Variations in snowmelt energy and energy balance characteristics with larch forest density on Mt Iwate,Japan: observations and energy balance analyses

The variation in snowmelt energy and energy components were evaluated with respect to forest density. Surface snowmelt rates, surface evaporation from snow cover and meteorological elements were measured in the open and under sparse (411 trees/ha) and dense (1433 trees/ha) larch canopies. The surface snowmelt rate decreased as the forest density increased. Based on the observations and energy balance analyses, we concluded the following. (1) Albedo decreased while the bulk coefficient for latent heat increased with forest density. (2) The duration of snowmelt increased with forest density because the energy for nocturnal cooling of the snow cover decreased. (3) When comparing the open and forested sites, the changes in snowmelt energy with forest density were caused by sensible heat flux. However, the contribution of net radiation was highest in the forested sites. Therefore, the effects of forest cover on the snowmelt energy were different when comparing both the open and forested sites and the sparse and densely forested sites. (4) The ratio of net radiation to snowmelt energy increased with forest density; although both snowmelt energy and net radiation decreased with increased forest density, the snowmelt energy decreased more rapidly. Sensible heat also decreased as forest density increased. Both albedo and downward long‐wave radiation influenced net radiation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long-term change and variation of salinity in the western North Pacific subtropical gyre revealed by 50-year long observations along 137°E

The 137°E repeat hydrographic section for 50 winters during 1967–2016 has been analyzed to examine interannual to interdecadal variations and long-term changes of salinity and temperature in the surface and intermediate layers of the western North Pacific, with a particular focus on freshening in the subtropical gyre. Rapid freshening on both isobars and isopycnals began in the mid-1990s and persisted for the last 20 years in the upper main thermocline/halocline in the western subtropical gyre. In addition, significant decadal variability of salinity existed in the subtropical mode water (STMW), as previously reported for the shallower layers. An analysis of the 144°E repeat hydrographic section during 1984–2013 supplemented by Argo profiling float data in 2014 and 2015 revealed that the freshening trend and decadal variability observed at 137°E originated in the winter mixed layer in the Kuroshio Extension (KE) region and was transmitted southwestward to 137°E 1–2 years later in association with the subduction and advection of STMW. The mechanism of these changes and variations in the source region was further investigated. In addition to the surface freshwater flux in the KE region pointed out by previous studies, the decadal KE variability in association with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation likely contributes to the decadal salinity variability through water exchange between the subtropics and the subarctic across the KE. Interdecadal change in both the surface freshwater flux and the KE state, however, failed to explain the rapid freshening for the last 20 years.     

Anomalous change in atmospheric radon concentration sourced from broad crustal deformation: A case study of the 1995 Kobe earthquake

Before the Kobe earthquake, an anomalous increase in atmospheric Rn concentration was observed. By separating the measured concentration of atmospheric Rn into three components according to the distance from the monitoring station, the variation of Rn exhalation rate can be estimated for the respective area using the daily minimum and maximum concentrations. The mean rate of Rn exhalation gradually increased in an area of 20 km around the monitoring station, becoming five times higher than normal in the period between October 1994 and the date of the earthquake. This area had a large co-seismic displacement of up to 30 cm, which roughly corresponds to the crustal strain of 10⁻⁶-order, and it is considered the main source for the atmospheric Rn prior to the Kobe earthquake. Analyses revealed that the pre-seismic change in the atmospheric Rn concentration exhibited an anomalous pattern which would yield information on the spatial distribution of the mechanical response of the ground.     

A precise bathymetric map of the world’s deepest seafloor,Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench

Data from three bathymetric surveys by R/V Kairei using a 12-kHz multibeam echosounder and differential GPS were used to create an improved topographic model of the Challenger Deep in the southwestern part of the Mariana Trench, which is known as the deepest seafloor in the world. The strike of most of the elongated structures related to plate bending accompanied by subduction of the Pacific plate is N70°E and is not parallel to the trench axis. The bending-related structures were formed by reactivation of seafloor spreading fabric. Challenger Deep consists of three en echelon depressions along the trench axis, each of which is 6–10 km long, about 2 km wide, and deeper than 10,850 m. The eastern depression is the deepest, with a depth of 10,920 ± 5 m.     

科尔沁沙地采用人工植被对流沙治理的技术

在科尔沁沙地的流动沙丘上采用不同的人工措施,即铺设秸秆栅栏沙障、草方格和栽植差不嘎蒿,对沙丘的固定作用进行了研究。结果表明三种措施都有利于增加沙丘植物的多样性和生物量,但栽植差不嘎蒿和草方格好于秸秆栅栏沙障;沙丘固定过程中,植物的演替顺序有沙蓬-差不嘎蒿-狗尾草-黄蒿的趋势;植物生物量的形成与土壤湿度关系密切,应用试验数据建立了生物量(Y)与土壤湿度(X)的回归关系方程。Y=-13.7x²+72.5x-11.42 R²=0.824。     

