Biological Impact of Elevated Ocean CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Concentrations: Lessons from Animal Physiology and Earth History

CO₂ currently accumulating in the atmosphere permeates into ocean surface layers, where it may impact on marine animals in addition to effects caused by global warming. At the same time, several countries are developing scenarios for the disposal of anthropogenic CO₂ in the worlds' oceans, especially the deep sea. Elevated CO₂ partial pressures (hypercapnia) will affect the physiology of water breathing animals, a phenomenon also considered in recent discussions of a role for CO₂ in mass extinction events in earth history. Our current knowledge of CO₂ effects ranges from effects of hypercapnia on acid-base regulation, calcification and growth to influences on respiration, energy turnover and mode of metabolism. The present paper attempts to evaluate critical processes and the thresholds beyond which these effects may become detrimental. CO₂ elicits acidosis not only in the water, but also in tissues and body fluids. Despite compensatory accumulation of bicarbonate, acid-base parameters (pH, bicarbonate and CO₂ levels) and ion levels reach new steady-state values, with specific, long-term effects on metabolic functions. Even though such processes may not be detrimental, they are expected to affect long-term growth and reproduction and may thus be harmful at population and species levels. Sensitivity is maximal in ommastrephid squid, which are characterized by a high metabolic rate and extremely pH-sensitive blood oxygen transport. Acute sensitivity is interpreted to be less in fish with intracellular blood pigments and higher capacities to compensate for CO₂ induced acid-base disturbances than invertebrates. Virtually nothing is known about the degree to which deep-sea fishes are affected by short or long term hypercapnia. Sensitivity to CO₂ is hypothesized to be related to the organizational level of an animal, its energy requirements and mode of life. Long-term effects expected at population and species levels are in line with recent considerations of a detrimental role of CO₂ during mass extinctions in the earth's history. Future research is needed in this area to evaluate critical effects of the various CO₂ disposal scenarios. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Fourier transform measurement of NO2 absorption cross-section in the visible range at room temperature

New laboratory measurements of NO₂ absorption cross-section were performed using a Fourier transform spectrometer at 2 and 16 cm^-1 (0.03 and 0.26 nm at 400 nm) in the visible range (380–830 nm) and at room temperature. The use of a Fourier transform spectrometer leads to a very accurate wavenumber scale (0.005 cm^-1, 8×10^-5 nm at 400 nm). The uncertainty on the new measurements is better than 4%. Absolute and differential cross-sections are compared with published data, giving an agreement ranging from 2 to 5% for the absolute values. The discrepancies in the differential cross-sections can however reach 18%. The influence of the cross-sections on the ground-based measurement of the stratospheric NO₂ total amount is also investigated.     

气象参数对对流层折射影响的相关研究

对流层折射是卫星导航测量的重要误差源之一。针对卫星导航仿真系统高精度和强实时性的要求,本文利用Hopfield模型和Saastamoinen模型分析了不同气象环境下气象参数对计算对流层天顶折射的影响。研究表明天顶折射量是各气象参数的增函数,在相同气象环境下,对各气象参数的敏感度各不相同。当气象环境改变时,敏感度的变化也不相同:气温的敏感度变化幅度最大,相对湿度次之,而大气压的敏感度保持不变。在此基础上利用距离平方反比插值方法栅格化气象站资料建立全国范围的气象环境。栅格数据的应用可将因气象参数的不准确而导致的对流层天顶折射量误差减小一个量级,对于提高卫星导航仿真系统的精度具有重要意义。     

The trend,seasonal cycle,and sources of tropospheric NO<Subscript>2</Subscript> over China during 1997–2006 based on satellite measurement

The characteristics of spatial and temporal distribution of tropospheric NO2 column density concentration over China are presented, on the basis of measurements from the satellite instruments GOME and SCIAMACHY. From these observations, monthly averaged tropospheric NO2 variations are determined for the period of 1997 to 2006. The trend and seasonal cycle are also investigated. The possible source of tropospheric NO2 over megacity area is discussed in this paper. The results show a large growth of tropospheric NO2 over eastern China, especially above the industrial areas with a fast economical growth, such as, Yangtze Rive Delta region and Pearl River Delta region because of the prominent anthropogenic activity. There is a rapid increase of tropospheric NO2 over megacities in China. For instance, Shanghai had a linear significant increase in NO2 columns of ～20% per year (reference year 1997) in the period of 1997-2006, which is the rapidest increase among all the selected cities. The seasonal pattern of the NO2 concentration shows a difference between the east and west in China. In the eastern part of China, an expected winter maximum in seasonal cycle is found because of the prominent anthropogenic activity and meteorological conditions. In the western part this cycle shows a NO2 maximum in summer time, which is attributed to natural emissions, especially soil emissions and lightning. A quickly increasing vehicle population may contribute to the increase of tropospheric NO2 over megacities in China for the remarkable correlation for vehicle population with tropospheric NO2.     

Cosmogenic isotope (Cl) surface exposure dating of the Norber erratics, Yorkshire Dales: Further constraints on the timing of the LGM deglaciation in Britain

Cosmogenic isotope (³⁶Cl) surface exposure dating of four of the erratic boulders at Norber in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, northwest England, yielded mean ages of ∼22.2 ± 2.0 ka BP and ∼18.0 ± 1.6 ka BP for their emplacement. These two mean values derive from different ³⁶Cl production rates used for exposure age calculation. The ages are uncorrected for temporal variations in production rates and may underestimate the true ages by 5-7%. The former age, although implying early deglaciation for this area of the British ice sheet, is not incompatible with minimum deglaciation ages from other contexts and locations in northwest England. However, the latter age is more consistent with the same minimum deglaciation ages and geochronological evidence for ice-free conditions in parts of the northern sector of the Irish Sea. Within uncertainties, the younger of the mean ages from Norber may indicate that boulder emplacement was associated with North Atlantic Heinrich event 1. The limited spatial (downvalley) extent of the Norber boulders implies that at the time of their deposition the ice margin was coincident with the distal margin of the erratic train. Loss of ice cover at Norber was followed by persistent stadial conditions until the abrupt opening of the Lateglacial Interstadial when large carnivorous mammals colonised the area. The ³⁶Cl ages are between ∼3.0 ka and ∼13.0 ka older than previous estimates based on rates of limestone dissolution derived from the heights of pedestals beneath the erratics.     

