Amphipod-supported food web: Themisto gaudichaudii, a key food resource for fishes in the southern Patagonian Shelf

The trophic role of the hyperiid amphipod Themisto gaudichaudii in the southern Patagonian shelf food web was assessed from the analysis of stomach contents of the local fish assemblage. A total of 461 trawl samples were collected during seven seasonal cruises. A total of 17 out of 38 fish species were found to ingest T. gaudichaudii. This amphipod was a main prey item in five of these species, showing high values of alimentary index: Seriolella porosa (99.9%), Macruronus magellanicus (68.8%), Micromesistius australis (59.1%), Patagonotothen ramsayi (48.6%), and Merluccius hubbsi (10.9%). The contribution of T. gaudichaudii, in weight, to their summer diet was 60%, on average. This contribution was minimal in winter and maximal in summer. Fisheries studies have indicated that these five species, mainly M. magellanicus, account for almost 85% of the fish biomass in the area. Although the remaining 15% did not feed heavily on T. gaudichaudii, they are known to prey on the main hyperiid predators. Our study shows that T. gaudichaudii contributes greatly, both directly and indirectly, to supporting the fish community. We thus proposed that T. gaudichaudii plays a key role as a “wasp-waist” species in the sub-Antarctic region, similar to that of krill in Antarctic waters, channeling the energy flow and enabling a short and efficient food chain.     

不同节点布置下二维涡激振动的无单元法参数化分析

尝试建立1种基于无单元法的涡激振动数值模拟算法,并给出适用于涡激振动分析的前处理自动布点方法.基于无单元法理论,使用动最小二乘法构造形函数,利用无单元伽辽金法,采用速度和压力分离模式,及手工布点和自动布点2种方法所得出的节点布置形式,对流场控制方程进行空间离散,模拟二维涡激振动的流场形态,并对VIV相关参数进行分析,计算不同节点布置情况下的升力系数(Cl)、曳力系数(Cd)及斯特罗哈数(St),并与物理模型实验结果进行对比.计算结果表明,无单元伽辽金法应用于立管VIV分析是可行的,且文中采用2种布点方法均能较好的模拟流场中泻涡脱落的形态,计算结果与传统方法和物理模型实验结果吻合良好.证明文中2种布点方法都能用于固定圆柱的二维VIV分析,但自动布点法能够更好地适用于复杂问题的计算及圆柱体在流场中的VIV动力响应分析.     

西南印度洋中脊50°E基性超基性岩石地球化学特征及其成因初探

西南印度洋中脊是典型的慢速扩张洋中脊之一。对采自西南印度洋中脊50°E附近的7件玄武岩和蛇纹石化橄榄岩样品所作的分析表明,基性玄武岩类SiO2含量为43.72%～48.40%,TiO2含量较少,为1.14%～1.52%;MgO含量为5.96%～10.98%;TFe2O3含量为4.55%～5.2%;Mg#值为0.53～0.64,里特曼指数σ为2.34～20.10。微量元素Zr/Nb和Y/Nb比值为显示N-MORB的性质,但是其他微量元素的比值(Ba/Nb,Ba/Th,La/Nb,Nb/U,Nb/Pb)均不显示正常洋中脊玄武岩的特征,微量元素原始地幔标准化蛛网图显示强烈富集K和Pb,亏损Nb,稀土元素显示较为平缓的分配模式。超基性蛇纹石化橄榄岩的主量元素特征为SiO2为38.91～45.49;TiO2含量为0.02～0.28;MgO含量很高,为36.87～40.61,TFe2O3含量为2.82～3.91,Mg#值为0.92～0.94。微量元素中Ni,Cr的含量很高,原始地幔标准化蛛网图显示橄榄岩强烈富集K和Pb,Ba,Th,La,Ce,Ti中等程度富集,而亏损Nb,Sr。稀土元素总量较低,标准化曲线显示轻稀土元素富集模式。结合地球化学特征及前人研究资料分析认为,西南印度洋中脊的基性岩和超基性岩属同源性质,其原始地幔物质可能为部分正常洋中脊亏损地幔混染了陆壳或远洋沉积物的结果。     

Does a one point sample adequately characterize the lake environment for paleoenvironmental calibration studies?

A major goal of paleolimnological studies is the quantification of past environmental conditions. This is accomplished by computing transfer functions relating organism assemblages to environmental factors. The environmental data are typically comprised of a point sample of water chemistry and other environmental parameters that are collected at the same time as a surface sediment sample. We explore whether the year of sampling of the environmental variables affects the parameterization of organism-environment relations, in particular chironomids, ostracodes and diatoms. Canonical correspondence analyses revealed that the year of sampling is of secondary importance when relating the organism assemblages to environmental variables, but only with the major explanatory variables. A chironomid-inferred bottom water temperature partial least squares transfer function revealed similar performance statistics between the years. Taxon optima and tolerances were computed for both years using weighted averaging, and the results are comparable. A paired t-test computed on the proxy-inferred bottom water temperature values indicated that the results between the 2 years are not statistically different. The results of this study provide guarded optimism that the methodology of estimating transfer functions as currently applied is not entirely determined by the particular year when the data were collected, although more case studies are needed.     