Accretionary rims on inclusions in the Allende meteorite

Many inclusions in Allende, particularly those with irregular shapes, are surrounded by a sequence of thin layers which differ from one another in texture, mineralogy and mineral-chemistry. The layer underlying all others contains either: IA, pyroxene needles + olivine + clumps of hedenbergite and andradite; IB, olivine doughnuts; or IC, rectangular olivine crystals. The next layer outward, II, contains tiny (<5 μm) olivine plates and Layer III large (5–10 μm) olivine laths. The final layer, IV, occurs as clumps of andradite + hedenbergite surrounded by magnesium-rich pyroxene needles. It separates Layer III from the Allende matrix which is more poorly sorted and more sulfide-rich than Layer III. Nepheline and iron sulfide are common constituents of most layers, the latter being particularly fine-grained and abundant in Layer II. Although not every layer is present on every inclusion, the sequence of layers is constant. Evidence that the rims are accretionary aggregates includes the presence of highly disequilibrium mineral assemblages and the fact that they are highly porous masses consisting of many euhedral crystals with few intergrowths. In addition, the layers are thickest in topographic hollows on the surfaces of inclusions and the inner layers are absent or discontinuous beyond such irregularities, suggesting that the probability of accretion of crystals was low initially, except in pockets, and became greater later, after a soft cushion of accreted condensate crystals had already formed. Separation of assemblages of different mineralogy, mineral-chemistry and texture into different rim layers seems best explained by nebular models in which long, slow cooling histories allow differentiation during condensation by grain/gas separation processes.     

Climate control on Venus: Comparison of the carbonate and pyrite models

We review two models describing the Venus climate system: the carbonate and pyrite models. It has been argued carbonate and pyrite are potentially important minerals controlling the climate of Venus, though existence of either minerals has not been confirmed. Although it used to be proposed that carbonation reaction might explain the Venus’ atmospheric CO₂ abundance, it is unlikely Venus’ surface is reactive enough to control the Venus’ massive CO₂ atmosphere. Venus’ surface carbonate is also able to affect the climate through the reaction with atmospheric SO₂ to form anhydrite. Under the carbonate model the climate state is not in equilibrium and would be unstable due to the reaction between carbonate and SO₂. On the other hand, pyrite-magnetite reaction is proposed to explain the Venus’ atmospheric SO₂ abundance. Under pyrite-magnetite reaction, however, the climate would be stabilized such that the existing climate state is maintained over a geological timescale, while some observational facts such as atmospheric abundance of SO₂ and surface temperature could also be reasonably explained.     

Phosphorus and nitrogen cyclings in the pelagic system of hiroshima bay: Results of numerical model simulation

A numerical ecosystem model expressing both phosphorus and nitrogen cyclings in the pelagic system of Hiroshima Bay, Japan, was developed in order to investigate the seasonal variations of these elements and their annual budgets. Based on the geophysical and chemical structures of the bay, Hiroshima Bay was divided into northern and southern boxes, themselves divided into two layers of an upper 5 m and a lower layer according to the stratification of the water column. The model consists of equations representing all relevant physical and biological processes. The results revealed that the internal regeneration of materials was an important source of bioavailable nutrients for phytoplankton growth in the water column. The incorporation of phytoplankton aggregation improved the accuracy of the outputs in comparison to the observed data, especially during the stratified summer season. The results also indicated that phosphorus limitation of phytoplankton growth occurs in the upper layer during summer while light limitation occurs in the lower layer. In addition, physical processes such as diffusion and advection were also important as they ensured that most of regenerated nutrients in the lower layer were transported to the upper layer. Thus, these processes might support the high primary production and the production of oysters that are extensively cultured in this bay. Considering the informative results obtained, the model used in this study provides a sound basis and tool to describe the dynamics of phosphorus and nitrogen cyclings in Hiroshima Bay.     

Spatiotemporal Decreases of Nutrients and Chlorophyll-a in the Surface Mixed Layer of the Western North Pacific from 1971 to 2000

Using time series of hydrographic data in the wintertime and summertime obtained along 137°E from 1971 to 2000, we found that the average contents of nutrients in the surface mixed layer showed linear decreasing trends of 0.001∼0.004 μmol-PO₄ l⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and 0.01∼0.04 μmol-NO₃ l⁻¹ yr⁻¹ with the decrease of density. The water column Chl-a (CHL) and the net community production (NCP) had also declined by 0.27∼0.48 mg-Chl m⁻² yr⁻¹ and 0.08∼0.47 g-C-NCP m⁻² yr⁻¹ with a clear oscillation of 20.8±0.8 years. These changes showed a strong negative correlation with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index (PDO) with a time lag of 2 years (R = 0.89 ± 0.02). Considering the recent significant decrease of O₂ over the North Pacific subsurface water, these findings suggest that the long-term decreasing trend of surface-deep water mixing has caused the decrease of marine biological activity in the surface mixed layer with a bidecadal oscillation over the western North Pacific.     

Climate variability, vegetation productivity and people at risk

Human domination of ecosystems has been pervasive over the last century, with nearly half of Earth's surface transformed by human actions. It is widely accepted that humans appropriate up to 50% of global net primary production (NPP), the energy base of all the trophic levels on the land surface. Yet, despite the important role of vegetation productivity for defining Earth habitability, the covariation of NPP and human population distribution has not been analyzed in depth. We used recently available satellite-based NPP estimates, along with gridded population at 0.5° resolution, first, to identify the global distribution of human population with reference to average NPP and to the various climatic constraints (temperature, water and cloud cover) that limit NPP, second, to analyze recent trends in global NPP in relation to population trends, and third, to identify populations that are vulnerable to changes in NPP due to interannual variability in climate. Our results indicate that over half of the global human population is presently living in areas with above the average NPP of 490 g C m⁻² year⁻¹. By 1998, nearly 56% of global population lived in regions where water availability strongly influences NPP. Per capita NPP declined over much of Africa between 1982 and 1998, in spite of the estimated increases in NPP over the same period. On average, NPP over 40% of the total vegetated land surface has shown significant correlations with ENSO-induced climate variability affecting over 2.8 billion people.