河北平原第四系咸水同位素组成

本文讨论了河北平原地下咸水的同位素组成。并且依据水文地质、水化学和同位素特征将咸水成因分为两种类型,即大陆盐化成因和海水成因咸水。前者δ１８Ｏ＜－７．００‰,δＤ＜－５５．０‰,３６Ｃｌ／Ｃｌ＞５７±９（×１０－１５）,１４Ｃ年龄为１０００～４０００ａ（校正）;后者δ１８Ｏ＞－７．００‰,δＤ＞－５５．０‰,δ３７Ｃｌ值接近海水值,１４Ｃ年龄大于１００００ａ（校正）,咸水中的海水百分比大于３８．０％。     

Simulation of Tropospheric Ozone with MOZART-2： An Evaluation Study over East Asia

Climate changes induced by human activities have attracted a great amount of attention. With this, a coupling system of an atmospheric chemistry model and a climate model is greatly needed in China for better understanding the interaction between atmospheric chemical components and the climate. As the first step to realize this coupling goal, the three-dimensional global atmospheric chemistry transport model MOZART-2 (the global Model of Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 2) coupled with CAM2 (the Community Atmosphere Model, version 2) is set up and the model results are compared against observations obtained in East Asia in order to evaluate the model performance. Comparison of simulated ozone mixing ratios with ground level observations at Minamitorishima and Ryori and with ozonesonde data at Naha and Tateno in Japan shows that the observed ozone concentrations can be reproduced reasonably well at Minamitorishima but they tend to be slightly overestimated in winter and autumn while underestimated a little in summer at Ryori. The model also captures the general features of surface CO seasonal variations quite well, while it underestimates CO levels at both Minamitorishima and Ryori. The underestimation is primarily associated with the emission inventory adopted in this study. Compared with the ozonesonde data, the simulated vertical gradient and magnitude of ozone can be reasonably well simulated with a little overestimation in winter, especially in the upper troposphere. The model also generally captures the seasonal, latitudinal and altitudinal variations in ozone concentration. Analysis indicates that the underestimation of tropopause height in February contributes to the overestimation of winter ozone in the upper and middle troposphere at Tateno.     

“倾斜”高空急流轴在大暴雨过程中的作用

从理论分析和实例计算两方面探讨了高空急流轴的倾斜对急流出口处右侧辐散场形成的作用，理论分析和实例计算表明，一旦高空轴流轴发生倾斜，则由于其出口处长平风场的分布不均匀势必会在“倾斜”急流轴出口处的右侧出现强的辐散场，实例计算也表明，高空急流轴倾斜以及急流出口处右侧强辐散场的出现明显早于大暴雨的产生，因此，高空急流轴走向的变化对于预暴雨的发生发展具有很好的指示意义。     

海相年轻沉积物~(36)Cl定年研究

提取、纯化海相沉积颗粒表面"诱导吸附"的36Cl(和Cl),制成加速器质谱(AMS)测定放射性比度I(36Cl/Cl)所需的标准样品,即高纯度AgCl;定量计算出沉积颗粒沉积封闭时的放射性比度I0(36Cl/Cl),依据放射性衰败定律I=I0e-λt计算得到沉积年龄t。研究结果表明:年轻的海相沉积物沉积封闭时的36Cl放射性比度I0与地理纬度之间存在一定比例关系,采取具有代表性、无污染的太平洋表面海水(4°18′N,161°09′E),经AMS测出的36Cl放射性比度IL为99.34±10.30,再利用36Cl产率与纬度的关系图,得出"放射性比度-产率"的比例常数μ为23.65238。测定了两个海底沉积物和一个海底锰结核的放射性比度I,计算得到的沉积年龄分别为83.2×104a、74.0×104a、17.6×104a。文章提出的I0定值计算方法具有科学依据,可操作性强,为揭示海洋沉积地层相关关系和沉积年龄精确测定提供技术支撑。     

Sensitivity Studies for Monitoring Tropospheric Ozone from Space Using the Ultraviolet,Visible,and Polarization Bands

The authors analyzed the retrieval sensitivity of tropospheric ozone using simulated the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 （GOME-2） measurements. The retrieval sensitivity was evaluated by the degree of free- dom for signal （DFS）. The combination of the ultraviolet （UV）, UV polarization （UVPOL）, and visible （VIS） bands enhances DFS of tropospheric ozone and improves the vertical resolution of the retrieved ozone profile. UVPOL reduces the dependence on solar zenith angle, mainly in- creases the sensitivity in upper troposphere. Polarization increased the DFS by 20% on the eastern side of the GOME-2 orbit, with little improvement on the western side because the increase in DFS due to polarization is depend- ent on the relative azimuth angle. The inclusion of the visi- ble band reduces significantly the dependence on viewing geometry, and mainly increases the DFS in the lower tro- posphere （0-6 kin） by a factor of two. It was possible to retrieve several independent pieces of tropospheric ozone information from GOME-2 UV/UVPOL/VIS measure- ments, especially in the lower troposphere.