Modelling distribution of marine benthos from hydroacoustics and underwater video

Broad-scale mapping of marine benthos is required for marine resource management and conservation. This study combines textural derivatives based on bathymetry from multibeam hydroacoustics with underwater video observations to model and map sessile biota between 10- and 60-m water depth over 35 km² in Point Addis Marine National Park (MNP), Vic., Australia. Classification tree models and maps were developed for macroalgae (all types, mixed red algae, Ecklonia, and rhodoliths) and sessile invertebrates (all types, sponges, and ascidians). Model accuracy was tested on 25% of the video observation dataset reserved from modelling. Models fit well for most macroalgae categories (correct classification rates of 67–84%), but are not as good for sessile invertebrate classes (correct classification rates of 57–62%). The poor fit of the sessile invertebrate models may be the combined result of grouping organisms with different environmental requirements and the effect of false absences recorded during video interpretation due to poor image quality. Probability maps, binary single-class maps, and multi-class maps supply spatially explicit, detailed information on the distribution of sessile benthic biota within the MNP and provide information at a landscape-scale for ecological investigations and marine management.     

阿尔金断裂带晚第四纪左旋走滑速率及其构造运动转换模式讨论

在高分辨率SPOT卫星数字影像和大比例尺航片处理、断错地貌制图、野外核实与位移测量基础上, 利用宇宙成因核素(¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al)、碳十四(¹⁴C)和热释光(TL)等多种测年手段, 厘定了各断错地貌面的形成年龄, 得到了阿尔金断裂带不同段落全新世左旋走滑速率: 阿克赛以西的中、西段左旋走滑速率可达(17.5±2) mm/a, 肃北-石包城段为(11±3.5) mm/a左右, 疏勒河口段减少到(4.8±1) mm/a左右, 东端宽滩山段仅约(2.2±0.2) mm/a, 左旋走滑速率突变点位于阿尔金断裂带中东段存在分支活动逆断层向南东扩展的肃北、石包城和疏勒河等三联点上. 矢量分析表明, 三联点东、西两侧左旋滑动速率的减少量转换成了阿尔金断裂带中东段南盘北西向活动逆断层上的地壳缩短和上盘推覆体抬升, 形成了党河南山、大雪山、祁连山等条块山地. 因此, 青藏高原北部物质向东挤出的速率和幅度是有限的, 符合“叠瓦状逆冲转换——有限挤出模型”.     

Identifying causes of ground-penetrating radar reflections using time-domain reflectometry and sedimentological analyses

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical technique widely used to study the shallow subsurface and identify various sediment features that reflect electromagnetic waves. However, little is known about the exact cause of GPR reflections because few studies have coupled wave theory to petrophysical data. In this study, a 100- and 200-MHz GPR survey was conducted on aeolian deposits in a quarry. Time-domain reflectometry (TDR) was used to obtain detailed information on the product of relative permittivity (ɛ_r) and relative magnetic permeability (μ_r), which mainly controls the GPR contrast parameter in the subsurface. Combining TDR data and lacquer peels from the quarry wall allowed the identification of various relationships between sediment characteristics and ɛ_rμ_r. Synthetic radar traces, constructed using the TDR logs and sedimentological data from the lacquer peels, were compared with the actual GPR sections. Numerous peaks in ɛ_rμ_r, which are superimposed on a baseline value of 4 for dry sand, are caused by potential GPR reflectors. These increases in ɛ_rμ_r coincide with the presence of either organic material, having a higher water content and relative permittivity than the surrounding sediment, or iron oxide bands, enhancing relative magnetic permeability and causing water to stagnate on top of them. Sedimentary structures, as reflected in textural change, only result in possible GPR reflections when the volumetric water content exceeds 0·055. The synthetic radar traces provide an improved insight into the behaviour of radar waves and show that GPR results may be ambiguous because of multiples and interference.     

Tensor structure and the least squares

It is shown that for linear parametric adjustment models all the least-squares equations can be obtained from a commutative diagram, where the observation and parameter spaces are regarded as covariant. Their contravariant counterparts are defined through the metric property of the covariance matrix of the observations.     

