Spatial and temporal variability of microplankton and detritus, and their export to the shelf sediments in the upwelling area off Concepción, Chile (∼36°S), during 2002-2005

Seasonal variations in diversity and biomass of diatoms, tintinnids, and dinoflagellates and the contribution of microplankton and faecal material to the vertical flux of particulates were investigated at one time series station T (station 18) between 2002 and 2005 and at a grid of stations during November 2004 in the coastal and oceanic area off Concepción (36°S), Chile. The variations were analysed in relation to water column temperature, dissolved oxygen, nutrient concentration, offshore Ekman transport, and chlorophyll-a concentration. Abundance was estimated as cell numbers per litre and biomass in terms of biovolume and carbon units.A sharp decrease with depth was observed in the abundance of both phytoplankton and microzooplankton during the whole annual cycle; over 70% of their abundance was concentrated in the upper 10 m of the water column. Also, a clear seasonality in microplankton distribution was observed at station T, with maxima for diatoms, tintinnids, and dinoflagellates every summer (centred on January) from 2002 to 2005.On the grid of stations, the maximum integrated (0-50 m) micro-phytoplankton abundances (>1 × 10⁹ cells m⁻²) occurred at the coastal stations, an area directly influenced by upwelling. A similar spatial distribution was observed for the integrated (0-200 m) faecal carbon (with values up to 632 mg C m⁻²). Tintinnids were distributed in all the first 300 miles from the coast and dinoflagellates were more abundant in oceanic waters.At station T, the average POC export production (below 50 m depth) was 16.6% (SD = 17%; range 2-67%; n = 16). The biological-mediated fluxes of carbon between the upper productive layer and the sediments of the continental shelf off Concepción depend upon key groups of phytoplankton (Thalassiosira spp., Chaetoceros spp.) and zooplankton (euphausiids) through the export of either cells or faecal material, respectively.     

胶州湾海水微表层粘度及其在海-气通量计算中的作用

物质海 -气通量计算新建议中将物质海 -气通量计算公式 F=K(CL- b Cg)中的 CL 用CL ( SML ) 代替。本文着重于对公式中质量迁移系数 K的讨论。在测定了海水微表层、次表层水粘度并同时测定了其它一些化学参量基础上 ,得出如下结论 :海水粘度与盐度、碱度有一定相关性 ;微表层与次表层海水的粘度变化小于 3%。因此 ,海水微表层效应影响 K值 ,与海水微表层效应影响物质浓度相比 ,可以不考虑。     

Oil migration driven by exhumation of the Canol Formation oil shale: A new conceptual model for the Norman Wells oil field,northwestern Canada

Thermal history, petroleum system, structural, and tectonic constraints are reviewed and integrated in order to derive a new conceptual model for the Norman Wells oil field, and a new play type for tectonically active foreland regions. The thermal history recorded by Devonian rocks suggests that source rocks experienced peak thermal conditions in the Triassic–Jurassic, during which time oil was likely generated. After initial oil generation and expulsion, the Canol Formation oil shale retained a certain fraction of hydrocarbons. The shallow reservoir (650–350 m) is a Devonian carbonate bank overlain by the Canol Formation and resides within a hanging wall block of the Norman Range thrust fault. Both reservoir and source rocks are naturally fractured and have produced high API non-biodegraded oil. Thrust faults in the region formed after the Paleocene, and a structural cross-section of the field shows that the source and reservoir rocks at Norman Wells have been exhumed by over 1 km since then.The key proposition of the exhumation model is that as Canol Formation rocks underwent thrust-driven exhumation, they crossed a ductile–brittle transition zone and dip-oriented fractures formed sympathetic to the thrust fault. The combination of pore overpressure and new dip-directed subvertical fractures liberated oil from the Canol Formation and allowed for up-dip oil migration. Reservoir rocks were similarly fractured and improved permeability enhanced charging and pooling of oil. GPS and seismicity data indicate that strain transfer across the northern Cordillera is a response to accretion of the Yakutat terrane along the northern Pacific margin of North America, which is also the probable driving force for foreland shortening and rock exhumation at Norman Wells.     