Dating of altered mafic intrusions by applying a zircon fission track thermochronometer to baked country rock,and implications for the timing of volcanic activity during the opening of the Japan Sea

Once a mafic intrusive rock has become altered, it is generally difficult to obtain a reliable intrusion age using conventional isotopic dating methods. To overcome this problem, this study used zircon fission track (ZFT) thermochronometry to determine the timing of crystallization of altered mafic intrusions. ZFT dating was carried out on samples of baked granite country rock adjacent to dolerite dikes (5–10 m thick) in the Takato area of central Japan. Three granite samples collected within 8 mm of a dike contact yielded consistent ZFT ages of 17–16 Ma, with confined track lengths indicative of the complete annealing of pre‐existing tracks by reheating due to dike intrusion. An older ZFT age was obtained for one granite sample collected within 20 mm of the contact, but confined track length measurements indicate that this is an incompletely reset age that lies between the ZFT age of the unbaked granitic country rocks (ca. 55 Ma) and the emplacement age of the dike. Petrographic examinations suggest that post‐intrusion hydrothermal activity did not influence the ZFT ages. We conclude that the 17–16 Ma ZFT age represents the emplacement age of the dikes. Our results show that ZFT dating of baked country rock is an effective tool for dating altered mafic intrusions, for which other dating techniques are not applicable. In the eastern part of Southwest Japan, dispersed volcanic activity occurred in the late Early to early Middle Miocene (18–15 Ma), and the volcanic belt extended into the forearc. This pulse of activity was possibly related to the injection of asthenospheric material into the trench‐side mantle wedge beneath the Japan arc. We also present young apatite fission track ages (ca. 4 Ma) that may reflect a Middle Miocene or later thermal event associated with local magmatic activity near the Takato area.     

民国时期滇西南地区三次强震补充调查

本文通过对民国时期发生在滇西南地区的1938年5月14日澜沧MS6.0级、1941年5月16日耿马MS7.0级和1941年12月26日澜沧MS7.0级3次地震历史资料的系统收集和整理,并在前人已有研究的基础上,通过现场采访和补充调查获得的新资料,修改和完善了这3次地震的等震线图和极震区范围,并结合该区地形地貌特征和断裂最新活动性研究结果,综合分析评述了其发震构造特征。结果表明,这3次强震发生在腾冲-澜沧新生地震带附近,分别与黑河断裂、南汀河断裂西支及澜沧断裂勐遮段的新活动密切相关。     

Potential land for plantation of Jatropha curcas as feedstocks for biodiesel in China

As a renewable energy,biofuel has attracted great attention in China and the rest of world.Concerned with the national food security,China recently has shifted its biofuel development priority from grain-based to non-grain-based biofuels,including forest-based biodiesel,since 2007.Jatropha curcas is one of major biodiesel feedstocks.However,there is rising debate on availability of land for expanding Jatropha curcas areas.The overall goal of this paper is to evaluate potential land for Jatropha curcas used ...     

2008年深圳洪涝灾害的气候背景和环流条件

用NCC/CMA资料分析了2008年6月深圳降水异常事件的成因,结果认为:2007年7月—2008年2月赤道西太平洋海表温度异常偏低、2008年前冬今春青藏高原积雪面积偏大是深圳异常降水事件的前期气候背景;2008年6月东亚阻塞高压的异常强大及乌拉尔山长波槽的异常加深发展,促进了经向环流异常增强;偏强的冷空气以阶梯槽的形式频繁入侵华南,为深圳异常降水事件提供了动力条件。副高西段较常年偏南,西伸脊点偏东;强劲的季风潮为深圳地区输送了巨大的水汽和热量;冷暖空气在华南地区的频繁交汇与维持是深圳异常降水事件的主要成因。上述多种因素的异常共同导致了深圳异常降水事件的发生。     

On the merger of subsurface isolated vortices

Vortex merger is a phenomenon characterizing the whole class of geophysical vortices, from atmospheric storms and large oceanic eddies up to small scale turbulence. Here we focus on the merger of subsurface oceanic anticyclones in an idealized primitive equations model. This study has been motivated by past and recent observations of colliding lens-like anticyclones off of Gibraltar Strait. The critical conditions for merger (critical merger distance and time needed for merger) are determined. We will show that the predictions of classical two-dimensional merger are not verified for subsurface isolated vortices. For instance, critical merger distances will be reduced because of the vortex potential vorticity (PV) structure. The post-merger characteristics of the vortex (radius, extension and PV), are also determined. Merger-related effects, like production of peripheral filaments and small-scale eddies are also investigated and suggest the contribution of merger in both direct and inverse energy cascades.     

Models of interacting pairs of thin,quasi-geostrophic vortices: steady-state solutions and nonlinear stability

We study pairwise interactions of elliptical quasi-geostrophic (QG) vortices as the limiting case of vanishingly thin uniform potential vorticity ellipsoids. In this limit, the product of the vertical extent of the ellipsoid and the potential vorticity within it is held fixed to a finite non-zero constant. Such elliptical “lenses” inherit the property that, in isolation, they steadily rotate without changing shape. Here, we use this property to extend both standard moment models and Hamiltonian ellipsoidal models to approximate the dynamical interaction of such elliptical lenses. By neglecting non-elliptical deformations, the simplified models reduce the dynamics to just four degrees of freedom per vortex. For simplicity, we focus on pairwise interactions between identical elliptical vortices initially separated in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The dynamics of the simplified models are compared with the full QG dynamics of the system, and show good agreement as expected for sufficiently distant lenses. The results reveal the existence of families of steadily rotating equilibria in the initial horizontal and vertical separation parameter space. For sufficiently large vertical separations, equilibria with varying shape exist for all horizontal separations. Below a critical vertical separation (stretched by the constant ratio of buoyancy to Coriolis frequencies N / f), comparable to the mean radius of either vortex, a gap opens in horizontal separation where no equilibria are possible. Solutions near the edge of this gap are unstable. In the full QG system, equilibria at the edge of the gap exhibit corners (infinite curvature) along their boundaries. Comparisons of the model results with the full nonlinear QG evolution show that the early stages of the instability are captured by the Hamiltonian elliptical model but not by the moment model that inaccurately estimates shorter-range interactions.