Roles of Continental Shelves and Marginal Seas in the Biogeochemical Cycles of the North Pacific Ocean

Most marginal seas in the North Pacific are fed by nutrients supported mainly by upwelling and many are undersaturated with respect to atmospheric CO₂ in the surface water mainly as a result of the biological pump and winter cooling. These seas absorb CO₂ at an average rate of 1.1 ± 0.3 mol C m⁻²yr⁻¹ but release N₂/N₂O at an average rate of 0.07 ± 0.03 mol N m⁻²yr⁻¹. Most of primary production, however, is regenerated on the shelves, and only less than 15% is transported to the open oceans as dissolved and particulate organic carbon (POC) with a small amount of POC deposited in the sediments. It is estimated that seawater in the marginal seas in the North Pacific alone may have taken up 1.6 ± 0.3 Gt (10¹⁵ g) of excess carbon, including 0.21 ± 0.05 Gt for the Bering Sea, 0.18 ± 0.08 Gt for the Okhotsk Sea; 0.31 ± 0.05 Gt for the Japan/East Sea; 0.07 ± 0.02 Gt for the East China and Yellow Seas; 0.80 ± 0.15 Gt for the South China Sea; and 0.015 ± 0.005 Gt for the Gulf of California. More importantly, high latitude marginal seas such as the Bering and Okhotsk Seas may act as conveyer belts in exporting 0.1 ± 0.08 Gt C anthropogenic, excess CO₂ into the North Pacific Intermediate Water per year. The upward migration of calcite and aragonite saturation horizons due to the penetration of excess CO₂ may also make the shelf deposits on the Bering and Okhotsk Seas more susceptible to dissolution, which would then neutralize excess CO₂ in the near future. Further, because most nutrients come from upwelling, increased water consumption on land and damming of major rivers may reduce freshwater output and the buoyancy effect on the shelves. As a result, upwelling, nutrient input and biological productivity may all be reduced in the future. As a final note, the Japan/East Sea has started to show responses to global warming. Warmer surface layer has reduced upwelling of nutrient-rich subsurface water, resulting in a decline of spring phytoplankton biomass. Less bottom water formation because of less winter cooling may lead to the disappearance of the bottom water as early as 2040. Or else, an anoxic condition may form as early as 2200 AD. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

长江口扁担沙动力地貌变化过程研究

河口浅滩不仅为人类提供宝贵湿地资源,而且是调控河势演变的重要因素。研究河口浅滩动力地貌演变规律对航道整治、湿地生态开发及岸堤防护等具有重要价值。本文利用最近150多年的长江口历史海图资料、实测水深与水文泥沙数据,分析长江口南支最大的浅滩—扁担沙动力地貌演变格局及其变化机制。结果表明：(1) 1860−2016年期间,扁担沙反复历经淤积−冲刷−淤积,浅滩由最初水下阴滩发育出露而形成纺锤状沙体,随后演变为细长扁担状,沙尾切滩成爪状沙体,下扁担沙则伴随爪状缝隙被不断填充而淤长;(2)自1954年洪水到目前,扁担沙−2 m、−5 m等深线包络的面积与体积整体上均呈现增长态势,其中面积年均增长率分别为0.88 km²/a和0.81 km²/a,体积年均增长率分别为1.3×10⁶ m³/a和5×10⁶ m³/a;扁担沙浅滩在不同时期冲淤变化不同,其中1998年出现大幅度冲刷,平均冲刷厚度达到1.4 m;(3)扁担沙体积变化和长江入海泥沙的增减无直接联系,但与入海径流量的变化密切相关;(4)白茆沙“南强北弱”的河势、南北港分流工程以及东风西沙水库的建立导致扁担沙向北推移。     

Late Holocene floodplain incision and alluvial fan formation in the central Grampian Highlands,Scotland: chronology,environment and implications

A section cut across an alluvial fan and the underlying floodplain terrace in the central Grampian Highlands provides an unusually complete record of late Holocene events. At ca. 2.7–2.4 cal kyr BP floodplain aggradation was replaced by net floodplain incision. Pollen evidence and charcoal counts provide no evidence for contemporaneous anthropogenic landscape change, and the timing of the transition suggests that it reflects an increase in high-magnitude erosive flood events following overall climatic deterioration. The overlying fan was deposited by torrential hyperconcentrated flows during three brief storm-generated depositional events at ca. 2.2–2.1, 1.9–1.8 and 0.9–0.7 cal kyr BP, separated and succeeded by prolonged periods of stability and peat accumulation. During these three events, a cumulative total of ca. 6750 m³ of sediment was deposited, probably in no more than a few hours over a timescale of two millennia. These findings imply that proposed links between human activity and the development of alluvial fans or debris cones require reassessment, and that different elements of the Holocene alluvial landscape have responded in different ways to the same climatic inputs. Aggregation of dating evidence relating to aggradation or incision of alluvial landforms at different scales therefore may produce misleading results. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

