The challenge of predicting the occurrence of intense storms

Geomagnetic super-storms of October and November 2003 are compared in order to identify solar and interplanetary variables that influence the magnitude of geomagnetic storms. Although these superstorms (D_ST < -300 nT) are associated with high speed CMEs, their DST indices show large variation. The most intense storm of November 20, 2003 (D_St∼ - 472 nT) had its source in a comparatively small active region and was associated with a relatively weaker, M-class flare, while the others had their origins in large active regions and were associated with strong X-class flares. An attempt has been made to implement a logistic regression model for the prediction of the occurrence of intense/superintense geomagnetic storms. The model parameters (regression coefficients) were estimated from a training data-set extracted from a data-set of 64 geo-effective CMEs observed during 1996–2002. The results indicate that logistic regression models can be effectively used for predicting the occurrence of major geomagnetic storms from a set of solar and interplanetary factors. The model validation shows that 100% of the intense storms (-200 nT < D_St < -100 nT) and only 50% of the super-intense (DST < -200 nT) storms could be correctly predicted.     

南极普里兹湾及其邻近海域表层水镭同位素的分布及应用

中国第27次南极科学考察期间(2010年12月30日至2011年1月16日),对普里兹湾及其邻近海域表层海水进行了226Ra和228Ra的分析,结果表明:226Ra和228Ra比活度的变化范围分别为1.47—2.43Bq/m3和0.17—0.45Bq/m3,平均值分别为2.13Bq/m3和0.29Bq/m3,228Ra/226Ra)A.R.(228Ra与226Ra的活度比)的变化范围为0.08—0.20,平均值为0.14。根据盐度和226Ra的质量平衡方程,计算出研究海域表层水中冰融水、南极夏季表层水和普里兹湾中深层水的份额。研究海域表层水中温度、盐度、226Ra、228Ra、228Ra/226Ra)A.R.和冰融水份额的空间分布显示,在埃默里冰架前沿海域,西侧海域较东侧海域具有低温、高盐、高226Ra、低228Ra、低228Ra/226Ra)A.R.、低冰融水份额的特征,证实埃默里冰架下水体东进西出的运动规律。根据埃默里冰架前沿东、西侧水体228Ra/226Ra)A.R.的差异,估算出埃默里冰架下表层水体东进西出所经历的时间为1.85a。此外,在普里兹湾湾口中部海域(66.5—67.5°S,72°—74°E),观察到次表层水的上升通风作用,该区域较高的228Ra含量和228Ra/226Ra)A.R.证明这些表层水体并非来自湾外绕极深层水的上涌,而可能来自湾内埃默里冰架输出水体。     

性类固醇激素E2、MT 对尼罗罗非鱼(Oreochromis niloticus)雌、雄生长差异的影响

性类固醇激素对动物生长有一定的影响, 但其对鱼类雌、雄生长差异的影响机理尚不清楚。 为进一步了解动物雌雄生长差异的内在原因, 本文通过在体注射和荧光定量PCR 方法, 比较了性类 固醇激素(E₂、MT)对尼罗罗非鱼雌鱼和雄鱼的生长及对垂体GH、肝脏GHR1、IGF-I mRNA 表达的 影响。结果表明: 性类固醇激素E₂ 和MT 对尼罗罗非鱼的生长及生长轴相关基因的表达均有显著的 影响, 并且这种影响存在明显的性别二态性。E₂ 明显促进雌鱼的生长但不显著影响雄鱼的生长, MT 显著促进雄鱼和雌鱼的生长; E₂ 可使雌鱼垂体GH 和肝脏GHR1 、IGF-I 的mRNA 水平显著升高 (P<0.05), 但降低雄鱼垂体GH和肝脏GHR1的mRNA表达; MT 显著提高雄鱼垂体GH和肝脏GHR1、 IGF-I mRNA 水平(P<0.05), 但降低雌鱼垂体GH 的mRNA 表达, 促进雌鱼肝脏GHR1 mRNA 的表达, 但对雄鱼肝脏GHR1 的促进作用明显大于雌鱼(P<0.05).上述结果表明, 性类固醇激素对不同性别尼 罗罗非鱼的生长及生长轴相关基因的mRNA 表达有不同的影响, 表现出明显的性别二态性, 提示不 同性别鱼体内性类固醇激素水平的不同可能是导致尼罗罗非鱼雌雄生长二态性的另一内在原因。     

