Microclimate, freezing tolerance, and cold acclimation along an elevation gradient for seedlings of the Great Basin Desert shrub, Artemisia tridentata

Vegetation, microclimate, seedling frequency, freezing tolerance, and cold acclimation were compared for seedlings of Artemisia tridentata collected from 1775, 2175, and 2575 m elevation in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California. Data were used to test the hypothesis that ecotypic differences in stress physiology are important for seedling survival along gradients from desert to montane ecosystems. The vegetation canopy cover and A. tridentata seedling frequency were greatest at 2575 m, compared to 1775 and 2175 m. Snow cover ameliorated temperatures near the soil surface for part of the winter and depth varied across elevations. Freezing tolerance was compared for seedlings maintained in growth chambers at day/night air temperatures of 25°C/15°C. The temperature at which electrolyte leakage and Photosystem II function (F_V/F_M) from leaves were half-maximum was approximately −13·5°C for leaves of seedlings from all three elevations. Shifting day/night air temperatures from 25°C/15°C to 15°C/5°C initiated about 1·5° of acclimation by plants from all three altitudes, with seedlings from the highest elevation exhibiting the greatest acclimation change. Measurements of ambient air and canopy temperatures at the three elevations indicated that wintertime average low temperatures were consistent with the measured degree of freezing tolerance. At small spatial scales used in this study, pollen and seed dispersal between study sites may have precluded resolution of ecotypic differences. Patterns of freezing tolerance and cold acclimation may depend on a combination of mesoclimate and microclimate temperatures, canopy cover, snow depth, and snow melt patterns.     

Water discharge changes of the Changjiang River downstream Datong during dry season

Based on hydrometric data and extensive investigations on water-extracting projects, this paper presents a preliminary study on water discharge changes between Datong and Xuliujing during dry season. The natural hydrological processes and human factors that influence the water discharge are analyzed with the help of GIS method. The investigations indicate that the water-extracting projects downstream from Datong to Xuliujing had amounted to 64 in number by the end of 2000, with a water-extracting capacity up to 4,626 m3/s averaged in a tidal cycle. The water extraction from the Changjiang River has become the most important factor influencing the water discharge downstream Datong during dry season. The potential magnitude in water discharge changes are estimated based on historical records of water extraction and a water balance model. The computational results were calibrated with the actual data. The future trend in changes of water discharge into the sea during dry season was discussed by taking into consideration of newly built hydro-engineering projects. The water extraction downstream Datong in dry season before 2000 had a great influence on discharges into the sea in the extremely dry year like 1978-1979. It produced a net decrease of more than 490 m3/s in monthly mean discharges from the Changjiang into the sea. It is expected that the water extraction will continually increase in the coming decades, especially in dry years, when the net decrease in monthly mean water discharge will increase to more than 1000 m3/s and will give a far-reaching effect on the changes of water discharge from the Changjiang into the sea.     

软土结构性破损的孔径分布试验研究

采用压汞法对天然结构性软土压缩过程孔隙大小分布的演化进行了试验研究，结果表明，当荷载超过结构屈服应力后，尺寸较大的团粒间孔隙首先发生破坏，随着荷载的增大，越来越小的孔隙受到影响，但团粒内孔隙在压缩过程中不发生变化；根据试验结果提出了孔隙结构破损势的概念，并用其表征孔隙分布随荷载变化的规律。     

地质基础理念之我见

任-侵位的岩浆体，在结晶分异、固化成岩过程中，一般都可分为：已结晶的固相岩体、正(半)结晶的可塑相岩体及未结晶的熔融相岩浆3部分．此时，若发生了地壳运动，地壳运动的构造作用力。使正(半)结晶的可塑相岩体发生可塑相变形，形成片麻化岩体；地壳运动(包括地震)时的构造作用力为脉动性质的挤压作用力；岩体发生片麻化的地壳运动，又使已结晶的固相岩体和围岩发生断裂活动，形成了断裂带控矿、容矿构造；未结晶的熔融相岩浆再度上升侵位，便形成了小侵入岩体控矿构造．残浆的形成与排出，控矿构造的发生、发展与控矿过程，都是在这次地壳运动过程中完成的．因此，对这次地壳运动可称成矿作用．     

An experimental investigation of LNAPL migration in an unsaturated/saturated sand

Accidental spills of hydrocarbons, such as Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (LNAPLs), are one of the most common sources of subsurface contamination. Migration of LNAPL in a porous medium is influenced by various factors such as the number of fluids present in the unsaturated/saturated zones and the proportion of pores occupied by each fluid. The results for relationship between matric suction and degree of saturation are presented in this paper for water–air, water–LNAPL and LNAPL–air systems in a sand. A simple and reliable setup using Buchner funnel was designed to obtain these relations. It was found that the relationship between matric suction head and degree of saturation is hysteretic for all the fluid systems (water–air, water–LNAPL and LNAPL–air). Furthermore, the amount of hysteresis depended upon the fluid system, with the maximum hysteresis occurring for water–air system. The results suggest that the amount of trapped air depends upon the reversal degree of saturation from drying to wetting.     

