watertable), and composite structural density grid (VIF, smaller faults, and fracture frequency); not all layers were used in all models. Three modeling techniques were used: fuzzy logic, in which parameters in each component layer were ranked by mine geotechnical experts according to their influence in promoting slope failure, and two data-driven techniques, weights-of-evidence and logistic regression, in which statistical correlation of training points (known failures) with parameters were used to derive a relative probability of failure. Because most slope failures are controlled by structure, VIF and smaller faults were divided by orientation into subsets with dip direction parallel, opposite, and normal to slope aspect; these orientations promote circular and planar, toppling, and wedge-type failures, respectively. Density grids of these subsets show high-risk areas for individual failure types. The models demonstrate sensitivity of the analysis to (1) selection of component layers, (2) selection of training points, (3) classification and ranking of categorical parameters, and (4) data problems in certain layers. Predicted high-risk zones in the final models show a high degree of correspondence with recent, post-model failures. Such models can be used to anticipate future pit design concerns. The results presented here illustrate how vast amounts of data, in multiple geo-referenced layers, can be analyzed and modeled using GIS techniques for predictive studies at relatively large map scales. Such modeling techniques could provide a powerful tool for predictive modeling in a vast array of large-map-scale applications requiring similar data integration and evaluation.     

Radar rainfall estimation for flash flood forecasting in small urban watersheds

Radar rainfall estimation for flash flood forecasting in small, urban catchments is examined through analyses of radar, rain gage and discharge observations from the 14.3 km² Dead Run drainage basin in Baltimore County, Maryland. The flash flood forecasting problem pushes the envelope of rainfall estimation to time and space scales that are commensurate with the scales at which the fundamental governing laws of land surface processes are derived. Analyses of radar rainfall estimates are based on volume scan WSR-88D reflectivity observations for 36 storms during the period 2003–2005. Gage-radar analyses show large spatial variability of storm total rainfall over the 14.3 km² basin for flash flood producing storms. The ability to capture the detailed spatial variation of rainfall for flash flood producing storms by WSR-88D rainfall estimates varies markedly from event to event. As spatial scale decreases from the 14.3 km² scale of the Dead Run watershed to 1 km² (and the characteristic time scale of flash flood producing rainfall decreases from 1 h to 15 min) the predictability of flash flood response from WSR-88D rainfall estimates decreases sharply. Storm to storm variability of multiplicative bias in storm total rainfall estimates is a dominant element of the error structure of radar rainfall estimates, and it varies systematically over the warm season and with flood magnitude. Analyses of the 7 July 2004 and 28 June 2005 storms illustrate microphysical and dynamical controls on radar estimation error for extreme flash flood producing storms.     

Community respiration of decomposing plants in Oregon estuarine marshes

Community respiration rates in air and water were measured as indicators of the decomposition rate of dead plant tissue from nine stands of plants in two Oregon estuarine marshes. Respiration rates were low and relatively constant from November to February; during warmer periods several patterns emerged. The highest respiration rates for the most and least active communities differed up to one order of magnitude. The moisture, nitrogen, and crude fibre content, as well as plant shoot and canopy structure, appeared to be important determinants of the respiration rate. Comparisons of aerial and aquatic respiration rates for a single date may be useful for determining the recent moisture history of the tissue. Rates of dead plant community respiration in Pacific North-west marshes equalled and, in one case, exceeded those in the Atlantic South-east.     

On the redshift cut-off for steep-spectrum radio sources

We use three samples (3CRR, 6CE and 6C*) selected at low radio frequency to constrain the cosmic evolution in the radio luminosity function (RLF) for the 'most luminous' steep-spectrum radio sources. Though intrinsically rare, such sources give the largest possible baseline in redshift for the complete flux-density-limited samples currently available. Using parametric models to describe the RLF, incorporating distributions in radio spectral shape and linear size, as well as the usual luminosity and redshift, we find that the data are consistent with a constant comoving space density between     and     . We find that this model is favoured over a model with similar evolutionary behaviour to that of optically selected quasars (i.e., a roughly Gaussian distribution in redshift) with probability ratios of     and     for spatially flat cosmologies with     and     respectively. Within the uncertainties, this evolutionary behaviour may be reconciled with the shallow decline preferred for the comoving space density of flat-spectrum sources by Dunlop & Peacock and Jarvis & Rawlings, in line with the expectations of unified schemes.     

