Excess of bottom-released methane in an Arctic shelf sea polynya in winter

Latent heat polynyas are regions generating strong ice formation, convection and extensive water mass formation. Here we report on the effects of these processes on resuspension of sediments and subsequent methane release from the seafloor and on the resulting excess methane concentration in surface water on a polar shelf during winter. The study is based on measurements of concentration and δ¹³C values of methane, water temperature, salinity, light transmission and sea ice data collected in March 2003 in Storfjorden, southern Svalbard. In winter, strong and persistent northeasterly winds create polynyas in eastern Storfjorden and cause ice formation. The resulting brine-enriched water cascades from the Storfjordbanken into the central depression thereby enhancing the turbulence near the seafloor. A distinct benthic nepheloid layer was observed reflecting the resuspension of sediments by the cascading dense bottom water. High concentrations of ¹³C-depleted methane suggest submarine discharge of methane with the resuspended sediments. As the source of the submarine methane, we propose recent bacterial methanogenesis near the sediment surface because of extremely high accumulation rates of organic carbon in Storfjorden. Convective mixing transports newly released methane from the bottom to the sea surface. This eventually results in an excess concentration in surface water with respect to the atmospheric equilibrium, and a sea-air flux of methane during periods of open water. When a new ice cover is formed, methane becomes trapped in the water column and subsequently oxidized. Thus, the residual methane is strongly enriched in ¹³C in relation to the δ¹³_CCH4${\delta }^{13}{\mathrm{C}}_{{\mathrm{CH}}_4}$ signature of atmospheric methane. Our results show that latent heat polynyas may induce a direct pathway for biogases like methane from sediments to the atmosphere through coupling of biogeochemical and oceanographic processes. Extrapolating these processes to all Arctic ocean polynyas, we estimate a transfer of CH₄ between 0.005 and 0.02 Tg yr⁻¹. This is not a large contribution but the fluxes from the polynyas are 20–200 times larger than the ocean average and the methane evasion process in polynyas is certainly one that can be altered under climate change.     

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.     

锦屏一级水电站地下厂房系统对穿预应力锚索孔孔斜控制施工技术

锦屏一级水电站地下厂房洞室主机间、主变室、母线洞等洞室系统的边墙、蚀变岩段和较大断层采用了对穿预应力锚索加强支护。在对穿预应力锚杆的施工过程中,根据不同的地质地层段,采取严格的孔斜控制措施,并不断地改进控制方法,基本解决了对穿预应力锚索造孔孔斜控制的技术问题,满足了设计技术要求,积累了对穿预应力锚索孔斜控制施工经验。     

顾及系统误差的GEO卫星几何法定轨PDOP值分析

针对GEO卫星几何法定轨中系统误差对PDOP值的影响进行研究,首先回顾了经典几何法定轨的基本原理,然后根据顾及系统误差的几何法定轨原理推导出PDOP值计算公式,并利用5个跟踪站的模拟数据,计算了多种系统误差情况下PDOP值。结果表明：系统误差对GEO卫星几何法定轨的PDOP值影响很大;采用顾及系统误差的几何法定轨方法可以较好地削弱系统误差对PDOP值的影响;国外布设跟踪站比仅在中国布设跟踪站能更好地削弱系统误差对PDOP值的影响。     

杨房沟坝址高边坡工程地质特征及稳定性评价

为掌握杨房沟坝址高边坡稳定性情况及治理措施,采用现场调查及室内分析计算方法对河谷高边坡岩体工程地质特征及稳定性展开了全面研究。得出以下结论:高边坡花岗闪长岩可划分为块状、次块状及镶嵌结构等类型;边坡岩体质量从坡面向内分别为Ⅲ2、Ⅲ1、Ⅱ类,Ⅳ类岩体很少;天然边坡存在松动张裂、楔形体滑动及崩塌等破坏形式,控制性结构面为顺河向卸荷裂隙;从河谷演化角度通过数值模拟方法分析现今边坡应力分布、塑性区范围、变形规律及总体稳定性,认为坝址区天然边坡整体稳定性较好,降雨或地震等不利条件边坡可能存在浅部块体滑移失稳。     

Periglacial climate at the 2.5 Ma onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation inferred from the Whippoorwill Formation, northern Missouri, USA