珠江口淇澳岛滨海湿地沉积环境演化及其对人类活动的响应

滨海湿地作为人类活动和全球变化反应最为敏感的区域,其沉积记录可以反映出周边地区环境变化及人类活动信息。珠江口淇澳岛滨海湿地钻孔分析结果表明,在中全新世期间淇澳岛附近海域为河口湾环境,在风化层以上开始出现淤积,但在4 200 a BP前后受极冷气候的影响,沉积物粗化;自2 500 a BP以来,沉积环境相对稳定,在小冰期期间略有变化。沉积速率计算结果显示:淇澳岛附近海域自中全新世高海面以来的平均沉积速率为0.29 cm/a,4 160~2 500 a BP、2 500 a BP-1488年、1488-1893年、1893-1986年、1990-2007年期间的平均沉积速率分别为:0.17 cm/a、0.23 cm/a、0.35 cm/a、1.37 cm/a和5.94 cm/a,沉积速率逐渐增大,反映了珠江三角洲演化过程中沉积相与沉积环境的变化;1986-1990年期间的海堤建造极大地扰动了该钻孔上部的沉积过程,在工程施工期间共沉积了厚度约112 cm的沉积层,而在海堤建成后,沉积速率也显著增大。沉积物总有机碳、总氮和C/N值的垂向分布表明,在4 160~2 500 a BP期间受海洋环境影响较大,沉积物中有机碳以海源为主,2 500 a BP以来沉积物中碳、氮含量明显增大,C/N也相应变大,有机碳主要来源于陆源输入,但在小冰期期间海源有机碳贡献略有所增大;近百年来由于受人类活动影响显著,陆源有机碳的贡献快速增加。     

The impact of extreme turbidity events on the nursery function of a temperate European estuary with regulated freshwater inflow

Estuaries are used as nursery grounds by numerous marine species despite being usually subject to strong anthropogenic disturbances. Abundances of marine recruits (fish and crustacean decapods) and their main prey (mysids) were monitored by monthly sampling, from June 1997 to February 2009, in the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir estuary (SW Spain). During that period, unusually high and persistent turbidity events (HPTEs) were observed twice. Both HPTEs started with strong and sudden freshwater discharges after relatively long periods of very low freshwater inflow. Data from this time-series were used to test the hypothesis that HPTEs may negatively impact the nursery function of estuaries either by decreasing prey availability or by decreasing survival/arrival of marine recruits. During HPTEs, the commonest mysid (Mesopodopsis slabberi), a key species in the estuarine food web, showed a significant decrease in abundance. Likewise, some marine recruits that prey on M. slabberi and whose peaks of abundance within the estuary occur in summer–autumn (Engraulis encrasicolus and Pomadasys incisus) were less abundant during HPTEs. It is also suggested that HPTEs might have triggered a shift in the distribution of the most euryhaline prey (Neomysis integer) and predator (Dicentrarchus punctatus and Crangon crangon) species, towards more saline waters. This could have contributed to an increase in the inter-specific competition (for food/habitat) within the estuarine nursery area. The results discussed in this study call attention to the need to reduce as much as possible the anthropogenic pressures that may stimulate the occurrence of high and persistent turbidity events (HPTEs) in order to preserve the nursery function of temperate estuaries.     

Impacts of anthropogenic activities on the Changjiang(Yangtze)estuarine ecosystem(1998–2012)

Estuarine ecosystem has greatly changed in the recent decades due to anthropogenic perturbations in the Changjiang Estuary. Change patterns and impact factors were analyzed based on the continuous data...     

