Isotopic evidence of TSR origin for natural gas bearing high H_2S contents within the Feixianguan Formation of the northeastern Sichuan Basin, southwestern China

Isotopic evidence of TSR origin for natural gas bearing high H2S contents 1961 As the hazardous component of natural gas, the ex-istence of H2S, due to its extremely strong toxicity and corrosivity, not only decreases the percentage of hy-drocarbon gas within natural gas and reduces its in-dustrial value, it also threatens each aspect of drilling and exploitation. It frequently causes serious safety accidents[1] and leads to the E&P cost and risk of natural gas with higher H2S contents be…     

Vertical dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics of urban lower boundary layer and its relationship with aerosol concentration over Beijing

By utilizing observational data from a 325 m tower of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on March 19-29, 2001 and August 11-25, 2003, a comprehensive study was conducted on the vertical dynamical and thermodynamic characteristics of the urban lower boundary layer (ULBL) and its relationship with aerosol concentration over Beijing. Firstly, a comparative analysis was made on the gradient data (wind, temperature and humidity), ultrasonic data (atmospheric turbulences) and air-quality observations at different tower heights (47, 120 and 280 m). Secondly, a diagnosis was made to reveal the major features of normalized variances of velocity and temperature, turbulence kinetic energy as well as their relationship with aerosol concentrations. Furthermore, the characteristics of the ULBL vertical structure and the TSP concentration/distribution variations during a sand/dust weather process were also analyzed. The outcome of the study showed that under unstable stratification, the normalized variances of velocity (σu/u*, σv/u*, σw/u*) and temperature (σT/T*) at 47 and 120 m heights fit the Monin-Obukhov similarity (MOS) framework and the fitting formulas were given out accordingly. According to the stratification parameter (z′/L), the stable ULBL could be divided into 2 zones. With z′/L<0.1, it was a weakly stable zone and MOS framework was applicable. The other was a highly stable zone with z′/L>0.1 and the normalized velocity variances tended to increase along with higher stability, but it remained constant for normalized temperature variances. At daytime, the near-surface layer includes two heights of 47 and 120 m, while 280 m has been above it. The ULBL analysis in conjunction with a sand/dust weather process in Beijing in March 2001 indicated that the maximum concentration of Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) at 320 m reached 913.3 μg/m3 and the particles were transported from the upper to lower ULBL, which was apparently related to the development process of a low-level jet and its concomitant strong sinking motion.     

Spatial character of the gaseous and particulate state compound correlation of urban atmospheric pollution in winter and summer

The spatial/temporal variation information of atmospheric dynamic-chemical processes at observation site points of the "canopy" boundary of Beijing urban building ensemble and over urban area "surface", as well as the seasonal correlation structure of the gaseous and particulate states of urban atmospheric pollution (UAP) and its seasonal conversion feature at observation points are investigated, using the comprehensive observation data of the Beijing City Air Pollution Observation Experiment (BECAPEX) in winter and summer 2003 with a "point-surface" combined research approach. By using "one dimension spatial empirical orthogonal function (EOF)" principal component analysis (PCA) mode, the seasonal change of gaseous and particulate states of atmospheric aerosols and the association feature of pollutant species under the background of the complicated structure of urban boundary layer (UBL) are analyzed. The comprehensive analyses of the principal components of particle concentrations,gaseous pollutant species, and meteorological conditions reveal the seasonal changes of the complex constituent and structure features of the gaseous and particulate states of UAP to further trace the impact feature of urban aerosol pollution surface sources and the seasonal difference of the component structure of UAP. Research results suggest that in the temporal evolution of the gaseous and particulate states of winter/summer UAP, NOx, CO, and SO2 showed an "in-phase" evolution feature, however, O3 showed an "inverse-phase" relation with other species,all possessing distinctive dependent feature. On the whole, summer concentrations of gaseous pollutants CO, SO2, and NOx were obviously lower than winter ones, especially, the reduction in CO concentration was most distinctive, and ones in SO2 and NOx were next. However, the summer O3 concentration was more than twice winter one. Winter/summer differences in PM10and PM2.5 particle concentrations were relatively not obvious, which indicates that responses of PM10 and PM2.5 particle concentrations to the difference of winter/summer heating period emission sources are far less distinctive than those of NOx, SO2, and CO. The correlation feature of winter/summer gaseous and particulate states depicts that both PM10 and PM2.5 particles were significantly correlated with NOx, and their correlations with NOx are more significant than those with other pollutants. Through PCA, it is found that there was a distinctive difference in the principal component combination structure of winter/summer PM10 and PM2.5 particles: SO2 and NOx dominated in the principal component of winter PM10 and PM2.5 particles; while CO and NOx played the major role in the principal component of summer PM10 and PM2.5 particles. For winter/summer PM10 and PM2.5 particles, there might exist the gaseous and particulate states correlation structures of different "combinations" of such dependent pollutant species. Research results also uncover that the interaction processes of gaseous and particulate states were also related with the vertical structure of UBL, that is to say, the low value layer of UBL O3 concentration was associated with the collocation of atmospheric vertical structures of the low level inversion,inverse humidity, and small wind, which depicts summer boundary layer atmospheric character, i.e.the compound impact of the dependent factor "combination" of wind, temperature, and humidity elements and their collocation structure on the variations of different gaseous pollutant concentrations. Such a depth structure of the extremely low value of O3 concentration in the UBL accords with its "inverse-phase" relation with other gaseous pollutant species. The PCA of meteorological factors associated with PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations also reveals the sensitivity of PM10 and PM2.5 concentration to the combinatory feature of local meteorological conditions.     

