Diurnal variation of nitric oxide emission flux from a mangrove wetland in Zhangjiang River Estuary,China

The diurnal variation of nitric oxide (NO) emission fluxes from a Kandelia obovata and Avicennia marina mangrove wetland were studied in the Zhangjiang River Estuary Mangrove National Nature Reserve using a dynamic chamber-based technique and a chemiluminescent analyzer. Results from field experiments show that NO emission from K. obovata and A. marina sampling sites reached maximal values of 1.07 ng N m⁻² s⁻¹ and 1.23 ng N m⁻² s⁻¹, respectively after the night tide. Meanwhile NO emission maintained at a steady lower level in daytime for both wetland sites. In laboratory experiments, NO emission from the mangrove wetland soil samples treated with simulated tides in the darkness exhibited higher values than those in the light, therefore it seems that tides and darkness could increase NO emission from mangrove wetlands, while intensive light, high temperature, and dryness in the daytime decreased NO emission. Compared with K. obovata soil samples, the diurnal average NO emission rate of the A. marina site was significantly higher, which was closely related to relatively higher diurnal average CO₂ emission rate, soil available nitrogen content and soil net nitrification rate of the A. marina site. Moreover, soil samples of the A. marina site were more responsive to simulated tides and the addition of nitrogen than those of the K. obovata site.     

1003号台风“灿都”风暴潮特征分析与模拟

根据粤西沿海4个海洋站潮位资料分析、讨论了“灿都”台风风暴潮特征:利用改进的Jelesnianski风场,并采用耦合天文潮模拟与非耦合天文潮两种方案,对1003号台风“灿都”进行模拟、分析,模拟结果显示:在改进的杰氏风场驱动下,两种预报结果误差都比较小,但耦合天文潮预报结果优于非耦合天文潮预报结果.     

Distribution of dissolved species and suspended particulate copper in an intertidal ecosystem affected by copper mine tailings in Northern Chile

The coastline near Chañaral in Northern Chile is one of the most highly Cu-contaminated zones in the world due to discharges from mining activities for more than 60 years. The speciation of Cu has been studied to determine the importance of organic complexation in highly contaminated areas, and to assess the likely physiological impacts of Cu on marine organisms. Dissolved Cu concentrations of up to 500 nM were measured, completely saturating organic ligands and leading to free Cu²⁺ concentrations in excess of 10^− 8 M. These values are higher than those reported in any other marine environment, and because they occur over an extensive area, provide a unique opportunity to study the effects of Cu on marine ecosystems and to see how Cu behaves when its speciation is predominantly inorganic. We found strong gradients in free Cu²⁺ between Chañaral and adjacent areas with lower Cu, where speciation is dominated by organic complexation. There is also a significant increase in the partitioning of Cu onto suspended particles in the contaminated areas, consistent with previous studies that showed that organic ligands stabilize Cu in the dissolved phase, whilst “excess” Cu is rapidly scavenged. Those high dissolved Cu concentrations persist in spite of solid phase partitioning and advective processes along this open-ocean coastline, suggesting that Cu inputs into the system are still very large. Measurements were made using anodic stripping voltammetry with a thin mercury film coated with Nafion, which previous workers have shown can mitigate ambiguity in the data arising from inadvertent reduction of organic complexes. Our findings suggest that this is a useful methodology for contaminated systems.     

Distribution of suspended particulate matter in the northern Bohai Bay in summer and its relation with thermocline

Field observations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the Bohai Bay, China have not been widely reported. The aim of this paper is to describe the horizontal and vertical distribution of mass and volume concentrations of SPM, respectively, based on observed data at 312 stations in the northern Bohai Bay during summer of 2006. A numerical model ECOMSED coupled with a sediment transport module was also established to further discuss the mechanism of the thermocline effect on the vertical distribution of SPM. The mass concentrations of SPM exhibited high inshore values and low offshore values in the horizontal distribution; while in the vertical direction, characteristics of the volume concentration of SPM can be divided into two types: one with a sharp peak at depth of 10–15 m and another without. The peak value at the depth of the thermocline was resulted from concentrated phytoplankton. A numerical experiment further displayed that the thermocline can also prevent particles from being resuspended upward.     