The Whippoorwill Formation is a gleyed diamicton that is present locally within bedrock depressions beneath the oldest glacial till in northern Missouri, USA. Stratigraphy, paleomagnetism, and cosmogenic-nuclide burial ages show that it was deposited between the Matuyama-Gauss magnetostratigraphic boundary at 2.58 Ma and the first advance of the Laurentide ice sheet into Missouri at 2.47 ± 0.19 Ma. High cosmogenic-nuclide concentrations also show that the constituents of the Whippoorwill Formation experienced long exposure at a stable landscape surface with erosion rates of 1-2 m/Ma. However, cosmogenic-nuclide concentrations are invariant with depth below the Whippoorwill Formation surface, indicating active mixing of the soil profile shortly before burial by till. The Whippoorwill Formation retains numerous features indicative of cryoturbation. Therefore, we interpret it as a buried Gelisol, a soil formed under periglacial conditions in the presence of permafrost. At the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, climate cooling established permafrost conditions and accelerated erosion by inducing landscape instability. Thus, weathered regolith materials were mobilized and redeposited by gelifluction shortly before the ice sheet overrode the landscape.     

Dynamic early Holocene vegetation development on the Faroe Islands inferred from high-resolution plant macrofossil and pollen data

Vegetation dynamics during the earliest part of the Holocene (11,250-10,250 cal yr BP) have been reconstructed from a lacustrine sequence on Sandoy, the Faroe Islands, using detailed plant macrofossil and pollen evidence. The plant macrofossils suggest the initial vegetation was sparse herb and shrub tundra, with Salix herbacea and open-ground species, followed by the development of a denser and more species-rich arctic heathland after 11,150 cal yr BP. Despite high pollen values for Betula nana, macrofossils are rare. The bulk of the macrofossils recorded are S. herbacea and Empetrum leaves with numerous herb taxa and an abundance of Racomitrium moss. Conditions start to change around 10,800 cal yr BP, with increased catchment erosion and sediment delivery to the lake from ca. 10,600 cal yr BP, and a transition to alternating Cyperaceae and Poaceae communities between ca. 10,450 and 10,250 cal yr BP. This vegetation change, which has been recorded throughout the Faroes, has previously been interpreted as a retrogressive shift from woody shrubs to a herbaceous community. The detailed plant macrofossil data show the shift is the replacement of an Empetrum arctic heathland by grassland and moist sedge communities. These taxa dominate the modern landscape.     

雪冰中NO_3~-浓度记录的研究进展

NO3-是雪冰中含量最高的含氮无机离子,雪冰中NO3-浓度记录的解读已成为研究全球变化的重要内容之一.近年来国内外已经就极地与中低纬高海拔地区雪冰中NO3-浓度记录开展了大量的研究,关于NO3-所指示的环境意义形成了一系列的认识.从雪冰中NO3-的可能性来源(包括太阳活动、陆源粉尘、闪电等自然源以及其他人类源)、时空变化特征以及气-雪-冰界面转化过程等方面综述了近年来该领域的研究成果,并结合全球变化的背景对其研究前景进行了展望.     

华北及其以北地区晚古生代—早中生代构造格架主体特点

从全球尺度对原大西洋与古亚洲洋构造域大地构造旋回及其演化特征进行对比研究,有助于了解巨型构造域内的区域构造演化的关联性。建立古大陆构造单元属性"动态行为"的理念,将复合造山区与毗邻大地构造单元进行关联分析,揭示出华北前陆盆地的形成发展与毗邻复合造山区的构造演化进程密切相关。华北及其以北地区晚古生代—早中生代构造格架的主体特点是:1)蒙古—兴安复合造山区发育石炭纪—二叠纪陆表海盆地、裂陷槽和上叠盆地,及三叠纪的山间盆地;2)华北前陆盆地与复合造山区构造演化进程同步,在古陆上形成石炭纪海相和海陆交互相沉积,二叠纪—中三叠世的陆相沉积,以发育红层和局部形成膏盐为特点;3)原华北古陆北缘"构造岩浆活化带"属晚古生代—早中生代蒙古—兴安复合造山区最南端的构造单元,具有构造前锋带属性。