The phytoplankton of some saline lakes in Central Asia

The Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash, and Lake Kamyslybas are closed lakes in Central Asia. They range from oligosaline to metasaline. The salinity of the Aral Sea has increased by more than 30 g L⁻¹ since widespread irrigation began in its catchment area. Few studies of the phytoplankton have been conducted on these lakes since extensive irrigation started. The investigation reported here compares the flora of phytoplankton in these saline lakes. In the Small Aral Sea, phytoplankton density gradually decreased with increasing electrical conductivity (EC) (∼ salinity), but there was no such relation in Lake Balkhash and Lake Kamyslybas. In the Aral Sea, Dinophyceae and Bacillariophyceae were frequently observed in most areas of high EC value, and Cyanophyceae were most conspicuous in the area of medium and lower EC values. In Lake Balkhash, Cyanophyceae were most conspicuous, but Chlorophyceae were also noticeable. Most Cyanophyceae in Aral Sea formed filaments with heterocysts. The distinct characteristic of the phytoplankton of the Lake Balkhash was that all dominant species form colonies covered with a gelatinous film. Siliceousplankton diversity gradually decreased with increasing EC values in the Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash.     

The Present Space-Time Motion and Deformation Features of the Northeastern Margin of the Qinghai-Xizang（Tibet） Block and Its Adjacent Area

On the basis of Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA), and considering the moderate intrusion of specific block boundaries to different extents, the first-order block motion model is established for the northeastern margin of Qinghai-Xizang(Tibet) block and the kinematical model for depicting deformation of small regions as well by using GPS observations of three periods (1991, 1999 and 2001). By simulating, we obtained the motion features of the firstorder blocks between the large WWN faults on the sides of the studied region, the distribution features of the principal strain rate field and the inhomogeneous motion features with spacetime of the faults in the northern boundary of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) block.     

一次强风暴的垂直环境特征数值模拟分析

应用MM 5模式对东北冷涡诱发的 2 0 0 2年 7月 1 2日强风暴进行了数值模拟 ,较成功地模拟出中尺度强对流风暴。发现冷涡后部中层干冷空气绝热下沉是东北冷涡 70 0hPa附近干暖盖形成和维持的重要机制 ,而低层暖湿气流爬升及干暖盖的抑制作用是东北冷涡强对流不稳定能量积累的重要机制。风暴发生前持续的低层西南风到中层西北风的风垂直切变产生的差动平流 ,加剧了层结不稳定 ,而风暴临近风垂直切变方向的快速逆转使热成风不平衡 ,必须通过激发垂直环流以适应其变化 ,对风暴发展有重要作用。     

青藏高原影响亚洲夏季气候研究的最新进展

文中回顾了近 10a来吴国雄等在青藏高原影响亚洲夏季气候研究方面的最新进展。通过分析东西风交界面的演变证明 ,由于青藏高原的春季加热 ,亚洲季风区对流层低层冬季盛行偏东风转变为夏季偏西南风最早发生在孟加拉湾东部 ,与其相伴随的激烈对流降水出现在其东面。因此孟加拉湾东部至中印半岛西部是亚洲季风最早爆发的地区。同时也指出盛夏伊朗高原和青藏高原加热所激发的同相环流嵌套在欧亚大陆尺度的热力环流中 ,从而加强了东亚的夏季风 ,加剧了中西亚的干旱 ;并通过其所激发的波动对夏季东亚的气候格局产生重要影响。文中还比较了夏季南亚高压的伊朗模态和青藏模态性质的异同及其对亚洲夏季降水异常分布的不同影响。     

Application of Remote Sensing in Flood Management with Special Reference to Monsoon Asia: A Review

The conventional means to record hydrological parameters of aflood often fail to record an extreme event. Remote sensingtechnology along with geographic information system (GIS)has become the key tool for flood monitoring in recent years.Development in this field has evolved from optical to radarremote sensing, which has provided all weather capabilitycompared to the optical sensors for the purpose of flood mapping.The central focus in this field revolves around delineation of floodzones and preparation of flood hazard maps for the vulnerable areas.In this exercise flood depth is considered crucial for flood hazardmapping and a digital elevation model (DEM) is considered to bethe most effective means to estimate flood depth from remotelysensed or hydrological data. In a flat terrain accuracy of floodestimation depends primarily on the resolution of the DEM. Riverflooding in the developing countries of monsoon Asia is very acutebecause of their heavy dependence on agriculture but any floodestimation or hazard mapping attempt in this region is handicappedby poor availability of high resolution DEMs. This paper presents areview of application of remote sensing and GIS in flood managementwith particular focus on the developing countries of Asia.     