中华绒螯蟹(Eriocheir sinensis)肠道和肝胰腺5-羟色胺(5-HT)和5-羟色胺受体2(5-HTR2)的定位研究

肠道和肝胰腺是中华绒螯蟹(Eriocheir sinensis)重要的消化器官,本文运用组织学技术测量了中肠和后肠长度,并对肠道长与体长进行相关性分析。应用免疫组化技术对5-HT和5-HT受体2进行组织定位和计数。结果表明:(1)中华绒螯蟹的肠道长与体长接近,两者之间呈极显著正相关(P0.01)。后肠长度约为中肠的2倍;(2)5-HT和5-HT受体2在中肠和后肠中的组织定位和数量相似,均分布于黏膜上皮细胞间和肌层与外膜交界处,亦见于后肠的固有膜和黏膜下层与肌层交界处,在肠球外膜中也有大量分布;(3)5-HT和5-HT受体2阳性物质在肝胰腺的四种细胞的胞核中均有分布,在F细胞的胞质中也有分布。5-HT和5-HT受体2在中华绒螯蟹肠道和肝胰腺组织中的分布规律一致,表明中华绒螯蟹消化道5-HT发挥生理功能可能与5-HT受体2有关。此外,5-HT和5-HT受体2在后肠近肌细胞分布的特点可能与肠道收缩有关。后肠在中华绒螯蟹消化生理中的作用应引起重视。     

Concurrent Use of OSCAT and AltiKa to Characterize Antarctic Ice Surface Features

Radar altimetry provides an important geophysical parameter, backscatter coefficient (σ₀), which is useful in studying target surface characteristics. Ku-band (Oceansat-2 scatterometer- OSCAT) and Ka-band (SARAL-AltiKa altimeter) data are concurrently used to characterize polar surface features over the Antarctic region. Maximum-likelihood classification has been employed to classify combined data set (AltiKa and OSCAT) for discrimination among sea ice, open water, and ice sheet (interior and exterior). The sea ice region obtained using the current approach has been compared with sea ice boundary derived from passive microwave data.     

Species delimitation in the green algal genus Codium (Bryopsidales) from Korea using DNA barcoding

Codium, one of the largest marine green algal genera, is difficult to delimit species boundary accurately based on morphological identification only. DNA barcoding is a powerful tool for discriminating species of seaweeds. The plastid elongation factor TU(tuf A) is considered as maker to perform DNA barcoding of green algal species than rbc L gene due to universality and rapid evolution rate. We conducted DNA barcoding application to Codium specimens from the Jeju Island, Korea to overcome the limit of morphological identification and to confirm the species diversity. As a result of applying tuf A marker, we newly generated fifty-five tuf A barcodes to resolve eight species. Tuf A marker exhibited 6.1%–21.8% interspecific divergences, wider than the gap of rbc L exon 1,3.5%–11.5%. Molecular analysis of rbc L exon 1 sequences of Codium revealed eight distinct species like tuf A analysis separated in five phylogenetic groups. DNA barcoding of the genus Codium using tuf A marker is more helpful to overcome the limit of morphological identification, and this is more potential to reveal cryptic species and to resolve the relationships among subspecies than rbc L analysis alone. The complement of tuf A barcoding and rbc L analyses including morphology for the genus Codium in the northwestern Pacific will give much more reliable achievement for discovering species diversity and resolving the phylogenetic relationships.     

