On the recent warming of the southeastern Bering Sea shelf

During the last decade, the southeastern Bering Sea shelf has undergone a warming of 3 °C that is closely associated with a marked decrease of sea ice over the area. This shift in the physical environment of the shelf can be attributed to a combination of mechanisms, including the presence over the eastern Bering Sea shelf of a relatively mild air mass during the winter, especially from 2000 to 2005; a shorter ice season caused by a later fall transition and/or an earlier spring transition; increased flow through Unimak Pass during winter, which introduces warm Gulf of Alaska water onto the southeastern shelf; and the feedback mechanism whereby warmer ocean temperatures during the summer delay the southward advection of sea ice during winter. While the relative importance of these four mechanisms is difficult to quantify, it is evident that for sea ice to form, cold arctic winds must cool the water column. Sea ice is then formed in the polynyas during periods of cold north winds, and this ice is advected southward over the eastern shelf. The other three mechanisms can modify ice formation and melt, and hence its extent. In combination, these four mechanisms have served to temporally and spatially limit ice during the 5-year period (2001–2005). Warming of the eastern Bering Sea shelf could have profound influences on the ecosystem of the Bering Sea—from modification of the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom to the northward advance of subarctic species and the northward retreat of arctic species.     

Modified PIC Method for Sea Ice Dynamics

The sea ice cover displays various dynamical characteristics such as breakup, rafting, and ridging under external forces. To model the ice dynamic process accurately, the effective numerical modeling method should be established. In this paper, a modified particle-in-cell （PIC） method for sea ice dynamics is developed coupling the finite difference （FD） method and smoothed particle hydrodynamics （SPH）. In this method, the ice cover is first discretized into a series of lagrangian ice particles which have their own sizes, thicknesses, concentrations and velocities. The ice thickness and concentration at Eulerian grid positions are obtained by interpolation with the Gaussian function from their surrounding ice particles. The momentum of ice cover is solved with FD approach to obtain the Eulerian cell velocity, which is used to estimate the ice particle velocity with the Gaussian function also. The thickness and concentration of ice particles are adjnsted with particle mass density and smooth length, which are adjusted with the redistribution of ice particles. With the above modified PIC method, numerical simulations for ice motion in an idealized rectangular basin and the ice dynamics in the Bohai Sea are carried out. These simulations show that this modified PIC method is applicable to sea ice dynamics simulation.     

Storms and shoreline retreat in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Storms play a major role in shoreline recession on transgressive coasts. In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL), southeastern Canada, long-term relative sea-level rise off the North Shore of Prince Edward Island has averaged 0.3 m/century over the past 6000 years (>0.2 m/century over 2000 years). This has driven long-term coastal retreat at mean rates >0.5 m/a but the variance and details of coastal profile response remain poorly understood. Despite extensive sandy shores, sediment supply is limited and sand is transferred landward into multidecadal to century-scale storage in coastal dunes, barrier washover deposits, and flood-tidal delta sinks. Charlottetown tide-gauge records show mean relative sea-level rise of 3.2 mm/a (0.32 m/century) since 1911. A further rise of 0.7±0.4 m is projected over the next 100 years. When differenced from tidal predictions, the water-level data provide a 90-year record of storm-surge occurrence. Combined with wind, wave hindcast, and sea-ice data, this provides a catalogue of potentially significant coastal storms. We also document coastal impacts from three recent storms of great severity in January and October 2000 and November 2001. Digital photogrammetry (1935–1990) and shore-zone surveys (1989–2001) show large spatial and temporal variance in coastal recession rates, weakly correlated with the storm record, in part because of wave suppression or coastal protection by sea ice. Large storms cause rapid erosion from which recovery depends in part on local sand supply, but barrier volume may be conserved by washover deposition. Barrier shores with dunes show high longshore and interdecadal variance, with extensive multidecadal healing of former inlet and overwash gaps. This reflects recovery from an episode of widespread overwash prior to 1935, possibly initiated by intense storms or groups of storms in the latter half of the 19th century. With evidence from the storms of 2000–2001, this points to the importance of storm clustering on scales of weeks to years in determining erosion vulnerability, as well as the need for a long-term, large-scale perspective in assessing coastal stability. The expected acceleration in relative sea-level rise, together with projections of increasing storm intensity and greatly diminished winter ice cover in the southern GSL, implies a significant increase in coastal erosion hazards in future.     

