Early Holocene water budget of the Nakuru-Elmenteita basin, Central Kenya Rift

The Nakuru-Elmenteita basin in the Central Kenya Rift, contains two shallow, alkaline lakes, Lake Nakuru (1770 m above sea level) and Lake Elmenteita (1786 m). Ancient shorelines and lake sediments at 1940 m suggest that these two lakes formed a single large and deep lake as a result of a wetter climate during the early Holocene. Here, we used a hydrological model to compare the precipitation–evaporation balance during the early Holocene to today. Assuming that the Nakuru-Elmenteita basin was hydrologically closed, as it is today, the most likely climate scenario includes a 45% increase in mean-annual precipitation, a 0.5°C decrease in air temperature, and an increase of 9% in cloud coverage from the modern values. Compared to the modeling results from other East African lake basins, this dramatic increase in precipitation seems to be unrealistic. Therefore, we propose a significant flow of water from the early Holocene Lake Naivasha in the south towards the Nakuru-Elmenteita basin to compensate the extremely negative hydrological budget of this basin. Since we did not find any field evidence for a surface connection, as often proposed during the last 70 years, the hydrological deficit of the Nakuru-Elmenteita basin could have also been compensated by a subsurface water exchange.     

Transparency: aid or obstacle to effective defence of vulnerable environments from reservoir construction? Dam decisions and democracy in North East England

Public participation in transparent decisionmaking has been proposed as a panacea for environmental protection. Bargaining theory suggests drawbacks to transparency such as hardening of attitudes and intransigence. Yet achievement of consensus on environmental values for integrated water resource management demands public involvement. Historical study of attempts to prevent reservoir construction in upland valleys designated for protection of nature suggests that 'closed-door' bargaining proved more effective for environmentalists than open, public debate. Records now open for analysis of disputes over Teesdale and Farndale, 1950–1970, allow comparisons to be made between behind-the-scenes deliberations and 'open-door' public discussion. The ambition of progressing from public participation to devolution of environmental decisionmaking and responsibility to the local scale demands more conceptualization of the process of decisionmaking on water resource development.     

Palaeovariations in the East-Asian Monsoon Regime Geochemically Recorded in Varved Sediments of Lake Sihailongwan (Northeast China, Jilin Province). Part 1: Hydrological Conditions and Dust Flux

The varved sediments of the dimictic Lake Sihailongwan (Long Gang mountain area, Jilin Province, Northeast China) represent a palaeoclimatic archive which documents the local precipitation frequency during the summer monsoon, and variations in the aeolian flux of dust with their remote sources in the arid and semi-arid regions of inner Asia. Based on a detailed discussion of sediment genesis in Lake SHL, dust flux rates and palaeohydrological conditions were reconstructed on a decadal scale over the past 220 years. The aeolian influx by dry and wet deposition was quantified and characterised in its chemical composition. Photosynthetic production in the lake is positively correlated with the inflow of nutrient-rich groundwater. The groundwater discharge largely reflects the strength of the summer monsoon. Net accumulation rates for biogenic silica were determined for annually laminated sediments from the centre of the U-shaped lake basin based on sediment data. In a Si-balance model of the modern lake, the depositional flux of biogenic silica could be independently quantified on the base of hydrochemical monitoring data. Comparison of the both estimates allowed to asses the focussing of the particle flux in the lake. Though water retention in Lake SHL is rather high (ca. 30 years), changes in the hydrological conditions are sensitively recorded in the sediments because (i) nutrient-rich groundwater discharges into the productive zone of the lake, (ii) a substantial proportion of the total dissolved Si-inventory of the mixed lake (ca. 30%) is annually consumed by diatom growth, and (3) sediment accumulation is substantially focussed towards the flat bottom of the lake basin. The bulk siliciclastic sediment fraction (ca. 75 wt.%) largely originates from influx of dust of remote provenance. In sediment thin-sections, the dry-deposited dust fraction is microscopically identifiable as seasonal silt layer. Aeolian input by wet-deposition shows a distinctly higher variability than the influx of dust by dry-deposition. As diatom production, wet-deposition of dust is positively correlated with the rainfall during the summer monsoon. The inferred positive correlation between rainfall and dust flux during the summer monsoon implies that dust deposition is determined by the out-wash efficiency of mineral particles for a permanent high atmospheric dust concentration over Northeast China in the last 220 years.     

