Biological response to coastal upwelling and dust deposition in the area off Northwest Africa

Nutrient supply in the area off Northwest Africa is mainly regulated by two processes, coastal upwelling and deposition of Saharan dust. In the present study, both processes were analyzed and evaluated by different methods, including cross-correlation, multiple correlation, and event statistics, using remotely sensed proxies of the period from 2000 to 2008 to investigate their influence on the marine environment. The remotely sensed chlorophyll-a concentration was used as a proxy for the phytoplankton biomass stimulated by nutrient supply into the euphotic zone from deeper water layers and from the atmosphere. Satellite-derived alongshore wind stress and sea-surface temperature were applied as proxies for the strength and reflection of coastal upwelling processes. The westward wind and the dust component of the aerosol optical depth describe the transport direction of atmospheric dust and the atmospheric dust column load.     

中国西北地区植被NDVI的时空变化及其影响因子分析

利用GIMMS/NDVI数据分析了中国西北地区1982-2006年植被NDVI时空变化特征及其影响因子。近25年来,中国西北地区年均植被NDVI增速为0.5%/10a,并存在明显的空间差异。天山、阿尔泰山、祁连山、青海的中东部等地区植被NDVI显著增加;青海南部地区、陕西和宁夏交界地区、甘肃部分地区,以及新疆部分地区的植被NDVI下降。从不同植被类型看:林地、草地和耕地的年均NDVI都在提高。研究表明:中国西北地区植被NDVI变化是各种自然和人为因素综合作用的结果。植被NDVI与气温、降水的年际变化整体上都呈弱的正相关。但与其年内变化则都呈显著的线性关系,当月均温量超过20℃时,植被NDVI呈下降趋势;当月降水量在0¹00mm期间,植被NDVI随降水线性增长,当月降水量超过100mm之后,不再有明显的增长趋势。农业生产水平提高和植被生态建设等人类活动对西北地区植被NDVI增加有重要影响。     

Intrusion versus inversion—a 3D density model of the southern rim of the Northwest German Basin

An unsolved problem of regional importance for both the evolution and structure of the Northwest German Basin is the existence or non-existence of the so-called Bramsche Massif. Explaining the nature of this massif and the cause of a related strong, positive Bouguer anomaly (Bramsche Anomaly) is critical. In the study described here, we tested an existing “intrusion model” against a newer “inversion model” in the southern Northwest German Basin. In the intrusion model, the strongly-positive Bouguer anomaly represents the gravity effect of an intrusion at depths between 6 and 10 km. More recent interpretations invoke tectonic inversion rather than intrusion to explain increased burial and the low level of hydrocarbon maturity found in boreholes. We tested these different interpretations by constructing 3D forward density models to 15 km depth. The intrusion model was updated and adjusted to incorporate recent data and we also modelled pre-Zechstein structures using different scenarios. The final model has a very good fit between measured and modelled gravity fields. Based on currently available seismic and structural models, as well as borehole density measurements, we show that the positive Bouguer anomaly cannot be modeled without a high-density, intrusive-like body at depth. However, further in-sight into the crustal structures of the Bramsche region requires more detailed investigations. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Gypsy Architecture: Houses of the Roma in Eastern Europe

Why is Ortley Beach, New Jersey, known as Superstorm Sandy's ground zero? This article employs qualitative vulnerability analysis to understand why vulnerability of second homes in Ortley Beach resulted in dune failure and slow rebuilding after Sandy. The second-home owners who largely make up the community in Ortley Beach are identified as the key vulnerable group. This group's lack of political representation and financial compensation after Sandy increased house damage and slowed rebuilding. Identifying the level of vulnerability of the majority group in a location is paramount to understanding how the community recovers from a disaster. Such identification can also aid in preparing communities, especially for types of disasters they have not yet encountered.     

A Debt to the West: Recent Developments in the International Financial Situation of East-Central Europe

East-Central Europe is undergoing a rapid political and economic transformation. The unprecedented depth and speed of the economic reforms have produced serious questions about the stability of the region, and its future relations with western Europe and the world economy. This paper surveys and evaluates the size and character of existing debt stocks owed to the West by Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. The future political and economic stability of East-Central Europe and the European Community depends, to a large extent, on the ability of the Western financial system to respond to the long-term needs of the region.     

Constructing Alterity in Ile De France?

Abstract

The aim of the article is to determine whether the Walt Disney Company has manufactured a landscape “other” to French culture around its parks in the Eastern Paris Basin. Val d'Europe is contentiously constructed by three main groups, not just one enterprise: the French state, the Walt Disney Company and local and regional governments, as well as by present and future residents, within the constraints of a contract based on French laws. The Company's investment has been a tremendous boost to the French state's project but did not lead to Disneyfication of the Briard landscape of agricultural lands in the Eastern Paris basin. In Val d'Europe the French state did not abdicate its authority in favor of commoditization of Paris as a global metropolis. The French state and French culture were never “weak” and overwhelmed.     

