Automation of a laboratory flotation machine for improved performance

A commercial laboratory flotation machine (Denver Model D-12) has been automated for ease of operation and reproducibility. The major features of the system include two plexiglass cells of 4- and 2-1 capacity which are interchangeable for rougher and cleaner flotation, respectively, an electronic level controller and an air-flow rate controller. The level controller can be used for either pulp-level or froth-level control by adjusting the threshold setting. Two mechanical paddles on the sides of each flotation cell can be controlled to adjust the rate of froth removal. Test results demonstrate the reproducibility of the data obtained with the equipment.     

Simulating streamflow on regulated rivers using characteristic reservoir storage patterns derived from synthetic remote sensing data

This study presents a method to estimate streamflow in rivers regulated by lakes or reservoirs using synthetic satellite remote sensing data. To illustrate the approach, the new reservoir routing method is integrated into the Hillslope River Routing model, and a case study is presented for the highly regulated river in the Cumberland River basin (46,400 km²). The study period is April–May 2000, which contains a significant flood event that occurred in 1–2 May 2000. The model is shown to capture storage/release characterises in eight reservoirs with a mean normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) of 20% for entire simulation period and 27% for the May flood event. These errors are 69 and 75%, respectively, less than the NRMSE if reservoirs are not included in the model. Given the limitations of satellite missions, the impacts of the revisit cycles and operational periods are quantified. We used 26 observation sets of satellite altimetry over Cumberland River basin that are generated by considering both repeat cycles and satellite operation periods. For the revisit cycles, increasing the interval of repeat cycle leads to a corresponding increase of mean NRMSE from 27 to 59% as a result of sampling fewer flood events and smoothing of the change in storage signal as a result of longer intervals between visits. For the operation periods, the impact of data periods is limited because of the strong seasonal pattern of reservoir operations. Overall, the results suggest that the generalized routing model derived from reservoir stage observations can be used to simulate reservoir operating conditions, which can be used in forecasting hydrologic impacts of land cover or climate change. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The CLIVAR C20C project: which components of the Asian–Australian monsoon circulation variations are forced and reproducible?

A multi-model set of atmospheric simulations forced by historical sea surface temperature (SST) or SSTs plus Greenhouse gases and aerosol forcing agents for the period of 1950–1999 is studied to identify and understand which components of the Asian–Australian monsoon (A–AM) variability are forced and reproducible. The analysis focuses on the summertime monsoon circulations, comparing model results against the observations. The priority of different components of the A–AM circulations in terms of reproducibility is evaluated. Among the subsystems of the wide A–AM, the South Asian monsoon and the Australian monsoon circulations are better reproduced than the others, indicating they are forced and well modeled. The primary driving mechanism comes from the tropical Pacific. The western North Pacific monsoon circulation is also forced and well modeled except with a slightly lower reproducibility due to its delayed response to the eastern tropical Pacific forcing. The simultaneous driving comes from the western Pacific surrounding the maritime continent region. The Indian monsoon circulation has a moderate reproducibility, partly due to its weakened connection to June–July–August SSTs in the equatorial eastern Pacific in recent decades. Among the A–AM subsystems, the East Asian summer monsoon has the lowest reproducibility and is poorly modeled. This is mainly due to the failure of specifying historical SST in capturing the zonal land-sea thermal contrast change across the East Asia. The prescribed tropical Indian Ocean SST changes partly reproduce the meridional wind change over East Asia in several models. For all the A–AM subsystem circulation indices, generally the MME is always the best except for the Indian monsoon and East Asian monsoon circulation indices.     

Physiological Responses of Cultured Seaweed Pyropia yezoensis to Phosphorous Limitation in the Nakdong River Estuary,Korea

Ocean Science Journal - Pyropia yezoensis cultured in the estuary of the Nakdong River in Korea is an important fisheries resource for the local economy. Over the past few decades, the...     

Description of feeding apparatus and mechanism innemopilema nomurai kishinouye (scyphozoa: rhizostomeae)

Feeding apparatus, mechanism and passage of ingested prey were described forNemopilema nomurai (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae).N. nomurai medusae without central mouths have developed complicated canal systems connecting the tip of the tentacle and oral arm to the gut cavity. The number of junctions in the canal system increases with the bell diameter. The prey is gathered by paralyzing nematocyst at the tentacles and by adhering cirri at the oral arms and scapulets. They are engulfed into the terminal pore located at the oral arms and scapulets, and entered into the gut cavity via the canal system. The estimated digestion time is 1 hour and 20 min. The diameter of terminal pore is always about 1 mm, implying that they could not eat prey larger than that pore size. On the other hand, ephyrae have central mouths and could swallow prey as large as adults could. Exploitation of the same size of food by adult and ephyra implies thatN. nomurai can affect seriously the whole food web, massively ingesting micro-and mesozoopl a n k t o n and cutting the energy transfer toward the higher level of carnivores.     

