Low-Frequency Temperature Variability at Fukue Island Located Southwest of the Tsushima Straits

Sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity variations at Fukue Island (located southwest of the Tsushima Straits) were investigated. In spring, low-frequency SST fluctuations with periods of 10–20 days predominate. Synthetic analysis of in situ observation and satellite infrared image reveals that these SST fluctuations are caused by movement of mixed warm water masses which have a temperature intermediate between those of the Kuroshio and the East China Sea (ECS) shelf waters. Since these fluctuations do not correspond with those in the Tsushima Straits, it is indicated that these water masses can hardly pass the Tsushima Straits while retaining their original water properties. In July, SST fluctuations with a period of several days are also found at Fukue Island. Since these SST fluctuations show an opposite correspondence with its salinity fluctuations and a good correspondence with the SST fluctuations at Okinoshima in the Tsushima Straits, it is inferred that warm and low-salinity water originated from the ECS shelf water causes these fluctuations and intrudes into the Tsushima Straits.     

Magnetic scanning and interpretation of paleomagnetic data from Prague Synform’s volcanics

Magnetic images have been produced at the distance of 0.1 mm from the polished basaltic thin sections of rocks from Prague Synform in Barrandian area. Three different magnetic textures were seen and when combined with optical imaging could be related to petrological features. The first magnetic texture revealed that most of the magnetic signature is localized within the amygdales formed later after the basalts became part of the sedimentary sequence. The second texture showed that the basaltic body contains large grain size distribution of magnetic carriers possibly with variable viscous magnetizations. The third texture suggested a presence of magnetic anisotropy of igneous origin. Such textural magnetic information along with the paleomagnetic characteristics of the basaltic rocks of Silurian age constrained the overall geological interpretation.     

Are QSOs local objects?

The similarities of the spectra of QSOs with those of Wolf-Rayet stars are pointed out. The emission spectrum of the earliest discovered QSO, 3C 273, in the ultraviolet and visible regions is interpreted as that of an object deficient in hydrogen like Wolf-Rayet stars but havingno redshift. The visible emission spectra of two other QSOs, 3C 48 and 3C 280.1, are also similarly interpreted. It is further assumed that the absorption lines of QSOs are produced in an expanding atmosphere so that they are violet shifted as in Wolf-Rayet stars. Fifty-four out of 55 narrow absorption lines of the QSO Q 1246-057 are interpreted on the assumption that the average velocity of the absorbing ions is 500 km s^–1, although the redshift theory can explain only 23 lines by invoking six different redshifts: Four of the five emission lines of the same object can be identified assuming no shift. Since the QSOs are here assumed to be comparatively local objects, the problems of energy supply, superluminal velocities, etc., raised by the conventional explanation do not arise in this case.Presently at the Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Erlangen, F.R.G.     

Evidence of Insect-plant Interactions From the Upper Gondwana Sequence (Lower Cretaceous) in the Rajmahal Basin, India

The present paper reports significant evidence of insect-plant interactions in the Upper Gondwana sequence (Early Cretaceous) from various localities of the Rajmahal Formation in the Rajmahal Basin of Jharkhand State, India. This evidence is among the first Early Cretaceous evidence of phytophagy and is recognised by various types of feeding traces namely continuous marginal, discontinuous marginal and non-marginal. These traces may indicate herbivory of pinnate leaves ofPtilophyllurn (Bennettitales) and these herbivores may have assisted the plants in pollination. Additional evidence for a plant-insect relationship is on the lamina o f Phyllopteroides pinnae (Osmundaceae) which was used for ovipostional sites containing oval egg impressions that occur along the veins in the leaf lamina. Further, the evidence of insect galls recognised on a Nipaniophyllurn (Pentoxylales) leaf surface indicates that the lamina was used as a shelter habitat for insect larvae. These galls show some similarity with extinct leaf galls reported on Glossopteris (Glossopteridales) leaves recorded from the Permian of Kashmir Himalaya, India as well as on galls on Sophora (Fabaceae) and Eomangferophyllum (Anacardiaceae) leaves from the Neogene flora of India. Similar spherical leaf galls are induced by Diptera (Cecidomyiidae) and Hymenoptera (Pteromalidae) on leaves of modern Anadenanthera peregrina from Brazil. The present findings from the Upper Gondwana Sequence of India reveals that these types of insect-plant relationships existed during the Gondwana time and continued up to the recent, perhaps having a role in the co-evolution of present flora and fauna.     