Environmental dependence of stellar mass,SFR, and SSFR for the Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) sample of the SDSS DR7

Using the Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7), we investigate the environmental dependence of stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR) and specific star formation rate (SSFR) of LRGs. It is found that stellar mass of LRGs nearly is independent of local environments, and that the environmental dependence of SFR and SSFR in the LRG sample is much weaker than the one in the Main galaxy sample. One possible explanation is that galaxy color and morphology are a pair of galaxy properties most predictive of local environments, while LRGs are a group of galaxies that are likely to be luminous, red and of early types (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Possible 456-Day Optical Period of OQ 530

The post-1994observationsof the blazar OQ 530 in optical BV RI bands, and radio observations at 22GHz and 37GHz were collected. The date compensated discrete Fourier transform (DCDFT) and CLEANest methods were used to search for possible periodicities. Two possible periods of 456±100 days and 258±29 days were found in the optical bands. The existence of possible correlations between the optical and radio emissions was investigated by means of discrete correlation function (DCF) analysis, and no significant correlation was found. Some possible mechanisms for the periodic variability are discussed.     

A Statistical Study of Rapid Sunspot Structure Change Associated with Flares

We reported recently some rapid changes of sunspot structure in white-light(WL) associated with major flares.We extend the study to smaller events and present here results of a statistical study of this phenomenon.In total,we investigate 403 events from 1998 May 9 to 2004 July 17,including 40 X-class,174 M-class,and 189 C-class flares.By monitoring the structure of the flaring active regions using the WL observations from the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer(TRACE),we find that segments in the outer sunspot structure decayed rapidly right after many flares;and that,on the other hand,the central part of sunspots near the flare-associated magnetic neutral line became darkened.These rapid and permanent changes are evidenced in the time profiles of WL mean intensity and are not likely resulted from the flare emissions.Our study further shows that the outer sunspot structure decay as well as the central structure darkening are more likely to be detected in larger solar flares.For X-class flares,over 40% events show distinct sunspot structure change.For M-and C-class flares,this percentage drops to 17% and 10%,respectively.The results of this statistical study support our previously proposed reconnection picture,i.e.,the flare-related magnetic fields evolve from a highly inclined to a more vertical configuration.     

Exotic ion H 3 ++ in strong magnetic fields

1. The exotic system H ₃ ⁺⁺ (which does not exist without magnetic field) exists in strong magnetic fields:
   1. In triangular configuration for B≈10⁸–10¹¹?G (under specific external conditions)
   2. In linear configuration for B>10¹⁰?G
2. In the linear configuration the positive z-parity states 1σ _g , 1π _u , 1δ _g are bound states
3. In the linear configuration the negative z-parity states 1σ _u , 1π _g , 1δ _u are repulsive states
4. The H ₃ ⁺⁺ molecular ion is the most bound one-electron system made from protons at B>3×10¹³?G

Possible application: The H ₃ ⁺⁺ molecular ion may appear as a component of a neutron star atmosphere under a strong surface magnetic field B=10¹²–10¹³?G.     

A star-based method for precise wavelength calibration of the Chinese Space Station Telescope(CSST) slitless spectroscopic survey

The Chinese Space Station Telescope(CSST)spectroscopic survey aims to deliver high-quality low-resolution(R>200)slitless spectra for hundreds of millions of targets down to a limiting magnitude of about 21 mag,distributed within a large survey area(17500 deg2)and covering a wide wavelength range(255-1000 nm by three bands GU,GV,and GI).As slitless spectroscopy precludes the usage of wavelength calibration lamps,wavelength calibration is one of the most challenging issues in the reduction of slitless spectra,yet it plays a key role in measuring precise radial velocities of stars and redshifts of galaxies.In this work,we propose a star-based method that can monitor and correct for possible errors in the CSST wavelength calibration using normal scientific observations,taking advantage of the facts that(ⅰ)there are about ten million stars with reliable radial velocities now available thanks to spectroscopic surveys like LAMOST,(ⅱ)the large field of view of CSST enables efficient observations of such stars in a short period of time,and(ⅲ)radial velocities of such stars can be reliably measured using only a narrow segment of CSST spectra.We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a wavelength calibration precision of a few km s^-1 for the GU band,and about 10 to 20 kms^-1 for the GV and GI bands,with only a few hundred velocity standard stars.Implementations of the method to other surveys are also discussed.