Individual Variation in the Covering Behaviour of the Shallow Water Sea Urchin Paracentrotus lividus

Abstract. A number of recent field‐based studies have investigated the possible functions of covering behaviour in a range of echinoid species. Some of these have found important relationships between covering behaviour and environmental factors, such as light (in particular, ultra‐violet light) and covering item availability. However, these studies have often shown considerable within‐species variation, thus making covering functionality both within and between species difficult to interpret. The present study experimentally investigates individual variability in covering behaviour characteristics of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck). Data were collected bimonthly over a 1‐year period at Lough Hyne, Ireland, by observing P. lividus in outdoor aquaria. Significant variations in covering behaviour characteristics were observed as a function of individual size and mobility but not as a function of sex. A significant relationship between water temperature, mobility and covering behaviour was also found and is hypothesized to have implications for grazing activity in P. lividus. In contrast to previous field studies of P. lividus at Lough Hyne, no summer ‘peak’ in the proportion of individuals covering was observed. However, there was a significant relationship between local solar radiation and ‘time to first cover’. Overall, these data highlight (i) the ecological significance of individual variation in P. lividus covering behaviour and (ii) the importance of investigating multiple factors as potential determinants of echinoid covering behaviour.     

Indian summer monsoon variability during the holocene as recorded in sediments of the Arabian Sea: Timing and implications

Indian monsoon precipitation fluctuated significantly during the Holocene and a reliable reconstruction of the timing of the events and their implications is of great benefit to our understanding of the effect and response of low latitude climate systems to the forcing factors. We have carried out high-resolution terrigenous proxy studies on a laminated sediment core from the Oxygen Minimum Zone of the eastern Arabian Sea margin to reconstruct the summer monsoon-controlled precipitation changes during the Holocene. The temporal variation in the terrigenous proxy indicators of this core, in combination with other high-quality cores from the Arabian Sea, suggests several abrupt events in monsoon precipitation throughout the Holocene. The early Holocene monsoon intensification occurred in two abrupt steps at 9500 and 9100 years BP and weakened gradually thereafter, starting at 8500 years BP. A weakening in precipitation recorded at ∼7000 years BP, synchronous with similar conditions in India. One of the most significant weak monsoon periods recorded in our studies lies between 6000 and 5500 years BP. Spectral analysis of the precipitation records reveals statistically significant periodicities at 2200, 1350, 950, 750, 470, 320, 220, 156, 126, 113, 104 and 92 years. Most of these millennial-to-centennial cycles exist in various monsoon records as well as the tree ring Δ¹⁴C data and/or other solar proxy records. We suggest that throughout the Holocene, externally, small changes in solar activity controlled the Indian monsoon to a large extent, whereas internally, non-solar causes could have influenced the amplitude of decadal-to-centennial oscillations.     

水面油膜微波辐射特性实验室测量与分析

要实现利用微波辐射计对海面溢油的厚度等参数进行遥感监测，必须先对水面油膜的微波辐射特性进行研究，以便为传感器的设计和遥感资料的解译提供依据。在实验室条件下，利用“灰体室”的环境条件及测量方法，测试了原油、燃料油和食用植物油膜的微波发射率与油膜厚度之间的关系，并对测量结果进行分析和讨论。为实际应用提供技术资料。     

台站用百叶箱内外气温比对与分析

用双通道自动测温表对台站用的百叶箱内外气温进行了同步比对测量与分析。指出自然通风时，百叶箱对箱内气温变化产生一定程度的滞后和热辐射作用。滞后作用较明显。     

穿透性太阳短波辐射对混合层深度的影响

用数值方法研宄穿透性太阳短波辐射对混合层深度的影响时,有些学者人为地设定了风速和热通量。这种做法可能会出现风速和热通量数值不匹配的问题。为了弥补这一缺陷,本文采用国内外常用的块体公式计算热通量的方法来代替人为设置,并以北太平洋为例,研究了穿透性太阳短波辐射对海洋混合层深度的影响。结果表明:低风速(U10<10m／s),且海表短波净辐射处于40～200 W／m2时,穿透性太阳短波辐射对混合层深度影响很显著;高风速(U10>10m／s)和短波净辐射高值区(S*(0)>200 W／m2),穿透性太阳短波辐射对混合层深度的影响较小。     