Last-five-decade heavy metal pollution records from the Rewalsar Lake,Himachal Pradesh,India

The lakes of the Himalaya are degrading due to increase in toxic heavy metal loading. This study reports the last 50-year heavy metal pollution loading in the Rewalsar Lake, Himachal Pradesh, India. Sediment cores were recovered to study the pollution loading in the lake sediments. The ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb isotope-based sedimentation rate suggest rapid sedimentation in the lake during the last ~50 years. The concentrations of Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Co, Ni, Cr metals in the lake sediments owe its contributions both to the natural and anthropogenic sources. Prior to ca 1990 AD, metal loading was dominated by the lithogenic input, whereas post ca 1990 AD the metal loading was controlled by the anthropogenic factors. The Pb concentration in the lake gradually increased during 1990–2004 and then decreased significantly till present. The higher concentration of Pb seems to be derived from the fossil fuel burning, while the Cr concentration in the lake indicates the use of fertilizer in the catchment area. The lowest concentrations of elements around ca 1990 AD seem to have occurred due to channelization of the lake feeding system.     

Plasma laser star model of QSOs

Varshni maintained that the emission lines observed in QSOs can be satisfactorily explained as being due to laser action in certain atomic species in the expanding envelope of a star and having no appreciable redshift. In order to test this hypothesis we have examined the conditions conducive to laser action in the stellar atmosphere and compared all the emission lines of 633 QSOs discovered till August 1976 (as listed by Burbidgeet al.) with the laser transitions found in the laboratory till April 1976 (as listed by Willett and Becket al.). It was found that 88% of the QSO lines agreed to within 10 Å with the laser lines and 94% agreed to within 20 Å. The main reason Greenstein and Schmidt failed to fit the spectral lines of 3C 48 and 3C 273 with known emission lines is that laser transitions in hydrogen do not occur in stellar atmospheres. The spectra are explained on the basis of the new theory and the broadening of lines explained.     

Intrusion of less saline shelf water into the Kuroshio subsurface layer in the East China Sea

The possible origin and cause of the less saline shelf water detected in the Kuroshio subsurface layer around the shelf edge of the East China Sea are investigated using observational results obtained in May 1998–2001 in conjunction with a dataset archived by Japan Oceanographic Data Center and a numerical model. The observations show that subsurface intrusions of less saline water are always detected in May in layers above 24.5σθ isopycnal surface, and that salinity inversions (i.e., areas in which the less saline water lies beneath the saline water) are detected around the trough of the Kuroshio frontal eddy (or wave). Analyses of the archived dataset reveal that the isopycnal surface of 24.5σθ is the deepest layer of the Kuroshio pycnocline outcropping to the sea surface on the shallow shelf in early spring. Outcropping isopycnals above 24.5σθ encounter a less saline water plume originating from the Changjiang, especially in the western East China Sea. Thereafter, the less saline water moves along isopycnal layers and reaches the Kuroshio front around the shelf edge. Numerical models demonstrate that, when the frontal wave captures the less saline water, the shelf water takes the form of a salinity inversion in the trough because isohalines in the frontal wave have a phase lag between the upper and lower layers in consequence of the baroclinic instability.     

第五届中哈现代地球动力学和中亚地震危险国际学术研讨会在哈萨克斯坦举行

2003年9月24～26日“第五届中哈现代地球动力学和中亚地震危险国际学术研讨会”在哈萨克斯坦阿拉木图举行。来自7个国家140名代表参加了会议。文章介绍了会议概况、学术交流、取得的成果，以及几点认识。     

Lessons learned from public participation in hydrologic engineering projects

ABSTRACT

Public participation in engineering projects has been minimal to date, whereas it is growing in other fields. This paper assesses the lessons learned from public participation in two hydrologic engineering projects, as citizen scientists or through participatory mapping. The two projects were conducted in communities that faced a common problem of flooding due to sea-level rise. The lessons learned include the need to invest time at the beginning of a project to get an idea of what knowledge the public can contribute and have a plan in place to sustain participation at the level needed for the project to be successful. Our cost comparison shows that public participation should be encouraged when the project area is large enough to make travel for data collection cost prohibitive, or when extensive interaction with the public will already be required.