Biogeochemical controls on reaction of sedimentary organic matter and aqueous sulfides in holocene sediments of Mud Lake, Florida

The distribution and quantity of organic sulfur and iron sulfur species were determined in the Holocene sediments from Mud Lake, Florida. The sediments of this shallow, sinkhole lake are characterized by high sulfur and organic carbon contents as well as active sulfate reduction. They record a shift from a basal peat (below 2 m) comprised of water lily-dominated organic matter to the present cyanobacterial/algal-dominated lake deposit (upper 1 m). This shift in depositional environment and subsequent organic matter source was accompanied by variation in the amount of reactive iron delivered to the sediments, which in turn influenced the type and extent of organic matter sulfurization. Extractable intramolecular organic sulfur is principally found as C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) thiolanes. Extractable polysulfide-linked lipids, determined by selective chemical cleavage with MeLi/MeI and analyzed as methylthioethers (MTE), are dominated by n-alkanes with sulfur attachments at position 1 and 2, as well as lower amounts of C₂₅ HBI-MTE. The δ¹³C values and carbon-chain length distribution of both series of n-alkylMTE indicate that they are derived from distinct biological precursors. Among the n-alkylMTE with sulfur attachment at position 1 there are three homologous series: one saturated and two with both cis and trans enethiol isomers. The identification of the enethiol in the sulfur-linked macromolecules indicates that n-alkylaldehydes are precursors lipids. The intervals of high concentration of bulk organic sulfur and sulfurized lipids coincide with the intervals of high mineral sulfur content (acid volatile sulfide and chromium reducible sulfur). We suggest that the main control on the enhanced addition of sulfur to the organic matter in Mud Lake was the increased formation of polysulfides during the reduction of iron hydroxides and the subsequent reaction of those polysulfides with mildly oxidized sedimentary organic matter.     

Field Methods for Measurement of Ground Water Redox Chemical Parameters

An inexpensive, versatile, and portable system is presented, which facilitates rapid field determinations of redox potentials, pH, conductivity, ferrous and total iron, nitrite, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. Accuracy is facilitated by on-site measurements of most parameters using specially constructed flow-through cells and, for several analyses, sealed reagent ampoules, which can be broken and developed inside a flowing stream of ground water. Coupled with laboratory analyses of more stable ground water parameters, this system can provide accurate and relatively inexpensive determinations of redox conditions in ground water.     

R-mode factor analysis applied to uranium exploration in the Montrose quadrangle, Colorado

R-mode factor analysis is used to describe the relationships among 18 remotely sensed and geochemical data sets (variables) for the Montrose 1° × 2° quadrangle, Colorado, a region that covers 19 000 km². The data sets contain reconnaissance-scale information and include Landsat imagery, airborne geophysical information (eU, eTh, K40, aeromagnetics), elevation, and hydrogeochemical and stream sediment analyses. The elements U, K, Dy, Hf, V, Th, Ca and Ba in sediments and U in waters were selected.The results of the factor analysis for the entire quadrangle are compared to the results for a 50 km × 50 km test area containing several known uranium occurrences. Four factors account for 70.0% of the total variance in the data. These are interpreted as a felsic factor, Landsat factor, economic or mineralization factor (in terms of uranium mineralization and potential mineralized areas), and a volcanic factor.Graphical representations (maps) of the raw data, factor approximations, residuals for each data set, and the four-factor model greatly aid interpretation of the analytic results. We find that data integration techniques and R-mode factor analysis can be used with some success in uranium resource appraisal.