北冰洋夏季的海雾

以中国首次北极科学考察采用国内外海冰、大气和海洋的先进观测设备,获得海、陆、空的同步或准同步观测资料为基础,重点研究北冰洋的海雾.发现在北冰洋大范围被海冰覆盖或冰水相间的洋面上,能够形成平流雾、辐射雾和蒸汽雾.每种海雾的特点和形成的物理机制不同.在北冰洋的南部,由于暖湿气流充分,易形成持续时间长、浓度大的平流雾;在冰盖和大浮冰块上,由于冰雪面的强辐射冷却,容易形成稳定的辐射雾;在浮冰区能够形成像开锅的蒸汽一样的蒸汽雾.指出在北冰洋形成多种海雾原因是海冰的分布及独特的物理特性造成下垫面性质的复杂化,产生的海气相互作用复杂化的结果,特别是冰雪面的反照率高,不能吸收极昼期充足的太阳辐射.冰又是热的不良导体,成为海气热交换的屏障,在浮冰区由于冰屏障的破碎,海气交换活跃.海洋以潜热的形式向大气输送热量,以蒸汽雾的形式反映出海气热交换的程度和对气候影响的一种表现形式.提出在蒸汽雾发生的过程中,海洋以感热的形式向大气输送热量.     

Local and far-field surface elevation around a vertical cylinder in unidirectional steep wave groups

The problem of diffraction of a unidirectional incident wave group by a bottom-seated cylinder is considered. We assume the amplitude of the incoming wave to be small in comparison with other linear scales of the problem, and develop the corresponding second-order perturbation theory. We use the Fourier transform to treat time variation and separate spatial variables when solving the non-homogeneous second-order problem. The resulting set of non-homogeneous Bessel equations is solved numerically.Solutions for various types of incoming wave spectrum are obtained including the Gaussian spectrum and the Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum. To validate the method, problems with gradually decreasing bandwidth of Gaussian spectrum are solved and it is shown that the corresponding solution approaches that for the monochromatic case. The Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum with a set of realistic physical parameters is used as an example of extreme wave interaction with an offshore structure. The corresponding first- and second-order solutions are obtained and the effect of non-linearity on the solution is discussed with the emphasis on the growth of maximum free-surface elevation on the cylinder’s surface and generation of high frequency free radiated waves.     

Salinity-Temperature Relations and Morphotypes of a Mixed Population of Coccoid Cyanobacteria from a Hot, Hypersaline Pond in Israel

Abstract. A mixed population of unicellular and colonial cyanobacteria was transferred into culture from a hypersaline helio-thermal pond in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. The entire complex of strains, incubated in Dead Sea water of varying salinity and temperature, showed a pronounced shift of the maximal growth from a salinity of 72 g l^-1 at 30 ^oC up to 142 g 1^-1 at 50 ^oC. Over the above range of salinities and temperatures, these cyanobacteria were capable of about four divisions per day, providing that any increase in salinity was coupled with the suitable increase in temperature. The above peculiar adaptation can explain the prominent success of this group of microorganisms in the extreme and unstable ecological conditions of hypersaline habitats. Amounts of slime accumulating in the cultures were proportional to the incubation temperature.     

太阳能海水淡化技术

文章论述应用太阳能集热和太阳能光伏发电系统进行蒸馏淡化和膜法淡化的海水淡化方法。与传统动力源和热源相比 ,太阳能具有安全、环保等优点 ,将太阳能采集与脱盐工艺两个系统结合是一种可持续发展的海水淡化技术     

Vertical column abundances and seasonal cycle of acetylene,C2H2, above the Jungfraujoch station,derived from IR solar observations

Monthly mean total vertical column abundances of acetylene have been determined from series of infrared solar spectra recorded at the Jungfraujoch station, Switzerland, between June 1986 and April 1991. The data have been obtained by nonlinear least-squares fittings of the ₅ band R19 transition of C₂H₂ at 776.0818 cm^-1. The average of 22 monthly mean total vertical columns of C₂H₂ retrieved during that time interval of almost 5 years was found to be equal to (1.81±0.12)×10¹⁵ molec/cm², which corresponds to an average mixing ratio of (0,22±0.013) ppbv (parts per billion by volume) in a troposphere extending from the altitude of the station (3.58 km), up to 10.5 km. Despite the large variability found from year to year, a least-squares sine fit to the data reveals a seasonal variation with an amplitude of about ±40% of the mean; the maximum occurs during mid-winter and the minimum in the summer. The present results are compared critically with similar in-situ data found in the literature. A sinusoidal fit to all such free troposphere measurements made in-situ between 30°N and 60°N indicates good agreement in shape and phase with the seasonal variation derived above the Jungfraujoch, but their average column abundance, 2.3×10¹⁵ molec/cm², is about 30% higher; this difference is explained on the basis of non-upwelling meteorological conditions generally prevailing during ground-based remote solar observations.