Reanalysis of the Atmospheric Flux of Nutrient Elements to the Southern Yellow Sea and the East China Sea

Based on the recent research results on dry and wet deposition of nutrient elements and sulphate,we estimate the atmospheric flux of nutrient elements and sulphate to the southern Yellow Sea and the East China Sea in each season.The results suggest that the concentrations of nutrient elements and sulphate in aerosol and precipitation show an apparent seasonal cycle with the maximum values in winter and the minimum values in summer.Depositions of nitrate and sulphate are dominated by wet deposition,while the deposition for phosphate is mainly dry deposition.Moreover,compared with the riverine inputs,the atmospheric deposition may be the main source of dissolved inorganic nutrients in the southern Yellow Sea and the East China Sea.     

Pore-water distribution and quantification of diffusive benthic fluxes of nutrients in the Huanghai and East China Seas sediments

1 Indroduction The coastal zone and continental shelf area is an important region in the global biogeochemical cycle of nutrients in the ocean. This portion of the global ocean interacts closely with the continents, atmosphere and the open ocean in a comp…     

Crustal impurities and the internal temperature of a neutron star crust

When the upper part of a neutron star crystallizes to form the crust, the constituting ions are trapped in the lattice as a result of the low diffusion rates in the solid phase. As a consequence, the local composition of the crust corresponds to the equilibrium condition at the melting point and not at the present internal temperature. The inclusion of the small entropic contribution to the free energy does not lead to marked changes in our view of the microscopic structure of a neutron star crust, because the melting temperature is much smaller than the typical energies at play in the crystal cell. However, mixing between layers characterized by different nuclear species is found to be an important effect for the production of impurities. We show that one should expect an increase of the thermal diffusion time through the crust at small temperatures, because of the decrease of thermal conductivity in relatively thin impurity-rich layers acting as isolating shields.     

X-ray binary unified analysis: pulse/RV application to Vela X1: GP Velorum

A procedure for simultaneous analysis of multiple kinds of observations is developed for binaries that contain X-ray pulsars. A wide variety of observation types might be included, although we consider only velocity: pulse and light: velocity: pulse cases at present. The model operates with equipotentials and can accommodate non-synchronous rotation and eccentric orbits. The duration condition imposed by observed X-ray eclipses is incorporated as an embedded constraint, so that only solutions consistent with the eclipse duration are found. Relations needed for the method of differential corrections in least-squares solutions are specified, and we apply the Marquardt scheme for improvement of solution convergence. Parameters of Vela X1: GP Velorum are obtained from seven combinations of pulse and radial velocity data. The estimated masses are thereby put into some perspective, especially for the neutron star. The mass of the supergiant ( m  sin³  i ) now ranges only ±5 per cent from the mean of seven results, although the uncertainty in i makes the actual mass range larger. We discuss the determinacy of certain parameters and their historical consistency. For example, the systemic radial velocity differs among spectroscopic data sets by more than 20 km s⁻¹. We show that, contrary to published assertions, the orbital inclinations of high-mass X-ray binaries are essentially indeterminable by the usual methods, although lower limits to inclination may be meaningful for some examples.     

PSR J1012+5307: younger than it looks?

Lorimer et al. have recently reported that the spin-down age (∼7 × 10⁹ yr) of the low-mass binary pulsar PSR J1012+5307 is much higher than the cooling age (3 × 10⁸ yr) of its white dwarf companion. The proposed solutions for this discrepancy are outlined and discussed. In particular, the revised cooling age estimate proposed by Alberts et al. agrees with data from other low-mass binary pulsar systems if a transition to the 'classical' cooling regime occurs between ∼0.14 and ∼0.28 M_⊙. If this transition is excluded, PSR J1012+5307 seems to have finished its accretion phase far from the spin-up line.     

奇异星壳层塌缩的数值研究

当奇异星表面的电场不足以支撑整个壳层的时候,壳层就有可能全部落入奇异核中.对这一过程的研究,可以为观测上证认奇异星提供一些可能的理论线索.数值计算表明,底部密度为-8.3×1010gcm-3,亦即质量为-3 4×10-6M(?)的壳层在约5.4×10-3s时间内塌缩到奇异核中,可导致一次持续约0.15s的爆发事件.在过程中平均每个重子释放约6.3 MeV的能量,总辐射能则可高达-1046-1047ergs.这可以用来解释宇宙中一些爆发现象.