Climatology and seasonal variability of theMindanao Undercurrent based on OFES data

The simulation of an ocean general circulation model for the earth simulator （OFES） is transformed to an isopycnal coordinate to investigate the spatial structure and seasonal variability of the Mindanao Under- current （MUC）. The results show that （1） potential density surfaces, δ0=26.5 and δ0=27.5, can be chosen to encompass the M UC layer. Southern Pacilic tropical water （SPTW）, Antarctic Intermediate Water （AAIW） and high potential density water （HPDW） constitute the MUC. （2） Climatologically, the MOC exists in the form of dual-core. In some months, the dual-core structure changes to a single-core structure. （3） Choosing section at 8°N for calculating the transport of the MUC transport is reliable. Potential density constraint provides a good method for calculating the transport of the MOC. （4） The annual mean transport of the MUC is 8.34 × 106 m3/s and varies considerably with seasons： stronger in late spring and weaker in winter.     

南极涛动和南极绕极波的年代际变化

用1951年1月～2002年12月共624个月的海平面气压、 温度和850 hPa西风的NCEP再分析资料, 分析定义了南极涛动指数 (简称AAOI) 和850 hPa的南极涛动西风指数 (简称Uaaoi), 并讨论了它们的长期变化趋势和年代际跃变及其对南极绕极波的影响。结果表明, AAOI和Uaaoi的变化非常相似, 两者的同期相关系数高达0.218 (624个月), 超过了99.9%信度检验。当AAOI为高指数时, Uaaoi也为高指数, 即西风增加; 当AAOI为低指数时, Uaaoi也为低指数, 即西风减弱。AAOI和Uaaoi都有明显的长期趋势, 倾向率分别为0.01915/10 a和0.009249/10 a。1972年是跃变点, 跃变前AAOI的年平均值为-3.9691 hPa; 跃变后为2.9107 hPa。而在60°S 附近, 跃变前年平均西风为-1.09 m/s, 跃变后为0.93 m/s, 二者差达2.02 m/s。它们的主要振荡周期为3～5年。对50°S～60°S平均纬圈的海平面气压 (sea level pressure, 简称SLP) 和温度 (624月) 作3～5年滤波, 它的经度时间剖面图表明: 近50多年来南极绕极波均为自西向东的行波, 绕南极一周跃变前约4.4年, 跃变后约3.6年。南半球的SLP和温度经3～5年滤波后, 它的EOF展开第一特征向量的空间型表明: 跃变前以3波振动为主, 跃变后以2波振动为主。     

南半球10 hPa极地涡旋的多尺度变化特征分析

利用NCEP/NCAR 10 hPa月平均高度场资料, 计算了1948\_2007年南半球10 hPa极地涡旋的强度指数P、 面积指数S和中心位置指数(λc, φc)。用它们分析了南半球10 hPa极地涡旋的季节变化、 年际异常及其可能成因, 分析了10 hPa极地涡旋强度与南极涛动的关系。结果表明： (1) 南半球10 hPa极区12月~1月受反气旋控制, 3~10月受气旋控制, 2月、 11月为环流转换季节。(2) 1(7)月反气旋(气旋)指数P\, S均在1970年代后期发生了显著的跃变; 跃变前反气旋(气旋)由极弱(极强)振荡地增强(减弱)至接近气候均值, 跃变后反气旋由极强振荡趋于气候均值, 气旋在偏弱的状态下振荡。(3) 1月反气旋中心位置存在显著的年代际变化, 而7月气旋中心位置的年际变化明显。(4) 臭氧异常可引起南半球10 hPa 1月极地反气旋年际异常(正相关), 但与7月极地气旋异常无关。(5) 1月、 7月极地涡旋强度指数P与南极涛动指数(AAOI)呈显著的负相关, 可由P来表征AAOI。     

Secondary Fe and Al in Antarctic paleosols: Correlation to Mars with prospect for the presence of life

Middle-Miocene age paleosols in the Antarctic Dry Valleys were studied for their compositional variation and concentrations of secondary oxides/coatings in <2 mm matrix material in tills. The paleosols date to between 10-18 Ma by ¹⁰Be, forming prior to and just following the transition from warm-based to cold-based ice, when the climate is thought to have entered a prolonged cold/dry period in which soil moisture would have been frozen most of the year. The progression of release of secondary oxides of Fe and Al shows variable percentages of individual oxihydrites relative to chemical element totals, and thus, to consume total Fe and Al would require tens of millions of additional years. The slow progression of Fe_d/Fe_t, used as a measure of relative age in other warmer alpine and Arctic climates, is shown here to amount to <15 percent of the total Fe available for weathering. Ferrihydrite variability in paleosols, often used to indicate the presence of fluctuating/perched ground water tables, suggests that liquid water may have accumulated in mid-profile in some instances, perhaps during periods when the climate was somewhat warmer for several weeks during the summer. Variable Fe and Al ratios and arithmetic functions argue for extremely slow but sustainable release of oxides in a cold, polar desert climate, in which temperatures prohibit the formation of clay minerals. The secondary mineral species present likely amount to residue from past climates that were more conducive to clay mineral genesis and aerosolic input over time. The presence of microbial life in Antarctic paleosols, with minor amounts of Fe available for physiological processes to function, argues for the potential existence of microorganisms in ice-enriched paleosols of Mars, particularly given its watery and dynamic geologic past and relatively high concentration of total Fe in subaerial paleosols. The distribution of Fe over a large part of the northern plains of Mars as determined by the GRS instrument is invoked as a comparison with the Antarctic.     