The variation of sediments organic carbon content in Chongming east tidal flat during Scirpus mariqueter growing stage

The investigations on the organic carbon (OC) of core sediments were carried out in Chongming east tidal flat (CM) during Scirpus mariqueter growing stage (from April to December 2004) in Yangtze Estuary. The Yangtze River annually transports a runoff discharge of 30,000 m3/s, carrying about 480 million tons of sediments to the estuarine and coastal area, which formed a great OC pool. In the sampling spots, seven quadrats of 50 cm × 50 cm and five sediments cores of 20 cm deep (40 cm deep in December) were randomly established in order to collect vegetations and core sediments samples during the low tide each month except November. After pretreatment, the core sediments were sieved and their OC contents were measured according to the potassium dichromate method. The results show that the higher surface sediment OC content in summer comes from allochthonous terrigenous particle settlements on the Chongming east middle tidal flat S. mariqueter zone. In autumn and winter, the decomposing of the defoliated S. mariqueter increases the surface sediments OC content. Settling velocity, sediment temperature and S. mariqueter growth are the main factors that can control the sediment carbon content. Summer is the "carbon losing" period of the tidal flat sediments, while from September, it changes into the "carbon accumulating" period of sediment OC pool because of the decomposing of dead S. mariqueter community in the sediments. From this alternation of "carbon losing" period and "carbon accumulating" period, we conclude that carbon in the OC pool of the middle tidal flat S. mariqueter zone sediments mainly comes from the atmospheric carbon rooted by S. mariqueter photosynthesis.     

沙坡头没蒿和柠条叶片δ13C 和 N 含量的季节变化特征

通过对腾格里沙漠东南缘沙坡头人工固沙区油蒿和柠条叶片稳定碳同位素分辨率（△）和N 含量的测定，研究了不同种植方式下油蒿和柠条叶片△ 和 N 含量的季节变化及其关系。结果表明：在不同种植方式下，两种植物的△ 与 N 含量在不同月份之间均存在显著差异。油蒿叶片 △ 极显著高于柠条的：在不同种植方式下，油蒿单种下 △ 显著高于混种，柠条则反之。 油蒿叶片 N 含量极显著低于柠条的：不同种植方式下柠条叶片 N 含量无显著差异，而单种油蒿叶片 N 含量则显著低于混种。在 △ 与 N 含量的关系中，柠条叶片 △ 与 N 在两种生境、单种和混种下均极显著正相关，雨明柠条叶片 N 含量可以作为其 △ 与 N 含量的季节变化及其关系在不同微生境有所差异。     

Mercury and methylmercury biogeochemistry in a thawing permafrost wetland complex,Northwest Territories,Canada

In arctic and sub‐arctic environments, mercury (Hg), more specifically toxic methylmercury (MeHg), is of growing concern to local communities because of its accumulation in fish. In these regions, there is particular interest in the potential mobilization of atmospherically deposited Hg sequestered in permafrost that is thawing at unprecedented rates. Permafrost thaw and the resulting ground surface subsidence transforms forested peat plateaus into treeless and permafrost‐free thermokarst wetlands where inorganic Hg released from the thawed permafrost and draining from the surrounding peat plateaus may be transformed to MeHg. This study begins to characterize the spatial distribution of MeHg in a peat plateau–thermokarst wetland complex, a feature that prevails throughout the wetland‐dominated southern margin of thawing discontinuous permafrost in Canada's Northwest Territories. We measured pore water total Hg, MeHg, dissolved organic matter characteristics and general water chemistry parameters to evaluate the role of permafrost thaw on the pattern of water chemistry. A gradient in vegetation composition, water chemistry and dissolved organic matter characteristics followed a toposequence from the ombrotrophic bogs near the crest of the complex to poor fens at its downslope margins. We found that pore waters in poor fens contained elevated levels of MeHg, and the water draining from these features had dissolved MeHg concentrations 4.5 to 14.5 times higher than the water draining from the bogs. It was determined through analysis of historical aerial images that the poor fens in the toposequence had formed relatively recently (early 1970s) as a result of permafrost thaw. Differences between the fens and bogs are likely to be a result of their differences in groundwater function, and this suggests that permafrost thaw in this landscape can result in hotspots for Hg methylation that are hydrologically connected to downstream ecosystems. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Precessional forcing of tropical vegetation carbon storage