Active faulting at the Eurasian, North American and Pacific plates junction

The active faults known and inferred in the area where the major Pacific, North American and Eurasian plates come together group into two belts. One of them comprises the faults striking roughly parallel to the Pacific ocean margin. The extreme members of the belt are the longitudinal faults of islands arcs, in its oceanic flank, and the faults along the continental margins of marginal seas, in its continental flank. The available data show that all these faults move with some strike-slip component, which is always right-lateral. We suggest that characteristic right-lateral, either partially or dominantly, kinematics of the fault movements has its source in oblique convergence of the Pacific plate with continental Eurasian and North American plates. The second belt of active faults transverses the extreme northeast Asia as a continental extension of the active mid-Arctic spreading ridge. The two active fault belts do not cross but come close to each other at the northern margin of the Sea of Okhotsk marking thus the point where the Pacific, North American and Eurasian plates meet.     

亚、欧两大洲自然地理环境结构的整体性和差异性教学初探

地理环境的结构，是指地理环境各组成要素之间和各组成部分之间相互关系性质的组合，它包括既有联系、又有区别的两个方面，即地理环境结构的整体性和差异性。笔者在亚、欧两洲自然地理数年的教学实践中，从自然环境结构的整体性和差异性特征入手，得出分析、综合、概括归纳和对比研究等方法是学习世界区域地理的主要方法。     

Seasonal Variation of the East Asian Subtropical Westerly Jet and Its Association with the Heating Field over East Asia

The structure and seasonal variation of the East Asian Subtropical Westerly Jet （EAWJ） and associations with heating fields over East Asia are examined by using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Obvious differences exist in the westerly jet intensity and location in different regions and seasons due to the ocean-land distribution and seasonal thermal contrast, as well as the dynamic and thermodynamic impacts of the Tibetan Plateau. In winter, the EAWJ center is situated over the western Pacific Ocean and the intensity is reduced gradually from east to west over the East Asian region. In summer, the EAWJ center is located over the north of the Tibetan Plateau and the jet intensity is reduced evidently compared with that in winter. The EAWJ seasonal evolution is characterized by the obvious longitudinal inconsistency of the northward migration and in-phase southward retreat of the EAWJ axis. A good correspondence between the seasonal variations of EAWJ and the meridional differences of air temperature （MDT） in the mid-upper troposphere demonstrates that the MDT is the basic reason for the seasonal variation of EAWJ. Correlation analyses indicate that the Kuroshio Current region to the south of Japan and the Tibetan Plateau are the key areas for the variations of the EAWJ intensities in winter and in summer, respectively. The strong sensible and latent heating in the Kuroshio Current region is closely related to the intensification of EAWJ in winter. In summer, strong sensible heating in the Tibetan Plateau corresponds to the EAWJ strengthening and southward shift, while the weak sensible heating in the Tibetan Plateau is consistent with the EAWJ weakening and northward migration.     

Modern stable isotopic (δ18O, δ2H, δ13C) variation in terrestrial,fluvial, estuarine and marine waters from north‐central Sarawak,Malaysian Borneo

Stable isotope data on humid tropical hydrology are scarce and, at present, no such data exist for Borneo. Delta¹⁸O, δ²H and δ¹³C were analysed on 22 water samples from different parts of the Sungai (river) Niah basin (rain, cave drip, rainforest pool, tributary stream, river, estuary, sea) in north‐central Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. This was done to improve understanding of the modern stable isotope systematics of the Sungai Niah basin, essential for the palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the Late Quaternary stable isotope proxies preserved in the Great Cave of Niah. The Niah hydrology data are put into a regional context using the meteoric water line for Southeast Asia, as derived from International Atomic Energy Agency/World Meteorological Organization isotopes in precipitation network data. Although the Niah hydrological data‐set is relatively small, spatial isotopic variability was found for the different subenvironments of the Sungai Niah basin. A progressive enrichment occurs towards the South China Sea (δ¹⁸O ?4·6‰; δ²H ?29·3‰; δ¹³C ?4·8‰) from the tributary stream (δ¹⁸O ?8·4‰; δ²H ?54·7‰; δ¹³C ?14·5‰) to up‐river (δ¹⁸O c. ?8‰; δ²H c. ?51‰; δ¹³C c. ?12‰) and down‐river values (δ¹⁸O c. ?7·5‰; δ²H c. ?45‰; δ¹³C c. ?11‰). This is thought to reflect differential evaporation and mixing of different components of the water cycle and a combination of depleted biogenic δ¹³C (plant respiration and decay) with enriched δ¹³C values (due to photosynthesis, atmospheric exchange, mixing with limestone and marine waters) downstream. Cave drip waters are relatively enriched in δ¹³C as compared to the surface waters. This may indicate rapid degassing of the cave drips as they enter the cave atmosphere. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.