西沙群岛生物碳酸盐的成因和沉积:来自活体仙掌藻的证据

A recent island survey reveals that the Xuande Atoll and the Yongle Atoll in the Xisha Islands can be classified into one of two systems: the depleted atoll system and growth atoll system; the survey also indicates that the decreased area of several shoals is an unbearable burden for the Xisha Islands, of which the largest island area is 2.13 km2 and the minimum elevation is 1.4 m. According to a survey on the ecological characteristics of Halimeda in the Laolongtou breaker zone of Shidao Island in the Xisha Islands, the green and white living Halimeda are collected,the isotopic ages of 14 C contained in the Halimeda are shown to be 27 years and 55 years, respectively, and carbonate mainly occurs in five types, i.e., luster, segment, sand, sand grain, and marl in the formation. The Halimeda segments mainly provide the carbonate sediments of long-term biogenic deposits in the reef environment and the annual productivity per area is 60–100 g/m2; the characteristics of the microstructure of the Halimeda are analyzed, the aragonite raphide carbonate is deposited and enriched in the cortexes, medullas and cysts, and the Halimeda generally contain major elements such as C, O, Ca, Cl, Mg, K, Na, S and Al, and are rich in trace elements such as tellurium(Te), rhodium(Rh) and strontium. It is believed that the Halimeda grow slowly,including the biotic community of reef corals in the reef areas, thus they possess an environmental remediation capacity, but it takes much time to remedy the environment, and it is necessary to make the law to protect the diversity and vulnerability of the Xisha marine ecology, the ecology of the reef community and the island environment in a scientific way. As indicated in the survey, under the background of global warming and sea-level rise, the discovery of large amounts of Halimeda in the Laolongtou sea area is significant for the natural increase of the depleted atoll system of the Xuande Atoll, while the Halimeda segments represent the primary form of the fossil Halimeda, of which the species can be identified and preserved in great numbers under geological conditions. The Miocene was discovered in large amounts in the Xichen-1 well, therefore the study on the characteristics and mechanism of Halimeda carbonate sediments plays a pivotal role in the formation and construction of organic reefs in the South China Sea as well as oil and gas exploration.     

HY-2A卫星雷达高度计数据的全球统计评价及质量分析

自HY-2A卫星发射以来,针对HY-2A卫星雷达高度计产品的交叉定标、真实性检验及质量评估工作一直在持续开展。本文主要以HY-2A卫星高度计第44周期的IGDR产品数据为例,通过使用全球分布图、二维直方图和每日均值统计的方法完成了与Jason-2IGDR产品的比对验证,同时对主要环境校正参数及地球物理产品的数据质量稳定性进行了分析,结果显示高度计产品数据质量较稳定,此外利用HY-2A卫星升降轨交叉点海面高度差、与Jason-2卫星交叉点海面高度差以及沿轨海平面异常数据分析的方法进行了HY-2A卫星高度计观测系统的性能评估,结果显示,HY-2A卫星海面高度精度约为7.48cm,精度接近Jason-2,能满足海洋应用与科学研究的需要。     

An assessment of arctic sea ice concentration retrieval based on “HY-2” scanning radiometer data using field observations during CHINARE-2012 and other satellite instruments

A retrieval algorithm of arctic sea ice concentration (SIC) based on the brightness temperature data of “HY-2” scanning microwave radiometer has been constructed. The tie points of the brightness tempe...     

Continuous inline mapping of a dissolved methane plume at a blowout site in the Central North Sea UK using a membrane inlet mass spectrometer – Water column stratification impedes immediate methane release into the atmosphere

The dissolved methane (CH₄) plume rising from the crater of the blowout well 22/4b in the Central North Sea was mapped during stratified water column conditions. Geochemical surveys were conducted close to the seafloor at 80.3 m water depth, below the thermocline (61.1 m), and in the mixed surface layer (13.2 m) using membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS) in combination with a towed CTD. Seawater was continuously transferred from the respective depth levels of the CTD to the MIMS by using an inline submersible pump. Close to the seafloor a well-defined CH₄ plume extended from the bubble release site ∼460 m towards the southwest. Along this distance CH₄ concentrations decreased from a maximum of 7872 nmol l⁻¹ to less than 250 nmol l⁻¹. Below the thermocline the well-defined CH₄ plume shape encountered at the seafloor was distorted and filaments were observed that extended towards the west and southwest in relation to current direction. Where the core of the bubble plume intersected this depth layer, footprints of high CH₄ concentrations of up to 17,900 nmol l⁻¹ were observed. In the mixed surface layer the CH₄ distribution with a maximum of up to 3654 nmol l⁻¹ was confined to a small patch of ∼60 m in diameter. The determination of the water column CH₄ inventories revealed that CH₄ transfer across the thermocline was strongly impeded as only ∼3% of the total water column inventory was located in the mixed surface layer. Best estimate of the CH₄ seabed release from the blowout was 1751 tons yr⁻¹. The fate of the trapped CH₄ (∼97%) that does not immediately reach the atmosphere remains speculative. In wintertime, when the water column becomes well mixed as well as during storm events newly released CH₄ and the trapped CH₄ pool can be transported rapidly to the sea surface and emitted into the atmosphere.