Estimation of the Distribution of Global Anthropogenic Heat Flux

The radiance lights data in 2006 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) and authoritative energy data distributed by the United State Energy Information Administration were applied to estimate the global distribution of anthropogenic heat flux.A strong linear relationship was found to exist between the anthropogenic heat flux and the DMSP/OLS radiance data.On a global scale,the average value of anthropogenic heat flux is approximately 0.03 W m 2 and 0.10 W m 2 for global land area.The results indicate that global anthropogenic heat flux was geographically concentrated and distributed,fundamentally correlating to the economical activities.The anthropogenic heat flux concentrated in the economically developed areas including East Asia,Europe,and eastern North America.The anthropogenic heat flux in the concentrated regions,including the northeastern United States,Central Europe,United Kingdom,Japan,India,and East and South China is much larger than global average level,reaching a large enough value that could affect regional climate.In the center of the concentrated area,the anthropogenic heat flux density may exceed 100 W m 2,according to the results of the model.In developing areas,including South America,Central and North China,India,East Europe,and Middle East,the anthropogenic heat flux can reach a level of more than 10 W m 2 ;however,the anthropogenic heat flux in a vast area,including Africa,Central and North Asia,and South America,is low.With the development of global economy and urban agglomerations,the effect on climate of anthropogenic heat is essential for the research of climate change.     

典型高原湖泊人类活动净氮磷输入时空变化及其影响因素——以云南星云湖为例

星云湖作为人类农业生产活动影响下环境问题突出的代表性高原湖泊,其水体健康与生态平衡对于区域可持续发展至关重要。因此,量化解析星云湖流域人类活动净氮磷输入时空来源变化及影响因素对于流域管理和湖泊恢复具有重要意义。基于社会经济统计数据,采用人类活动净氮输入(NANI)、人类活动净磷输入(NAPI)模型量化星云湖流域NANI、NAPI强度。结果表明,1989-2020年研究区NANI、NAPI均值分别为(14614±2196)和(3135±452)kg/(km²·a),时间上呈现先上升后下降的变化趋势,且峰值出现在2015年,分别达到18076和3889 kg/(km²·a);空间分布上,除东部NANI、NAPI较低外,其余区域均较高;化肥和食物/饲料输入分别是NANI和NAPI的最大来源,占比分别为58.2%~63.8%和30.5%~59.5%。此外,基于模型选择和变量重要性分析发现,经济作物产量和畜禽密度是影响NANI、NAPI变化的最主要因素。因此,星云湖流域氮磷管控应从调整种植结构和模式等控源措施入手,加快经济模式转型。本研究结果可为星云湖流域建立有效的氮磷综合管理措施提供科学依据。     

Climate variability and change in the drylands of Western North America

We argue that it is important to expand the consideration of climate in the context of provision of ecosystem services in drylands. In addition to climate change, it is necessary to include climate variability on timescales relevant to human and ecological considerations, namely interannual to decadal and multidecadal. The period of global instrumental record (about a century and a half long at the very most) is neither an adequate nor an unbiased sample of the range and character of natural climate variability that might be expected with the climate system configured as it is now. We base this on evidence from W. N. America, where there has recently been a major multi-year drought, of a scale and intensity that has occurred several times in the last 2000 years, and on attempts to provide explanations of these phenomena based on physical climatology. Ensembles of runs of forced climate system models suggest the next 50 years will bring much more extensive and intense drought in the continental interior of North America. The trajectory followed by the supply of ecosystem services will be contingent not only on the genotypes available and the antecedent soil, economic and social conditions but also on climate variability and change. The critical features of climate on which patterns of plant growth and water supply depend may vary sharply during and between human generations, resulting in very different experiences and hence, expectations.     

Role of carotenoids in lake sediments for reconstructing trophic history during the late Quaternary

Cultural eutrophication of lakes occurring over the last 100 years is well known. Less well known is the eutrophication of lakes in earlier, late Quaternary time due to human and other causes. The recent and earlier trophic changes are documented in the sedimentary record by several groups of parameters. Among the most revealing of these are the diverse carotenoid pigments that originate from phytoplankton, photosynthetic bacteria, and other biota. The interpretation of the carotenoids in ancient sediments is facilitated by the study of carotenoids in recent sediments from lakes with relevant limnological and historical information. I support these contentions with evidence from several Swiss lakes, with emphasis on the late Quaternary development of Pfaffikersee and Soppensee.This is the eighth of a series of papers to be published by this journal that was presented in the paleolimnology sessions organized by R. B. Davis and H. Löffler for the XIIth Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), which took place in Ottawa, Canada in August 1987. Drs. Davis and Löffler are serving as guest editors of this series.