Population distribution and urban growth in Southern Italy, 1871–2011: emergent polycentrism or path-dependent monocentricity?

This study assesses changes in population distribution and the expansion of urban settlements in Southern Italy between 1871 and 2011. Four demographic phases are identified: (i) spatially balanced, mild population growth (1871–1921); (ii) moderate population increase concentrated in coastal and lowland areas (1921–1951); (iii) rapid and diffused population growth (1951–1981); and (iv) population stability with settlement dispersion (1981–2011). While urban growth in the years preceding the 1980s reinforced the polarization in rich and poor areas along the urban-to-rural gradient, since the early 1990s both urban and rural areas showed population dynamics that consolidated low-density settlements scattered around the largest cities. This path, however, does not reflect the evolution towards a more spatially balanced urban development, as observed in other European regions. Causes and consequences of the persistence of a fragmented urban hierarchy with dense settlements and sprawl concentrated around the main cities are finally discussed.     

Trend analysis of reference evapotranspiration in Northwest China: The roles of changing wind speed and surface air temperature

Reference evapotranspiration (ET₀) is an important element in the water cycle that integrates atmospheric demands and surface conditions, and analysis of changes in ET₀ is of great significance for understanding climate change and its impacts on hydrology. As ET₀ is an integrated effect of climate variables, increases in air temperature should lead to increases in ET₀. However, this effect could be offset by decreases in vapor pressure deficit, wind speed, and solar radiation which lead to the decrease in ET₀. In this study, trends in the Penman–Monteith ET₀ at 80 meteorological stations during 1960–2010 in the driest region of China (Northwest China) were examined. The results show that there was a change point for ET₀ series around the year 1993 based on the Pettitt's test. For the region average, ET₀ decreased from 1960 to 1993 by ?2.34 mm yr^?2, while ET₀ began to increase since 1994 by 4.80 mm yr^?2. A differential equation method based on the Food and Agriculture Organization Penman–Monteith formula was used to attribute the change in ET₀. The attribution results show that the significant decrease in wind speed dominated the change in ET₀, which offset the effect of increasing air temperature and led to the decrease in ET₀ from 1960 to 1993. However, wind speed began to increase, and the amplitude of increase in air temperature also rose significantly since the mid‐1990s. Increases in air temperature and wind speed together reversed the trend in ET₀ and led to the increase in ET₀ since 1994. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

菲律宾海西北部岩芯记录的125 ka以来的地磁场强度及其影响因素

沉积物记录的地磁场强度首先提供了模拟地磁场演化的数据约束,其次提供了沉积物的年龄信息. 本文报道了菲律宾海西北部岩芯记录的地磁场相对强度,并结合岩石磁学和沉积学性质探讨了影响强度的各个因素. 除底部红粘土层的局部磁偏角偏转可能揭示了沉积后改造以外,磁化率各向异性和地磁场方向特征表明沉积物为原状沉积. 岩石磁学性质表明沉积物符合磁性均一性,可以记录可靠的地磁场强度. 由于红粘土层及其下部的磁偏角异常,本文讨论其上部约125 ka的结果. 常规归一方法获得的两个地磁场强度参数NRM/ARM(特征剩磁和非磁滞剩磁比值)和NRM/κ(特征剩磁和磁化率比值)与其它记录对比得到时间-深度对比点,对比点之间的年龄为线性内推或者外推. 地磁场强度时间模型上的岩芯氧同位素与全球氧同位素综合曲线一致证明强度结果的有效性和对比的正确性. 磁化率为归一参数的强度大多低于以非磁滞剩磁为归一参数的强度,频谱和相关分析证明NRM/ARM不与ARM和磁性矿物粒度(ARM/κ)相关,也没有轨道周期性,而NRM/κ却与κ和ARM/κ相关,而且有13~12 ka的周期. 由此我们认为NRM/ARM记录的地磁场强度比NRM/κ更好地消除了气候印记. 进一步探讨了超顺磁含量、碳酸钙含量、磁性矿物组成以及磁性矿物粒度变化与地磁场强度差值的关系,发现末次间冰期较高的超顺磁含量和磁性矿物粒度的较大范围变化造成了地磁场强度差值,后者至少造成了90%差异. 中等含量的碳酸钙和较小的磁性矿物组成变化不是磁场强度差值产生的原因. 如何校正磁性矿物粒度变化的影响将是下一步工作的重点.