Genetic structure of the tall sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis in NW Scottish sea lochs

The tall sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis has a patchy distribution around the UK, being found in sheltered waters below 20 m depth on the northwest coast of Scotland and Ireland. The limited distribution and sensitivity to bottom fishing activities make F. quadrangularis vulnerable to reduction in population numbers that may lead to genetic isolation and reduced diversity. Because of this vulnerability and low resilience to physical disturbance, the tall sea pen is recognised as a Species of Principle Importance under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act, 2006, UK. ( http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/16/contents ) and is also on the Biodiversity Action Plan list of Priority Species for the UK. In the Mediterranean it is recognised as a sensitive and essential fish habitat because it forms habitat for several commercially important crustaceans. The aim of this study was to understand the current state of the genetic structure and gene flow of F. quadrangularis in areas of NW Scotland. We developed 10 microsatellite markers and used them to genotype 176 samples from four populations. Overall, our results suggest that there is high genetic diversity and high gene flow between colonies of F. quadrangularis in and among locations in Loch Linnhe and Loch Duich. As a result of the high rates of gene flow, genetic differentiation between sites was low. This may provide resilience to human impacts if distant populations have a high connectivity. However, care must be taken, as small but significant isolation by distance was found between the most geographically distant sites and only a small part of the species range was examined in this study. The genetic tools developed here will provide a foundation for wider studies of this vulnerable species.     

Atypical occlusion process caused by the merger of a sea-breeze front and gust front

An atypical occlusion process that occurred in North China on 14 July 2011 is studied based on both observations and a real-data Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulation. The results show that this atypical occlusion process was significantly different from the traditional, synoptic-scale occlusion process that occurs within extratropical cyclones. It was caused by the merger of two cold-type mesoscale fronts. One of the fronts developed from the gust front of convective storms, while the other was a sea-breeze front. As the two fronts moved towards each other, the warm air between them was squeezed and separated from the surface. An atypical occluded front was formed when the two fronts merged, with the warm air forced aloft. This kind of occlusion is termed a "merger" process, different from the well-known "catch-up" and "wrap-up" processes. Moreover, local convection was found to be enhanced during the merger process, with severe convective weather produced in the merger area.     

一次西南低涡东移引发长江中下游暴雨的诊断研究

利用常规观测资料和NECP再分析资料,对2013年6月6—7日西南低涡东移加强发展造成长江中下游大暴雨过程进行了诊断分析,重点探讨了西南低涡东移和发展维持的物理机制以及最强降水的变化特征。结果表明,沿着700 hPa高空切变线东移的西南低涡是造成此次长江中下游地区暴雨的直接影响系统,西南低涡沿着700 hPa切变线东移发展,深厚阶段正涡度柱伸展到400 hPa高度,自下而上呈近垂直结构。西南低涡附近低层辐合与高层辐散的大尺度环境条件、西南低涡与西南低空急流耦合发展动力结构、低空暖平流和高空槽前正涡度平流输送等条件是导致西南低涡东移到长江中下游后加强发展的主要因子。与西南低涡相伴随的强降雨区主要位于低涡南部3个纬距以内,该处的西南季风和副高西南侧东南气流两支水汽输送的汇合为暴雨发生提供了充沛的水汽和对流不稳定能量,而对流层中低层携带的冷空气侵入低层低涡的后部,不仅加强了低涡的斜压性,也促进了上冷下暖不稳定层结的产生和发展,为强降水的发生提供了不稳定对流触发条件。     

银河系卫星星系研究进展

对银河系内卫星星系进行全面的"人口普查"具有重要的意义。目前已经发现了二十几个卫星星系,其光度范围分布很广,最暗的矮星系比球状星体还暗。叙述了卫星星系的光度分布、空间分布和动力学性质。总结了观测和理论研究进展,并讨论了星流和伽玛射线在研究银河系结构和暗物质性质方面的贡献。表明了卫星星系的统计分布能用来很好地限制冷暗物质理论和星系形成的相关物理过程,同时指出当前研究的局限性和可能的发展方向。     

The influence of thermohaline fronts on chlorophyll a concentrations during spring and summer in the southeastern Yellow Sea

A spatial and temporal variation in physiochemical parameters in the southeastern Yellow Sea(YS) is investigated in the spring and summer of 2009 to 2011.Nutrient show a strong negative relationship with chlorophyll a(Chl a) concentration in spring,and the subsurface chlorophyll a maxima(SCM) layer was associated with the nitracline in summer.In summer,the SCM was usually found within or above the pycnocline and at the depths of shoals from the open sea to the coastal sea due to tidal and/or topographical fronts in the southernmost study area.High Chl a concentrations were found in the central southern YS,where the YS cold water layer expanded under the pycnocline and encountered water masses during spring and summer.After a typhoon in the summer of 2011,Chl a concentration increased,especially in the central southern YS,where cold waters occurred below the pycnocline.The results suggest that the development of thermohaline fronts may play an important role in the growth and accumulation of phytoplankton biomass in the upper layer of the southeastern YS during spring and summer.     

干旱区坎儿井与山前凹陷地下水库

在分析研究坎儿井主要技术特点的基础上,结合河流冲洪积扇地形地貌特征、储水构造以及水资源转化特点,提出了建设山前凹陷带"横坎儿井式"地下水库的具体思路,并以台兰河地下水库示范工程为例,对构筑"横坎儿井式"地下水库的可行性及其"引渗回补"调蓄系统、"横坎儿井"集水系统、"自流虹吸"输水系统三大工程组成部分的结构设计原理进行了初步的探讨.山前凹陷地下水库是非常理想的应急抗旱水源工程,其研究和示范工程,为干旱区内陆河流域地表水与地下水联合调度、水资源高效利用探索出了一种新模式.     

