On the oceanic impact of a data-assimilation method in a coupled ocean-land-atmosphere model

 Based on the Kalman filter theory, a new data-assimilation method has been used to improve the 3-D oceanic temperature field of the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA) coupled general circulation model. This method is applied to assimilate surface and subsurface temperature of in situ measurements from the Pilot Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic project (PIRATA). The assimilation of the PIRATA data produces an improved representation of the thermal state of the ocean and allows a better estimation of other oceanographic quantities, like meridional heat fluxes and zonal currents. The present paper focuses on the tropical Atlantic and, in particular, it contains new reconstructed temperature profiles. One-month forecast experiments during 1999 were performed and the impact of the assimilation is discussed. Received: 24 April 2001 / Accepted: 8 March 2002     

Changes in the mode of Southern Ocean circulation over the last glacial cycle revealed by foraminiferal stable isotopic variability

Benthic foraminiferal oxygen and carbon isotopic records from Southern Ocean sediment cores show that during the last glacial period, the South Atlantic sector of the deep Southern Ocean filled to roughly 2500 m with water uniformly low in δ¹³C, resulting in the appearance of a strong mid-depth nutricline similar to those observed in glacial northern oceans. Concomitantly, deep water isotopic gradients developed between the Pacific and Atlantic sectors of the Southern Ocean; the δ¹³C of benthic foraminifera in Pacific sediments remained significantly higher than those in the Atlantic during the glacial episode. These two observations help to define the extent of what has become known as the ‘Southern Ocean low δ¹³C problem’. One explanation for this glacial distribution of δ¹³C calls upon surface productivity overprints or changes in the microhabitat of benthic foraminifera to lower glacial age δ¹³C values. We show here, however, that glacial-interglacial δ¹³C shifts are similarly large everywhere in the deep South Atlantic, regardless of productivity regime or sedimentary environment. Furthermore, the degree of isotopic decoupling between the Atlantic and Pacific basins is proportional to the magnitude of δ¹³C change in the Atlantic on all time scales. Thus, we conclude that the profoundly altered distribution of δ¹³C in the glacial Southern Ocean is most likely the result of deep ocean circulation changes. While the characteristics of the Southern Ocean δ¹³C records clearly point to reduced North Atlantic Deep Water input during glacial periods, the basinal differences suggest that the mode of Southern Ocean deep water formation must have been altered as well.     

Competitive Adjustment and Advancement in Global Commodity Chains II: The Case of the Singapore Garment Industry

This is the second part of a contribution to the debate on the possibilities of leveraging economic globalisation — through incorporation in international production networks and global commodity chains (GCCs) — as a strategy for developing countries to industrialise and advance their position in the world economy. In the first part, we analysed the experience of the East Asian apparel industry and addressed the issues of sustaining positions, upgrading to more rewarding roles, and advancing to less dependent positions within production networks and GCCs. We developed an analytical framework at both the firm and industry levels, and subsequently identified alternative firm- and industry-level strategies and trajectories. The present paper deals with these issues in the context of the Singapore apparel industry. Based on extensive empirical research, we demonstrate that although the East Asian experience of upgrading and repositioning within the GCC is to some extent emulated in the case of the Singapore apparel industry, the outcomes have been less favourable in terms of the depth, extent and strength of these trajectories. The differing outcomes can be explained in terms of different (systemic) conditions in the Singapore business environment, including the agency of local players, the geography of sourcing networks, and the role of the state and prevailing business attitudes. Our conclusions merit continued attention in both research and policy circles on the development of capabilities at the firm level, and the role of local business and institutional environments in local industry development processes under globalisation.     

公婆泉盆地局部排泄源氧化还原属性与铀矿化关系探讨

在系统分析公婆泉盆地地质背景、水文地质条件的基础上，对该区局部排泄源氧化还原属性与铀矿化的关系进行了探讨。研究结果表明，局部排泄源的存在对铀矿化具有重要作用，当局部排泄源属于还原性质时，铀矿体常常分布于该排泄源上游；若属氧化性质，排泄源铀矿体通常位于其下游或附近。公婆泉盆地存在相对氧化和相对还原的二种局部排泄源，北骆驼泉区的沙泉沟与平沙地、麻黄沟、北骆驼泉沟排泄源之间应为有利的铀矿化地段。     

Impact of precipitation seasonality changes on isotopic signals in polar ice cores: a multi-model analysis

For Central Greenland, water isotope analysis indicates a temperature difference of about 10°C since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, borehole thermometry and gas diffusion thermometry indicate that LGM surface temperatures were about 20°C colder than today. Two general circulation model studies have shown that changes in the seasonal precipitation timing in Central Greenland might have caused a warm bias in the LGM water isotope proxy temperatures, and that this bias could explain the difference in the estimated paleotemperatures. Here we present an analysis of a number of atmospheric general circulation model simulations mostly done within the framework of the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project. The models suggest that the seasonal cycle of precipitation and surface mass balance over Central Greenland at the LGM might have been very different from today. This supports the idea that the accuracy of the water isotope thermometry at the LGM in Greenland might be compromised as a result of a modified surface mass balance seasonality. However, the models disagree on the amplitude and sign of the bias. For Central East Antarctica, a strong seasonality effect on the LGM isotopic signal is not simulated by any of the analyzed models. For the mid-Holocene (6 kyr BP) the models suggest relatively weak isotope paleothermometry biases linked to changes in the surface mass balance seasonality over both ice sheets.     

