Age and impacts of the caldera-forming Aniakchak II eruption in western Alaska

The mid-Holocene eruption of Aniakchak volcano (Aniakchak II) in southwest Alaska was among the largest eruptions globally in the last 10,000 years (VEI-6). Despite evidence for possible impacts on global climate, the precise age of the eruption is not well-constrained and little is known about regional environmental impacts. A closely spaced sequence of radiocarbon dates at a peatland site over 1000 km from the volcano show that peat accumulation was greatly reduced with a hiatus of approximately 90–120 yr following tephra deposition. During this inferred hiatus no paleoenvironmental data are available but once vegetation returned the flora changed from a Cyperaceae-dominated assemblage to a Poaceae-dominated vegetation cover, suggesting a drier and/or more nutrient-rich ecosystem. Oribatid mites are extremely abundant in the peat at the depth of the ash, and show a longer-term, increasingly wet peat surface across the tephra layer. The radiocarbon sample immediately below the tephra gave a date of 1636–1446 cal yr BC suggesting that the eruption might be younger than previously thought. Our findings suggest that the eruption may have led to a widespread reduction in peatland carbon sequestration and that the impacts on ecosystem functioning were profound and long-lasting.     

基于瓦片数据的DEM构建与显示

对于大规模地形而言,地形网格的实时动态绘制速度和质量一直是人们关注的重点。地形漫游在仿真、模拟、虚拟现实、游戏等领域都有广泛的应用。该文在研究多种层次算法的基础上,采用一种地形瓦片重组数据结构的方法实现实时高帧率的绘制大规模地形。分析了地形场景数据管理与实时调度,视相关多层次细节模型与可见性判断以及分层数据组织和瓦片数据绘制等关键问题,并给出了相应的解决方法,改进了视景体裁切重组地形数据的方法。实验结果表明该方法在保持地形逼真的前提下,有很好的绘制网格帧率和实时动态交互效果。     

A Search for Warm Neutral Gas Associated with the Giant HII Region NGC 604

The characteristics of the halo gas and its interaction with the galactic disk in spiral galaxies are poorly known; this is particularly true for the warm neutral gas associated with HVCs and galactic chimneys. The detection of absorption features such as the NaI D or the CaII (H,K)lines is instrumental to study its detailed physical properties but requires very long integration times. In this work very deep optical spectra of NGC 604, the brightest giant HII region among the nearby spirals, are presented. The detection of two absorption components at LSR velocities -255 km/s and −20 km/s respectively, is reported; the first component is associated with the HII region. The inferred line width after deconvolution is 155 km/s; this large width is produced by the blending of the multiple absorption components produced by the diverse sources of internal motion (expanding shells and general turbulence). The radial velocity of the CaII absorption is slightly larger than the measured in the HII emission lines suggesting a possible flow of gas into the halo above the young star cluster. The large ratio x = W _λ (NaID_2)/W _λ (CaIIK) = 0.7indicates the probable presence of shocks which release Ca from the dust grains into the gas phase. The lower velocity component most likely trace galactic gas. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Using a regional numerical weather prediction model for GNSS positioning over Brazil

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) can provide centimeter positioning accuracy at low costs. However, in order to obtain the desired high accuracy, it is necessary to use high-quality atmospheric models. We focus on the troposphere, which is an important topic of research in Brazil where the tropospheric characteristics are unique, both spatially and temporally. There are dry regions, which lie mainly in the central part of the country. However, the most interesting area for the investigation of tropospheric models is the wet region which is located in the Amazon forest. This region substantially affects the variability of humidity over other regions of Brazil. It provides a large quantity of water vapor through the humidity convergence zone, especially for the southeast region. The interconnection and large fluxes of water vapor can generate serious deficiencies in tropospheric modeling. The CPTEC/INPE (Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies/Brazilian Institute for Space Research) has been providing since July 2012 a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model for South America, known as Eta. It has yield excellent results in weather prediction but has not been used in GNSS positioning. This NWP model was evaluated in precise point positioning (PPP) and network-based positioning. Concerning PPP, the best positioning results were obtained for the station SAGA, located in Amazon region. Using the NWP model, the 3D RMS are less than 10 cm for all 24 h of data, whereas the values reach approximately 60 cm for the Hopfield model. For network-based positioning, the best results were obtained mainly when the tropospheric characteristics are critical, in which case an improvement of up to 7.2 % was obtained in 3D RMS using NWP models.     

A literature review of the saturation state of seawater with respect to calcium carbonate and its possible significance for scale formation on OTEC heat exchangers

An investigation has been made of available data on the saturation state of seawater with respect to calcium carbonate and its possible significance for scale formation on Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) heat exchangers. Pertinent oceanographic data is lacking at or near potential OTEC sites for the calculation of the degree of saturation of seawater with respect to calcium carbonate. Consequently, only “extrapolated” saturation values can be used. These indicate that near surface seawater is probably supersaturated, with respect to the calcium carbonate phases calcite and aragonite, at all potential OTEC sites. The deep seawater that would be brought to the surface at the potential Atlantic Ocean sites is also likely to be supersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate. The deep seawater at the potential Pacific Ocean sites may be slightly undersaturated.The fact that OTEC heat exchangers will be operating in seawater, which is supersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate, means that if nucleation of calcite or aragonite occurs on the heat exchanger surfaces, significant growth rates of calcium carbonate scale may be expected. The potential for calcium carbonate nucleation is highest at cathodic metal surface locations, which are produced as the result of aluminum corrosion in seawater. Consequently, corrosion and scale formation may be closely related. What the possible effects of biofouling may be on this process are not known.     