Since the Mid Pleistocene Revolution, which occurred about one million years ago, global temperatures have fluctuated with a quasi‐periodicity of ca. 100 ka. The pattern of past change in the extent of woodlands, and therefore by inference vegetation carbon storage, has been demonstrated to have a strong positive link with this global temperature change at high and mid latitudes. However, understanding of climate systems and ecosystem function indicates that the pattern of woodland change at low latitudes may follow a fundamentally different pattern. We present output from the intermediate complexity model GENIE‐1, comprising a single transient simulation over the last 800 ka and a 174‐member ensemble of 130 ka transient simulations over the last glacial cycle. These simulations suggest that while vegetation carbon storage in mid–high northern latitudes robustly follows the characteristic ca. 100 ka cycle, this signal is not a robust feature of tropical vegetation, which is subject to stronger direct forcing by the precessional (21 ka) orbital cycle (albeit with a highly uncertain response). We conclude that the correlation of palaeoenvironmental records from low latitudes with global temperature change must be done with caution. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modified Rindler acceleration as a nonlinear electromagnetic effect

The model proposed originally by Mannheim and Kazanas for fitting the shapes of galactic rotation curves has recently been considered by Grumiller to describe gravity of a central object at large distances. Herein we employ the same geometry within the context of nonlinear electrodynamics (NED). Pure electrical NED model is shown to generate the novel Rindler acceleration term in the metric which explains anomalous behaviors of test particles/satellites. Remarkably a pure magnetic model of NED yields flat rotation curves that may account for the missing dark matter. Weak and strong energy conditions are satisfied in such models of NED.     

A critical evaluation of multi‐proxy dendroclimatology in northern Finland

Twentieth‐century summer (July–August) temperatures in northern Finland are reconstructed using ring widths, maximum density and stable carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C) of Scots pine tree rings, and using combinations of these proxies. Verification is based on the coefficient of determination (r²), reduction of error (RE) and coefficient of efficiency (CE) statistics. Of the individual proxies, δ¹³C performs best, followed by maximum density. Combining δ¹³C and maximum density strengthens the climate signal but adding ring widths leads to little improvement. Blue intensity, an inexpensive alternative to X‐ray densitometry, is shown to perform similarly. Multi‐proxy reconstruction of summer temperatures from a single site produces strong correlations with gridded climate data over most of northern Fennoscandia. Since relatively few trees are required (<15) the approach could be applied to long sub‐fossil chronologies where replication may be episodically low. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A long‐term study of stable isotopes as tracers of processes governing water flow and quality in a lowland river basin: the upper Thames,UK

A long‐term study of O, H and C stable isotopes has been undertaken on river waters across the 7000‐km² upper Thames lowland river basin in the southern UK. During the period, flow conditions ranged from drought to flood. A 10‐year monthly record (2003–2012) of the main River Thames showed a maximum variation of 3‰ (δ¹⁸O) and 20‰ (δ²H), although interannual average values varied little around a mean of –6.5‰ (δ¹⁸O) and –44‰ (δ²H). A δ²H/δ¹⁸O slope of 5.3 suggested a degree of evaporative enrichment, consistent with derivation from local rainfall with a weighted mean of –7.2‰ (δ¹⁸O) and –48‰ (δ²H) for the period. A tendency towards isotopic depletion of the river with increasing flow rate was noted, but at very high flows (>100 m³/s), a reversion to the mean was interpreted as the displacement of bank storage by rising groundwater levels (corroborated by measurements of specific electrical conductivity). A shorter quarterly study (October 2011–April 2013) of isotope variations in 15 tributaries with varying geology revealed different responses to evaporation, with a well‐correlated inverse relationship between Δ¹⁸O and baseflow index for most of the rivers. A comparison with aquifer waters in the basin showed that even at low flow, rivers rarely consist solely of isotopically unmodified groundwater. Long‐term monitoring (2003–2007) of carbon stable isotopes in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the Thames revealed a complex interplay between respiration, photosynthesis and evasion, but with a mean interannual δ¹³C‐DIC value of –14.8 ± 0.5‰, exchange with atmospheric carbon could be ruled out. Quarterly monitoring of the tributaries (October 2011–April 2013) indicated that in addition to the aforementioned factors, river flow variations and catchment characteristics were likely to affect δ¹³C‐DIC. Comparison with basin groundwaters of different alkalinity and δ¹³C‐DIC values showed that the origin of river baseflow is usually obscured. The findings show that long‐term monitoring of environmental tracers can help to improve the understanding of how lowland river catchments function. Copyright © NERC 2015. Hydrological Processes © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.