基于遥感技术的龙门山前山带烃类微渗漏信息提取

通过对龙门山前山带含油区与非含油区的岩石、土壤、植被等进行测试,认为烃类微渗漏会造成地表热异常、红层褪色、低价铁富集以及粘土矿化等现象,并对研究区的粘土矿物、Fe3+、Fe2+与烃类的波普曲线特征进行了分析对比。以ETM卫星图像为主要信息源,选择了TM2/TM3、TM3/TM4和TM5/TM7进行比值处理,从光谱数据中直接提取出碳酸盐化、粘土矿化、红层褪色等油气蚀变信息,并在对研究区遥感地质解译的基础上,指出烃渗漏信息异常晕主要沿断裂带分布,特别在不同走向断裂的交汇区域分布面积和强度较大,而在已知油气圈闭区域,信息晕主要呈碎片状或斑点状零散分布,且以低值异常为主。根据烃渗漏异常的分布特征,提取出石板滩、中坝、孝泉、聚源、鸭子河以及邛崃等遥感信息异常区块。     

The formation of wind curl in the marine atmosphere boundary layer over the East China Sea Kuroshio in spring

Various data are used to investigate the characteristics of the surface wind field and rainfall on the East China Sea Kuroshio (ESK) in March and April, 2011. In March, the wind speed maximum shows over the ESK front (ESKF) in the 10 meter wind field, which agrees with the thermal wind effect. A wind curl center is generated on the warm flank of the ESKF. The winds are much weaker in April, so is the wind curl. A rainband exists over the ESKF in both the months. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used for further researches. The winds on the top of the marine atmosphere boundary layer (MABL) indicate that in March, a positive wind curl is generated in the whole MABL over the warm flank of the ESKF. The thermal wind effect forced by the strong SST gradient overlying the background wind leads to strong surface northeasterly winds on the ESKF, and a positive shearing vorticity is created over the warm flank of the ESKF to generate wind curl. In the smoothed sea surface temperature experiment, the presence of the ESKF is responsible for the strong northeast winds in the ESKF, and essential for the distribution of the rainfall centers in March, which confirms the mechanism above. The same simulation is made for April, 2011, and the responses from the MABL become weak. The low background wind speed weakens the effect of the thermal wind, thus no strong Ekman pumping is helpful for precipitation. There is no big difference in rainfall between the control run and the smooth SST run. Decomposition of the wind vector shows that local wind acceleration induced by the thermal wind effect along with the variations in wind direction is responsible for the pronounced wind curl/divergence over the ESKF.     

南海温度锋的分布特征及季节变化

利用50a(1950—2007年)的SODA(Simple Ocean Data Assimilation)数据分析了南海上层温度锋分布特征以及季节变化规律。结果表明:受季风、太阳辐照以及诸多因素影响,温度锋季节变化明显,锋面结构复杂。冬季,温度锋基本沿陆架分布,存在于南海北部海区,从台湾海峡一直延伸到北部湾,发育比较显著;春季,主要出现在南海北部海区、北部湾、越南东部海岸,分布比较广泛;夏季温度锋出现概率增加,出现区域扩大,越南东部出现大面积温度锋;秋季南海中西部海域存在大面积的温度锋。     

Distribution and temporal variation of mega‐fauna at the Regab pockmark (Northern Congo Fan), based on a comparison of videomosaics and geographic information systems analyses

The Regab pockmark is a large cold seep area located 10 km north of the Congo deep sea channel at about 3160 m water depth. The associated ecosystem hosts abundant fauna, dominated by chemosynthetic species such as the mussel Bathymodiolus aff. boomerang, vestimentiferan tubeworm Escarpia southwardae, and vesicomyid clams Laubiericoncha chuni and Christineconcha regab. The pockmark was visited during the West African Cold Seeps (WACS) cruise with RV Pourquoi Pas? in February 2011, and a 14,000‐m² high‐resolution videomosaic was constructed to map the most populated area and to describe the distribution of the dominant megafauna (mussels, tubeworms and clams). The results are compared with previous published works, which also included a videomosaic in the same area of the pockmark, based on images of the BIOZAIRE cruise in 2001. The 10‐year variation of the faunal distribution is described and reveals that the visible abundance and distribution of the dominant megafaunal populations at Regab have not changed significantly, suggesting that the overall methane and sulfide fluxes that reach the faunal communities have been stable. Nevertheless, small and localized distribution changes in the clam community indicate that it is exposed to more transient fluxes than the other communities. Observations suggest that the main megafaunal aggregations at Regab are distributed around focused zones of high flux of methane‐enriched fluids likely related to distinct smaller pockmark structures that compose the larger Regab pockmark. Although most results are consistent with the existing successional models for seep communities, some observations in the distribution of the Regab mussel population do not entirely fit into these models. This is likely due to the high heterogeneity of this site formed by the coalescence of several pockmarks. We hypothesize that the mussel distribution at Regab could also be controlled by the occurrence of zones of both intense methane fluxes and reduced efficiency of the anaerobic oxidation of methane possibly limiting tubeworm colonization.