Assessment of predictions of the response of the Hualien containment model during forced vibration tests

Blind predictions for the response of the 1/4-scale reinforced concrete Hualien (Taiwan) containment model during forced vibration tests are compared with the observed data. The predictions obtained by the CLASSI approach reflect the experimental conditions prior to and after backfill of the soil surrounding the embedded foundation. The experimental data show a strong and unexpected coupling between the response in the NS and EW directions which is not present in the results for the axisymmetric theoretical models. Also, significant differences can be seen between the experimental responses in the two orthogonal horizontal directions which minimize cross-axis coupling. Although these differences are not accounted for in the theoretical models, the discrepancies between predictions and observations are within the uncertainty of the structural and geotechnical data. The obtained differences between predictions and observations give an excellent measure of the prediction error that can be expected in this type of analysis from uncertainty in the data. A detailed assessment of the initial structural and geotechnical data based on extensive comparisons with the results of previous identification studies is also presented. Finally, comparisons between the observed response and calculations based on revised models for the structure and the soil show that current methods of analysis can account accurately for the observed response.     

Pathways of clay mineral transport in the coastal zone of the Brazilian continental shelf from Ceará to the mouth of the Amazon River

The transport pathways of fine sediments (fraction <2 μm) along the Brazilian continental shelf from Ceará to the Amazon River mouth were studied by means of clay mineral analyses. On the continental shelf southeast of the Amazon mouth, fluctuations in clay mineral compositions reflect simple mixing between the suspended load of the North Brazil Current and sediment from several smaller rivers. Previously, clay mineral variations west of the Amazon mouth have been explained by variable settling velocities of different grain-size classes within the <2 μm fraction or by selective coagulation of individual clay mineral groups. By contrast, our experiments with river bank samples show that selective coagulation does not occur in Amazon River sediments. A more appropriate explanation for observed variations in clay mineral composition off the Amazon mouth seems to be, similarly to that for the shelf between Ceará and the Amazon mouth, a mixing of Amazon sediments with suspended material of the North Brazil Current. This interpretation is supported by data on clay mineral composition east and south of the Amazon mouth, showing more affinity to sediments of the North Brazil Current than to the suspended load of the Amazon River. Additionally, relatively low sedimentation rates and low concentrations of fine-grained sediments on the shelf suggest that high riverine input by the Amazon River does not overprint the sediments of the North Brazil Current in this region. The strong North Brazil Current shunts the Amazon suspended load in a north-westerly direction along the north-eastern coast of South America. Hence, stronger sedimentation of Amazon sediments would occur only west of the river mouth.     

新疆层云和层积云冰粒子属性的季节变化

利用CloudSat 卫星资料,选取冰粒子的等效半径（IER）、数浓度（INC）、含水量（IWC）,统计分析了层云、层积云微物理量的垂直分布和季节变化。层云/层积云小粒子（0～50 μm）、中等粒子（50～80 μm）、大粒子（≥80 μm）出现频率分别为18.7%/16.3%、77.6%/62.6%、3.7%/21.2%。在IER 垂直分布上,层云小、中等粒子在云层中部出现较多,层积云小粒子在云层上部出现较多,中等、大粒子在云层中部出现较多。层云/层积云INC低值段（0～50 L^-1）、中值段（50～100 L^-1）、高值段（≥100 L^-1）出现频率分别为90.1%/76.5%、9.6%/19.5%、0.3%/4.1%。在INC垂直分布上,层云低、中值段在云层中部出现较多,层积云低、中值段分别在云层中部、上部出现较多。层云/层积云IWC低值段（0～50 mg·m^-3）、中值段（50～100 mg·m^-3）、高值段（≥100 mg·m^-3）出现频率分别为96.7%/82.8%、3.2%/13.4%、0.1%/3.7%。在IWC垂直分布上,层云低值段在云层中部出现较多,层积云低、中值段分别在云层中部、上部出现较多。     

斜带石斑鱼(Epinephelus coioides)两种催乳素受体基因的 cDNA 克隆和 mRNA 表达分析

采用RT-PCR方法克隆了斜带石斑鱼两种催乳素受体(Prolactin receptor,PRLR)的cDNA序列,序列分析表明:PRLR1开放阅读框为1947bp,共编码649个氨基酸,PRLR2开放阅读框为1749bp,共编码487个氨基酸,PRLR1与PRLR2的氨基酸同源性为40.4%。用Real-time RT-PCR方法研究了PRLR1和PRLR2在各组织和早期发育不同阶段的表达情况,结果表明:PRLR1和PRLR2在所检测的12种组织中均有表达,其中以鳃、肾、肠表达量较高;PRLR1在受精期表达最高,PRLR2在视囊形成期表达最高,而且除受精卵期外PRLR2在各时期的表达量均高于PRLR1。     

东天山企鹅山群火山岩锆石U-Pb年代学

企鹅山群是指分布于东天山觉罗塔格地区康古尔塔格断裂和大草滩断裂之间的一套火山-沉积岩系。新近发现的土屋-延东大型斑岩型铜矿含矿斑岩的围岩为企鹅山群第二组的火山岩系,同时由于该火山岩系与其上覆和下伏岩系均呈断层接触,因而企鹅山群火山岩的形成时代备受关注。对该火山岩系组合中的基性火山岩和酸性火山岩进行锆石U-Pb同位素年龄测定,测得基性火山岩的成岩年龄为322.6Ma±2.0Ma,酸性火山岩的成岩年龄为319.9Ma±1.6Ma。该年龄对认识东疆地区石炭纪构造演化历史和成矿作用具有重要价值。