Aragonite undersaturation in Gwangyang Bay,South Korea: Effects of fresh water input

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and alkalinity were precisely measured for surface and bottom waters in Gwangyang Bay, Korea, during the four seasons to assess seasonal variations of aragonite saturation state (Ω_arag). Both the surface and bottom waters were undersaturated with respect to aragonite during summer but were supersaturated during the other seasons. The summertime undersaturation of the surface waters with respect to aragonite may have been a result of the dilution effect caused by higher seasonal river runoff. In the bottom waters, the average DIC concentration increased by 40.6 μmol kg^?1 from spring to summer, while the average alkalinity decreased by 74.7 μeq kg^?1. As a result, the alkalinity/DIC ratio decreased from 1.07 in spring to 1.01 in summer and pH also decreased from 7.91 to 7.48, which resulted in the summertime undersaturation of the bottom waters.     

Observational climatology and characteristics of wintertime atmospheric blocking over Ural–Siberia

This study investigates the climatological aspects and temporal characteristics of wintertime Ural-Siberian blocking (USB, centered over 30°–100°E), for the period 1980/1981–2009/2010. Sixty-eight events are identified and their physical structure is diagnosed using thermodynamic and geostrophic vorticity tendency equations. In climatology, horizontal advections play a fundamental role in constructing a USB event, in which the anticyclonic center is a warm core in the troposphere and a cold core in the lower stratosphere. The decay of the thermal structure is related to diabatic cooling along the vertical structure and warm advection in the lower stratosphere. Meanwhile, the collapse of the height structure is caused primarily by cyclonic vorticity advection. A strong interrelationship exists between the intensity and extension of USB events. The temporal characteristics of USB events are analyzed by examining strong and weak events, which are of high and low intensity. The strong events are probably preceded by an open ridge over Europe and a cyclogenesis over the Mediterranean Sea, and their formation is followed by the stronger amplification of a Rossby wave packet across Eurasia. On the other hand, the weak events are likely to be triggered by surface cold anomalies over Siberia. Overall, the evolution of a USB event forms a dynamic linkage with the Siberian high, in which the decay stage of the USB event is accompanied by a southeastward migration of the Siberian high and a subsequent cold air outbreak in East Asia. These results advance our understanding of USB and its relationship with East Asian winter monsoon activities.     

The influence of vegetation variation on Northeast Asian dust activity

In this study, we investigate the influence of vegetation variations on dust activity (dust load, dust transport in the troposphere, and dust weather frequency) over Northeast Asia during springtime. By using the Integrated Wind Erosion Modeling System, two model experiments are run over four-month periods, from February 1 to May 31, for each year from 1982 to 2006; one experiment uses the observed atmospheric conditions and vegetation (OBS), and the other uses the specified atmospheric conditions in 2006 and the observed vegetation (CTRL). Comparison of the two model experiments reveals that there are sensitive regions in southeastern Mongolia and central northern China, in which vegetation has a large potential to influence dust activity due to both the high dust emission rate and large variations in vegetation coverage. Over these sensitive regions, vegetation effectively lessens dust loads on interannual and interdecadal timescales; dust load is decreased by 2864 μg m^?2 for an increment of 0.1 in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Vegetation increase in the sensitive areas also reduces two major branches of dust transports in the low troposphere; one stretches from eastern Mongolia to regions northeastward, and the other flows across the south of northeastern China to Korea. In addition to dust loads and transports, vegetation increase in the sensitive areas evidently decreases dust storm frequency and blowing dust frequency, but it exerts a weak influence on the floating dust frequency. In the sensitive regions, as NDVI increases by 0.1, dust storms, blowing dust, and floating dust decrease by 4.0 days/spring, 1.5 days/spring, and 0.2 days/spring, respectively. In summary, vegetation variations in southeastern Mongolia and central northern China have considerable impact on northeast Asian dust during springtime.     