Les manifestations tectoniques synsédimentaires associées à la compression éocène en Tunisie : implications paléogéographiques et structurales sur la marge Nord-Africaine

In central Tunisia, a synsedimentary tectonic episode has been pointed out through the tectonic movements affecting the Late Palaeocene–Early Eocene successions. This tectonic episode has controlled, to a large extent, the palaeogeographic setting of the area during that period and confirmed the important effect induced by the Pyrenean shortening phase on the edge of the African plate, which obviously has witnessed a common history with the southern part of the European plate. To cite this article: A. El Ghali et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Recent Precipitation Trends in Hungary in the Context of Larger Scale Climatic Changes

The time series of monthly precipitation totals from 14 Hungarian observing stations (1901–1998) were analysed to reveal the long term changes in precipitation characteristics occurred in the 20th century. A particular attention was given to the changes in the recent decades and their links with the larger scale climatic and circulation changes over Europe and the Atlantic.The statistical significancesof systematic changes are controlled by linear trend analysis and the Mann–Kendall test. The long term fluctuations are illustrated applying a 15-point Gaussian filter on the time series. The Standardised Precipitation Index is used to evaluate the changes in the drought event frequency. The relationships with larger scale changes are mostly discussed relying on contemporary papers, and the Grosswetterlagen Catalogue is used as well.The annual precipitation total decreased by 15–20% in Hungary during the 20th century. The decline is substantial in both halves of the century, but the precipitation sums in the transition seasons declined in the first 50 years, and the winter precipitation decreased in the latest decades. The precipitation total of the period November–February declined significantly in the last 50 years. In the same time the mean winter value of the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI) increased, the positions of the main pressure patterns over the Atlantic are shifted northeastward, and lot of other coherent changes detected in the winter climate of the European–Atlantic region. The mean summer precipitation total has hardly changed, but the frequency of summer drought events increased. There are some signs of a shift of the Hungarian summer climate towards a Mediterranean like climate.     

Late Holocene climates of the Near East deduced from Dead Sea level variations and modern regional winter rainfall

The Dead Sea is a terminal lake of one of the largest hydrological systems in the Levant and may thus be viewed as a large rain gauge for the region. Variations of its level are indicative of the climate variations in the region. Here, we present the decadal- to centennial-resolution Holocene lake-level curve of the Dead Sea. Then we determine the regional hydroclimatology that affected level variations. To achieve this goal we compare modern natural lake-level variations and instrumental rainfall records and quantify the hydrology relative to lake-level rise, fall, or stability. To quantify that relationship under natural conditions, rainfall data pre-dating the artificial Dead Sea level drop since the 1960s are used. In this respect, Jerusalem station offers the longest uninterrupted pre-1960s rainfall record and Jerusalem rains serve as an adequate proxy for the Dead Sea headwaters rainfall. Principal component analysis indicates that temporal variations of annual precipitation in all stations in Israel north of the current 200 mm yr⁻¹ average isohyet during 1940–1990 are largely synchronous and in phase (70% of the total variance explained by PC1). This station also represents well northern Jordan and the area all the way to Beirut, Lebanon, especially during extreme drought and wet spells. We (a) determine the modern, and propose the past regional hydrology and Eastern Mediterranean (EM) climatology that affected the severity and length of droughts/wet spells associated with multiyear episodes of Dead Sea level falls/rises and (b) determine that EM cyclone tracks were different in average number and latitude in wet and dry years in Jerusalem. The mean composite sea level pressure and 500-mb height anomalies indicate that the potential causes for wet and dry episodes span the entire EM and are rooted in the larger-scale northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation. We also identified remarkably close association (within radiocarbon resolution) between climatic changes in the Levant, reflected by level changes, and culture shifts in this region.     

冬季北极涛动和华北冬季气温变化关系研究

利用北极涛动指数（AOI）、NCEP／NCAR40a再分析资料中的海平面气压（SLP）、850、500、200hPa等压面高度场资料及中国160站月平均气温资料，运用小波分析，经验正交函数（EOF）分析等方法，分析了华北冬季气温和冬季北极涛动指数的变化特征及其关系。结果表明它们之间存在有着显著相关，特别是在年代际尺度上关系尤其密切。华北在20世纪70年代初以前为持续冷冬，80年代中期之后变为持续暖冬，其间相对正常，而冬季北极涛运指数亦存在类似的3个阶段，冬季北极涛动高（低）低数年，华北地区为暖（冷）冬年。其原因在于，北极涛动在于对流层低层和高层都可激发类似EU遥相关型的异常，通过影响西伯利亚高压和东亚大槽影响华北地区气温。强（弱）涛运年大气环流具有弱（强）东亚冬季风特征，西伯利亚高压减弱（增强），亚洲大陆地面东北风减弱（增强），高空东亚大槽减弱（增强）。