Dependency of typhoon intensity and genesis locations on El Ni?o phase and SST shift over the western North Pacific

The effects of the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase and the shifting of the ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) on the intensity of tropical cyclones (TC) have been extensively investigated in terms of TC genesis locations in the western North Pacific (WNP). To advance the hypothesis for a relation of genesis location–intensity that the TC formation location hints its intensity, two cases have been compared, which include the phase of the decaying El Ni?o turning over to La Ni?a (type I) and the phase that recovers to a neutral condition (type II). In addition, the shift of ENSO SST to the central Pacific warming (CPW) from the East Pacific warming (EPW) has been examined. The genesis potential index (GPI) and the accumulated cyclone energy have been applied to compare the differences between the ENSO phase and the TC formation location. It was apparent that ENSO influences the WNP typhoon formation location depending on the cycle of the ENSO phase. In addition, the typhoon activity was affected by the zonal shift of the El Ni?o SST. The CPW, which has maximum SST over the central Pacific, tends to have a persistently high GPI over the WNP in September–November and June–August, demonstrating that the formation locations of strong TCs significantly shift southeastward compared with the EPW having SST maximum over the eastern Pacific. CPW years revealed a distinguishable relationship between the TC formation location and the TC between the tropical depression (TD) + tropical storm (TS) and the intense typhoon of category 4?+?5.     

Holocene paleoclimate changes determined using diatom assemblages from Lake Long,King George Island,Antarctica

Formation of Lake Long, King George Island, Antarctica started about 4,000 years B.P., after which the diatom community changed in response to environmental shifts driven by climatic oscillations (warm/wet and cool/dry). Successive sequences of diatoms in a 7.5-m drill core were divided into 11 assemblage zones by cluster analysis. The most obvious change was an alternation of major dominants, Achnanthes minutissima, Fragilaria alpestris and Fragilaria pinnata v. antarctica according to the climatic oscillations in the late Holocene. Variations in diatom assemblages clearly reflect two warm periods, a single cool period, and three transition periods. The recent warm period (zones 2 and 1) has persisted for approximately 450 years, perhaps sufficiently long to suggest the imminent onset of a new transition period. A recent high TOC (total organic carbon) value in the core reflects a warm period in Antarctica during the late Holocene.     

NAPL source zone depletion model and its application to railroad-tank-car spills

We developed a new semi-analytical source zone depletion model (SZDM) for multicomponent light nonaqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) and incorporated this into an existing screening model for estimating cleanup times for chemical spills from railroad tank cars that previously considered only single-component LNAPLs. Results from the SZDM compare favorably to those from a three-dimensional numerical model, and from another semi-analytical model that does not consider source zone depletion. The model was used to evaluate groundwater contamination and cleanup times for four complex mixtures of concern in the railroad industry. Among the petroleum hydrocarbon mixtures considered, the cleanup time of diesel fuel was much longer than E95, gasoline, and crude oil. This is mainly due to the high fraction of low solubility components in diesel fuel. The results demonstrate that the updated screening model with the newly developed SZDM is computationally efficient, and provides valuable comparisons of cleanup times that can be used in assessing the health and financial risk associated with chemical mixture spills from railroad-tank-car accidents.     

Effect of the along-strait wind on the volume transport through the Tsushima/Korea Strait in September

Recent investigation suggests that volume transport through the Tsushima/Korea Strait often has double peaks during the summer to autumn period with decreasing transport in September. The satellite-observed wind changes from weak northwestward (across-strait) in summer to strong southwestward (along-strait) in early autumn (September) in the strait. Such a strong along-strait wind is related to tropical cyclones, which frequently pass through the East China Sea in September. The effect of the along-strait wind component on the transport variation is examined using a three-dimensional numerical model. The simulated volume transport through the Tsushima/Korea Strait shows realistic seasonal and intra-seasonal variations. According to sensitivity experiments on local winds, the transport variations in September are mainly generated by strong along-strait (southwestward) wind rather than weak across-strait wind. The strait transport responds to the along-strait wind (southeastward), which produces a sea level increase along the Korean coast, resulting in the geostrophic balance across the strait. The transport minimum through the Tsushima/Korea Strait in September can be determined by the combination of the across-strait geostrophic and along-strait ageostrophic balances. The Editor-in-Chief does not recommend the usage of the term “Japan/East Sea” in place of “Sea of Japan”.