Equilibrium temperatures of interstellar iron grains

Because of the relatively low number densities found in typical interstellar clouds, molecules observed there must be produced by a combination of both two-body gas-phase reactions and surface reactions. The latter type includes various catalytic reactions, such as the formation of H₂ on transition metal grains. These reactions are very temperature dependent, the grain temperature appearing in the exponential of the rate equations. Because of the small heat capacities of the grains due to their small sizes, they may be subject to considerable fluctuations in temperature. This problem is examined for iron grains and found to be minimal for sizes greater than 100 Å. Steady-state equilibrium temperatures are then calculated for a size distribution of iron particles ranging from 10³ to 10⁹ atoms per grain by a refined method of an earlier work by one of us (RGT). The results are that iron grain temperatures are significantly greater than those of dielectric grains of comparable size in the same radiation field.     

The formation of saturn's satellites and rings,as influenced by saturn's contraction history

We have used Pollack et al.'s 1976 calculations of the quasi-equilibrium contraction of Saturn to study the influence of the planet's early high luminosity on the formation of its satellites and rings. Assuming that the condensation of ices ceased at the same time within Jupiter's and Saturn's primordial nebulae, and using limits for the time of cessation derived for Jupiter's system by Pollack and Reynolds (1974) and Cameron and Pollack (1975), we arrive at the following tentative conclusions. Titan is the innermost satellite at whose position a methane-containing ice could condense, a result consistent with the presence of methane in this satellite's atmosphere. Water ice may have been able to condense at the position of all the satellites, a result consistent with the occurrence of low-density satellites close to Saturn. The systematic decrease in the mass of Saturn's regular satellites with decreasing distance from Saturn may have been caused partially by the larger time intervals for the closer satellites between the start of contraction and the first condensation of ices at their positions and between the start of contraction and the time at which Saturn's radius became less than a satellite's orbital radius. Ammonia ices, principally NH₄SH, were able to condense at the positions of all but the innermost satellites.Water ice may bave been able to condense in the region of the rings close to the end of the condensation period. We speculate that the rings are unique to Saturn because on the one hand, temperatures within Jupiter's Roche limit never became cool enough for ice particles to form before the end of the condensation period and on the other hand, ice particles formed only very early within Uranus' and Neptune's Roche limits, and were eliminated by gas drag effects that caused them to spiral into the planet before the gas of these planets' nebula was eliminated. Gas drag would also have eliminated any rocky particles initially present inside the Roche limit.We also derive an independent estimate of several million years for the time between the start of the quasi-equilibrium contraction of Saturn and the cessation of condensation. This estimate is based on the density and mass characteristics of Saturn's satellites. Using this value rather than the one found for Jupiter's satellites, we find that the above conclusions about the rings and the condensation of methane-and ammonia-containing ices remain valid.     

Warm frontal structure in association with a rapidly deepening extratropical cyclone

Abstract

The detailed characteristics of a CASPII warm frontal passage are presented in this article. This storm, Intensive Operating Period (IOP) 13 (February 26–27, 1992), was observed in detail with an array of diverse instruments. It has the advantage over earlier freezing precipitation studies of having simultaneous, in situ and remote sensing measurements by aircraft and ground‐based Doppler radar.

The associated precipitation was in the form of banded structures parallel to the front. Within these bands were embedded precipitation cores, some parallel to the band, some perpendicular. The warm front itself was characterized by major perturbations in its kinematic and thermodynamic features. The cores oriented parallel to the front were the result of embedded convection generated, at least in part, by the irregularities in the frontal surface.

The cores oriented perpendicular to the front were closely associated with the 0°C isotherm on the underside of the frontal inversion. Precipitation phase changes played a significant role in the occurrence of wide near 0°C regions, both vertically and horizontally. These regions had a profound influence on the observed precipitation types and led to complex precipitation‐thermodynamic‐dynamic interactions. Instabilities produced by these interactions are seen in wave‐like features observed by the Doppler radar in these regions, both parallel and perpendicular to the frontal zone.     

Evaluation of ferrous and ferric Mössbauer fractions

The Mössbauer fractions f for various ferrous- and/or ferric-containing oxides and oxyhydroxides, silicates and carbonates were evaluated from the experimental temperature dependence of their center shifts, using the Debye approximation for the second-order Doppler shift. It is concluded that ferrous ions exhibit a lower fraction as compared to ferric ions. Using standard mixtures of -Fe₂O₃ with selected Fe²⁺ or Fe³⁺ compounds, it is found that the calculated Fe³⁺ f values are somewhat overestimated with respect to those of Fe²⁺. Possible explanations for this shortcoming are discussed and it is suggested that a different temperature dependence of the intrinsic isomer shift is the most likely reason. This suggestion is corroborated by analyses of hematite and hedenbergite data which are available for temperatures up to 900 K and 800 K respectively.