Berriasian (Lower Cretaceous) brachiopods from the Crimea

Four successive assemblages of Berriasian brachiopods distinguished for the first time in the Crimea are correlated with concurrent subdivisions of the ammonoid scale. Berriasian brachiopods are represented by 44 species of 27 genera and 14 families, which are most complete in terms of taxonomic composition as compared to other concurrent brachiopod faunas known elsewhere. The assemblages are dominated by local species. As is proved, the Berriasian brachiopods studied are appropriate for age determination, subdivision and correlation of their host deposits. Their geographic distribution that has been analyzed elucidates connections of the Berriasian sea basins within the Mediterranean paleozoogeographic region.     

华南前汛期不同降水时段的特征分析

利用1957-2001年华南地区74个测站逐日降水资料和同期NCEP／NCAR逐日再分析格点资料，对华南前汛期(4-6月)不同降水时段的特征进行了比较。分析发现，华南前汛期降水由锋面降水和夏季风降水两个时段组成。锋面降水时段主要集中在4月，为典型的由冬到夏过渡的环流形势，华南地区高空为平直的副热带西风急流，大气层结稳定，水汽来源主要是阿拉伯海的西风输送和西太平洋副高南侧东风的转向输送；南海夏季风爆发前，副高仍控制南海地区，华南地区水汽输送主要来源于阿拉伯海的西风输送和西太平洋副高南侧东风的转向输送及孟加拉湾的西南输送；南海夏季风爆发后，副高东撤退出南海地区，南半球越赤道水汽输送加强并与孟加拉湾水汽输送连通，华南区域内对流发展；夏季风降水时段盛期主要集中在6月，此时南亚高压跃上高原，华南地区处于南亚高压东部，对流发展极其旺盛，强大的南半球越赤道水汽输送越过孟加拉湾和南海地区向华南地区输送。     

区域性地质灾害气象预报方法研究

从气象的角度，基于对全国地质灾害预警区域的划分，利用历史地质灾害记录以及历史气象资料，分区建立了全国范围的区域气象潜势预报模型，并从2003年6月1日开始投入业务应用。总体预报服务效果较好，收到了较好的社会效益。同时还要进一步加强科学研究，提高科技含量，优化预报模型。     

青藏高原云-辐射-加热效应和南亚夏季风--1985年与1987年对比分析

文中首先利用NCEP NCAR再分析的风场资料 ,分析了南亚夏季风的时空特征 ,选取了有代表性的典型强、弱夏季风年 ,继而利用ISCCP C2、ERBE S4卫星观测资料和NCEP NCAR再分析资料 ,对比分析了强、弱夏季风前期青藏高原地区的云—辐射—加热状况及其在海、陆差异中的作用。分析结果表明 ,南亚夏季风强或弱 ,其前期青藏高原地区的云—辐射—加热效应有明显的差异。在强 (弱 )南亚夏季风的前期 ,青藏高原大部分地区为相对少 (多 )云区 ,其云量变化不仅表明了此区的云—辐射—加热效应的不同 ,更重要的是与此同时出现的海、陆之间云量分布的“跷跷板”现象 ,进一步改变了海、陆之间的热力差异。而且 ,在强南亚夏季风年 ,这种热力差异不但开始得早 ,而且持续时间长、作用范围大 ,从而对南亚夏季风的形成和变化产生重要的影响     

INTENSITY INDEX OF SOUTH CHINA SEA MONSOON AND ITS VARIATION CHARACTERISTICS

According to the basic characteristics of the activities of summer monsoon in the South China Sea,Standardized index,Is,has been designed that integrates a dynamic factor(southwesterly component) and a thermodynamic factor(OLR) for the indication of summer monsoon in the South China Sea,With the index determined for individual months of June,July and August and the entire summertime from 1975 to 1999,specific months and years are indicated that are either strong or weak in monsoon intensity,The variation is studied for the patterns and Is‘s relationship is revealed with the onset of summer monsoon and the precipitation in Guang-dong province and China.The results show that there are quasi-10 and quasi-3-4 year cycles in the interannual variation of the monsooon over the past 25 years.When it has an early(late)onset,the summer monsoon is usually strong (weak),In the strong(weak)monsoon,years,precipitation tends to be more(less)in the first raining season of the year but normal or less(normal)in the second,in the province,but it would be more(less) in northeastern China and most parts of the northern china and south of the lower reaches of the Changjiang River and less(more)in the middle and lower reaches of the river,western part of northern China and western China.