Population Structure and Secondary Production of the Mediterranean Octocoral Lophogorgia ceratophyta (L. 1758)

Abstract. The gorgonian Lophogorgia ceratophyta thrives in turbid water at Tinetto Rock, La Spezia Gulf, Ligurian Sea. Its age structure suggests that the population is in a steady state; nevertheless, it is difficult to discern whether the main factors controlling this population are biological or event-related. Secondary production was estimated by means of an increment-summation method and yielded 0.54 g ash-free dry weight (AFDW)*m^-1 a^-1. This estimate does not take into account biomass losses due to reproductive output and non-lethal predation. Standing stock biomass was 5.44 g AFDW e m^-2. The annual P/B ratio was 0.10 and turnover time about 10a     

Modelling the relationship between sexual reproduction and rhizome growth in Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile

The relationship between flowering and growth performance of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile in meadows distributed along the south‐eastern coast of Sicily (Italy) was investigated by means of a statistical model (generalized linear mixed model) combined with the lepidochronological analysis. Over a 28‐year period, 67 floral stalk remains were observed. The highest flowering index was recorded in lepidochronological year 1998 (10.1%) and the Inflorescence Frequency per age showed a clear decrease corresponding to 15‐year‐old shoots. The sexual reproductive event had positive effects on rhizome elongation (cm year^?1) and leaf production (no. leaves year^?1) in the same flowering year, whilst no effect on the rhizome production (mg year^?1) was observed. Rhizome growth variables showed significant negative lagged responses in the two years following flowering. On the whole, we calculated that the effect exerted by flowering, in terms of loss on rhizome elongation and production, was about 27% and 38%, respectively. Although it has been demonstrated that recovery from the stress induced by sexual reproduction is limited to the two years after flowering, the magnitude of the reproductive cost may become quite considerable especially in comparison with the whole lifespan of individual shoots.     

西藏南部康马岩体岩石类型及其同位素测年

康马岩体位于西藏南部康马县城北侧 ,其内部可划分出 5种不同的岩石类型 :(1)片麻状黑云二长花岗岩 ;(2 )眼球状黑云二长花岗岩 ;(3)片麻状二云母二长花岗岩 ;(4 )弱片麻状细粒黑云二长花岗岩 ;(5 )变质的暗色辉长辉绿岩。前两类为康马岩体的主体岩石类型 ,侵位时代为加里东早期 (约4 78～ 4 6 1Ma) ;其余均呈脉状产出 ,其中片麻状二云母二长花岗岩与康马岩体主体岩石类型属于同期产物 ,弱片麻状细粒黑云二长花岗岩形成于海西早期 ((339.0± 1.2 )Ma) ,暗色辉长辉绿岩的形成时代目前还不十分清楚。不同类型的岩石其Ar Ar冷却年龄约为 18～ 14Ma。     

扬子陆块西缘古元古代基性侵入岩LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄和Hf同位素及其地质意义

扬子陆块西缘康滇南北向构造带内发育大量古元古代基性岩脉（墙）,它们对于认识扬子陆块早期的构造演化具有重要意义。对四川会理地区侵入到元古界通安组内的辉长岩进行LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Th-Pb同位素测定,获得的207Pb/206Pb加权平均年龄为1694Ma±16Ma（MSWD=0.9）,代表了该辉长岩的形成和侵位时代,这一结果指示会理地区通安组应为古元古代地层。辉长岩全岩地球化学具有类似于N-MORB的特征。辉长岩锆石初始（176Hf/177Hf）i值为0.281881~0.281982,对应的εHf（t）为6.2~9.8,单阶段亏损地幔Hf模式年龄tDM1为1738~1883Ma,平均值为1803Ma。这些数据表明古元古代辉长岩来源于亏损地幔,指示古元古代晚期扬子西缘之下存在亏损地幔。结合扬子西缘大量古老的碎屑锆石,推测扬子陆块西缘存在太古宙—古元古代的结晶基底。与扬子陆块西缘古元古代晚期基性侵入岩形成有关的幔源岩浆事件明显晚于扬子陆块古元古代碰撞造山及造山后的伸展作用,记录了扬子陆块古元古代晚期一次伸展过程,可能是Columbia超大陆裂解作用在扬子陆块的响应。     

内蒙古沙麦钨矿区高分异花岗岩独居石U-Pb定年及成矿意义

兴蒙造山带是中国北方重要的多金属成矿带,产出有一系列的钨多金属矿床。沙麦钨矿位于内蒙古二连浩特—东乌旗成矿带东侧,是兴蒙造山带发育的典型石英脉型钨矿床之一。通过对沙麦矿区出露的花岗岩开展独居石U-Pb测年,总结区域钨矿化的成矿年龄与矿化特征,探讨区域钨矿成矿时序及构造动力学背景。测年结果显示,沙麦矿区中细粒黑云母二长花岗岩、似斑状黑云母二长花岗岩LA-ICP-MS独居石U-Pb谐和年龄分别为(141.6±1.1) Ma和(141.4±0.3) Ma,进一步确认沙麦钨矿形成于早白垩世。而二连浩特—东乌旗成矿带及其邻区钨矿化存在晚石炭世—早二叠世、早白垩世两期,成矿时代分别发生于约300 Ma和140～130 Ma。300 Ma成矿期钨成矿作用受古亚洲洋的影响;140～130 Ma成矿期为区域钨矿成矿作用高峰期,成矿作用受到古太平洋和蒙古—鄂霍次克洋构造体系叠加作用的影响。