Dynamic response of flexible rockfall barriers under different loading geometries

Flexible steel barriers are commonly constructed on steep hillsides to mitigate rockfall. The evaluation of the dynamic response of proprietary flexible barriers is conventionally performed using full-scale field tests by dropping a weight onto the barriers in accordance with the European test standard ETAG 27. The weight typically has a spherical or polyhedral shape and cannot reproduce more complex rockfall scenarios encountered in the field. A rigid slab may load a barrier over a larger area and its effect has not been investigated. In this study, a calibrated three-dimensional finite-element model was developed to study the performance of vertically and horizontally orientated rockfall barriers under concentrated areal impact loads. A new bilinear force-displacement model was incorporated into the model to simulate the behavior of the energy-dissipating devices on the barriers. The effect of different weight geometries was studied by considering impacts by a rigid single spherical boulder and a rigid slab. Results reveal that areal loading induced by a rigid slab increases the loading on the barrier foundation by up to 40 % in both horizontally and vertically positioned barriers when compared to a concentrated load scenario with a single boulder. This indicates that barriers tested under the current test standard does not give the worst-case scenario in terms of foundation loads, and barrier designers should take into account the possible effect of increased foundation loads by reinforcing the barrier posts and/or increasing their spacing.     

Microbial fuel cell operation using nitrate as terminal electron acceptor for simultaneous organic and nutrient removal

A double-chambered biocathode microbial fuel cell with carbon felt employed as electrodes was developed for wastewater treatment and bioelectricity generation simultaneously. The system was operated in fed-batch mode for over eight batches. The effect of circuit connections on organic and nitrate reduction was investigated. The maximum power density recorded was 21.97 mW/m² at current density of 88.57 mA/m². The Coulombic efficiency and internal resistance of the system were 5% and 100 Ω. Up to 89.9 ± 5.9% of chemical oxygen demand reduction efficiency achieved with an influent of 1123 ± 28 mg/L. There was no significant difference in the chemical oxygen demand reduction when system operated in either open or closed circuit. This study clearly showed that higher nitrate reduction efficiency obtained in closed circuit (74.7 ± 7.0%) due to bio-electrochemical denitrification compared to only 41.7% in the open circuit. The result also successfully demonstrated nitrate as terminal electron acceptor for the cathodic nitrate reduction.     

Statistical features of eddies approaching the Kuroshio east of Taiwan Island and Luzon Island

This study examined the statistical features of eddies approaching the Kuroshio east of Taiwan Island and Luzon Island. In total, 315 eddies (138 anticyclonic and 177 cyclonic eddies) were detected from 19.5 years of satellite altimeter sea-level data, with more than 95% of these eddies being generated in the ocean west of the Mariana Islands. Eddy trajectory statistics indicated that eddies frequently intrude into the Kuroshio regime at two latitude bands, namely 18°N–19°N and 22°N–23°N, with periods of 146 ± 62 and 165 ± 46 days, respectively. The interaction time is longer within the two active bands (33 ± 10 days at 18°N–19°N and 45 ± 17 days at 22°N–23°N) than at other latitudes. These two eddy-intrusion bands are associated with the northern and southern Subtropical Countercurrents (STCCs). These STCCs have a vertically reversed sign of the meridional potential vorticity gradient, thus providing a key energy source for eddy generation. In addition, when westward-propagating eddies approach the Ryukyu Islands, the southwestward recirculation flow east of the island chain as well as topographic effects cause some eddies to head southwestward to the east of Taiwan and intrude into the Kuroshio at 22°N–23°N, rather than to dissipate directly. Therefore, we suggest that the STCCs play a key role in inducing the eddies to frequently intrude into the Kuroshio at 18°N–19°N and 22°N–23°N. In addition, the Ryukyu Islands are responsible for concentrating the eddies within 22°N–23°N.     

Morphological identification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alexandrium</Emphasis> species (Dinophyceae) from Jinhae-Masan Bay,Korea

Outbreaks of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) and dense blooms caused by Alexandrium species in Jinhae-Masan Bay, Korea have been nearly annual events for many years. However, excluding some Alexandrium species responsible for PSP, there are no critical reports on the morphology of Alexandrium species in this bay. To identify the Alexandrium species based on detailed morphological features, vegetative cells collected water samples and established by the incubation of resting cysts isolated from sediment trap samples were analyzed. Four species of Alexandrium were identified: Alexandrium affine, A. fundyense, A. catenella, and A. insuetum. Morphological features of these species were basically consistent with those outlined in previous studies. However, the ventral pore and the connecting pore on the sulcal plate, which have been accepted as diagnostic characteristics for the identification of A. fundyense and A. catenella, need to be reevaluated, indicating that useful morphological features for identifying these two species should be recommended to avoid confusion in the classification of species in genus Alexandrium.