Geology and Genesis of the Ta'ergou Skarn - Quartz Vein Tungsten Deposit in the North Qilian Caledonian Orogenic Belt, Northwest China

Abstract. The Ta'ergou tungsten deposit in Gansu province, northwestern China, is located in the western part of the North Qilian Caledonian orogen, and consists of scheelite skarn bodies and wolframite quartz veins. The tungsten‐bearing skarn developed by the replacement of carbonate layers intercalated in the Precambrian schist and amphibolite whereas wolframite‐quartz ore veins developed along a group of fractures that cut through horizontal skarns. The Ta'ergou tungsten deposit is genetically related to the Caledonian Yeniutan granodiorite intrusion and occurs ca. 500 m wide in the exo‐contact zone 300 ～ 500 m apart from the intrusion. The granodiorite displays a lower grade of differentiation, low content of SiO₂ and high contents of mafic components. There are three types of fluid inclusions in the wolframite‐quartz vein systems, i. e. aqueous, CO₂‐H₂O and CO₂‐rich. The homogenization temperature of aqueous inclusion ranges from 140 to 380d?C and their salinities from 6.4 to 17.4 equivalent wt% NaCl. Laser Raman spectroscopy shows that the inclusions contain a relatively high content of CO₂. The δ³⁴S values of skarn type sulfides range from +8.1 to +12.7 per mil and those of quartz vein sulfides from +9.3 to +14.9 per mil, similar to sulfides of the granodiorite with from +6.0 to +11.7 per mil. The δ¹⁸O values of quartz are between +10.5 and +13.3 per mil and those of wolframite between +3.4 and +5.1 per mil. The δ¹⁸O water values of ore forming fluids range from +0.6 to +6.4 per mil and suggest the mixture of magmatic fluids with meteoric water formed the ore‐forming fluids. It has been proved that Precambrian strata in the west sector of North Qilian region are enriched in tungsten. We propose the strata were remelted to be tungsten‐granitoid during subduction. The polymetallic tungsten was gradually accumulated into the roof pendants of the granite intrusion by fractional crystallization and then was deposited by hydrothermal fluids during metasomatism and infilling along fractures. On the other hand, the granite intrusion also acted as “heating machine” to make hydrothermal fluids leach out the metals from Precambrian strata and these metals joined the ore‐forming hydrothermal system.     

北京地区一次典型大雾天气的空气污染过程物理量分布特征

2002年11月30至12月4日，北京持续4天大雾天气，空气污染物在持续的稳定层结条件下，空气质量连续3天达5级以上。文中分析了大雾天气各主要污染物的变化特征，以及此次过程中天气形势的特点及演变，并对造成大雾日空气污染天气的物理量分布特征进行分析。结果表明：高空WNW气流、稳定性持续增加、逆温层结持续存在、低空风速较小、相对湿度大，导致局地污染物不能及时随大气扩散；1000～700hPa有弱的上升气流形成和维持，与500hPa高空下沉气流之间在低空的某层高度上形成稳定层结(逆温层)，导致大雾及重污染的形成；850hPa为暖区，850～500hPa为冷平流，有利于大雾的形成和加重。     

广东省空气质量预报系统

文章介绍了广东省气象系统开展空气质量预报的概况，包括使用的预报工具，其预报能力与业务运行的预报质量分析，以及进一步提高预报水平的一些设想。     

A Case Study Of An On-Ice Air Flow Over The Arctic Marginal Sea-Ice Zone

A case study of warm air advection over the Arctic marginalsea-ice zone is presented, based on aircraft observations with direct flux measurements carriedout in early spring, 1998. A shallow atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) was observed, which wasgradually cooling with distance downwind of the ice edge. This process was mainly connected with astrong stable stratification and downward turbulent heat fluxes of about 10–20 W m^-2, but wasalso due to radiative cooling. Two mesoscale models, one hydrostatic and the other non-hydrostatic,having different turbulence closures, were applied. Despite these fundamental differences betweenthe models, the results of both agreed well with the observed data. Various closure assumptions had amore crucial influence on the results than the differences between the models.Such an assumption was, for example,the parameterization of the surface roughness for momentum (z₀) and heat (z_T). This stronglyaffected the wind and temperature fields not only close to the surface but also within and abovethe temperature inversion layer. The best results were achieved using a formulation for z₀ that took intoaccount the form drag effect of sea-ice ridges together withz_T = 0.1z₀. The stability within theelevated inversion strongly depended on the minimum eddy diffusivity K_min. A simple ad hocparameterization seems applicable, where K_min is calculated as 0.005 timesthe neutral eddy diffusivity. Although the longwave radiative cooling was largest within the ABL, theapplication of a radiation scheme was less important there than above the ABL. This was related to theinteraction of the turbulent and radiative fluxes. To reproduce the strong inversion, it wasnecessary to use vertical and horizontal resolutions higher than those applied in most regional andlarge-scale atmospheric models.     

Roll Vortices and Boundary-Layer Development during a Cold Air Outbreak

The development of the boundary layer during a cold air outbreak in the FramStrait is documented by aircraft measurements. The convection was organisedinto roll vortices with aspect ratios increasing from 2.9 near the ice edgeto more than 6 at 100 km further downstream. This increase coincides with anincrease of the latent heat release in the cloud layer. The stability parameter-zi/L varies from about zero at the ice edge to 30 at a distance of 200 kmdownstream over open water where the satellite picture still shows cloudstreets. The increase is mainly due to the deepening of the boundary layer.The turbulent vertical sensible and latent heat fluxes near the surface amountto 400 W m^-2 within a 300 km off-ice zone. 25% of the upward heat fluxin the subcloud layer is carried out by organised roll motions. Experimentswith a 2-dimensional non-hydrostatic model show a similar roll aspect ratio inthe first 50 km, but further downstream where condensational heating is moreimportant the modelled roll wavelengths are distinctly smaller than the observedones.