Premières mesures françaises de gravimétrie absolue dans les régions polaires Antarctique (terre Adélie) et Arctique (Spitzberg)First French measurements of absolute gravity in the Antarctic (Terre Adélie) and Arctic (Spitsbergen) polar regions

This study is devoted to the first French determinations of absolute gravity in the Antarctic (Dumont-d'Urville, Terre Adélie) and Arctic (Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen) polar regions. The measurements in Dumont-d'Urville were performed in 2000 with the help of the FG5#206 absolute gravimeter belonging to the French geodetic community since beginning 1997; they show a strong noise that causes an uncertainty close to 11 μGal in the determination of the mean gravity value, which will be compared, to a new determination planned for 2005. The Ny-Alesund measurements show on the contrary a noise that, although very variable in time, leads to a gravity determination of better than 5 μGal. The comparison of our value with a previous one two years before suggests a gravity decrease of about 4 μGal which is related to the vertical uplift measured by Very Large Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at the same site. However, the uncertainty does not allow discriminating between height-to-gravity conversion factors originating from different models. To cite this article: J. Hinderer et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 819–826.     

A new magnetic map of the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula

As part of the Antarctic Digital Magnetic Mapping Project (ADMAP) workers from VNIIOkeangeologia (Russia), the British Antarctic Survey (UK) and the Naval Research Laboratory (USA) have brought together almost all of the available magnetic data in the area 0–120°W, 60–90°S. The final map covers the whole Weddell Sea and adjacent land areas, the Antarctic Peninsula and the seas to the west, an area comparable in size with that of the USA. This paper describes the methods used during the compilation of the map and reviews briefly some of the main features shown on it. Distinct magnetic provinces are associated with Precambrian rocks of the East Antarctic craton, highly extended continental crust in the Weddell Sea embayment, the arc batholith of the Antarctic Peninsula, and oceanic crust of the northern Weddell Sea, which was created as a direct consequence of South America–Antarctica plate motion and oceanic crust generated at the Pacific–Antarctic ridge. The magnetic anomaly map thus provides an overview of the fragmentation of south-western Gondwana and the tectonic development of the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica.     

Post-subduction margin structures along Boyd Strait, Antarctic Peninsula

The Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula to the southwest of the Hero Fracture Zone (HFZ) is a former subducting margin which became inactive following the arrival of ridge crest segments of the Antarctic–Phoenix ridge at the margin during the Tertiary. In contrast, the part of the margin to the northeast of the HFZ remains active. Tertiary convergence was approximately perpendicular to the margin and ongoing motion is thought to have the same orientation. A new seismic reflection profile running along Boyd Strait, just northeast of the landward projection of the HFZ, shows major structural components similar to those typically observed along the margin to the southwest of the HFZ. In order of increasing proximity to the margin, these components are: the inner shelf, the shelf basin, the mid-shelf basement high (MSBH), and the outer shelf. The continuation of the post-subduction margin structures to the active margin suggests that the boundary between crust with passive and active margins characteristics is not sharply defined. Our postulated scenario for tectonic evolution along Boyd Strait is that: (1) before the arrival of the last ridge crest segment to the southwest of the HFZ, the inner shelf and the shelf basin were part of a Cretaceous–Tertiary arc and forearc area, (2) after the arrival, thermal effects resulting from interaction of the ridge crest with the margin just southwest of the HFZ lead to the formation of the MSBH to the northeast, but MSBH uplift in Boyd Strait did not prevent concurrent cross-shelf sediment transport contributing to development of an extensive outer shelf on the seaward flank of the MSBH, (3) Recent extension in Bransfield Strait, a marginal basin to the northeast of the landward projection of the HFZ, has caused about 10 km of seaward deflection in the strike of the part of the MSBH to the northeast of the projection of the HFZ.     

50°S以南海域的感热潜热通量的模式计算

应用美国宇航局Goddard地球观测系统（GoddardEarthObservingSystem简称GEOS）四维资料同化系统（DataAssimilationSystem简称DAS），计算和分析了50°S以南海域夏季的感热、潜热通量．结果表明，在50°S以南海域潜热通量都为正值，感热通量在大部分海域亦为正值，但在有些海域可出现负值．感热和潜热通量随纬向呈高值区和低值区交替分布，通量低值区与海表温度低值槽区往往相符．     

Study on tidal gravity observations obtained at stations Zhongshan and Changcheng, Antarctic

IntroductionThe purpose of the studies on the tidal gravity observations on the Earth(s surface is to investigate the properties of the deformation and the tidal gravity variations of the Earth under the action of the luni-solar tidal force. These variations relate to the internal structure, shape and the medium(s rheology properties of the Earth (Wahr, 1981; Dehant, 1987). The theoretical studies and observations indicated that the amplitudes and the tidal parameters, including the amplitud…