Subglacial bedform geomorphology of the Irish Ice Sheet reveals major configuration changes during growth and decay

The belated realisation that ribbed (Rogen) moraines form such an integral part of Irish geomorphology, and the piecemeal approach to previous drumlin mapping, is probably responsible for the highly contrasting views of palaeoflow patterns of the Irish Ice Sheet. Using a high resolution (25 m) digital elevation model we present morphological maps of a large part (100 × 100 km) of the so‐called ‘Drumlin Belt’ of north central Ireland. The landforms comprise mostly ribbed moraine much larger than found elsewhere (up to 16 km in length), which in places are superimposed on each other. Contrary to most prior assessments we find the bedform record to contain numerous and overlapping episodes of bed formation (ribbed moraine, drumlins and crag‐and‐tails) that provide a palimpsest record of changing flow geometries. These demonstrate an ice sheet with a centre of mass and flow geometry that changed during growth and decay. Using distinctive flow patterns and relative age relationships between them we reconstruct ice sheet evolution into four phases during a single glacial cycle. In phase 1 (early in the glacial cycle), Scottish and local ice coalesced to form a northeast‐centred Irish Ice Sheet. As it grew its centre of mass migrated southwards, culminating in a major N–S divide positioned down the east of Ireland (phase 2, ca. Last Glacial Maximum). During retreat, the centre of mass migrated at least 120 km northwards and became established in northwest Ireland and at this point a dramatic bedforming event produced one of the world's largest and most contiguous ribbed moraine fields (phase 3). Final deglaciation is thought to be by fragmentation into many topographically controlled minor ice‐caps (phase 4). Rather than any dramatic or unexpected behaviour, the reconstructed phases indicate a relatively predictable pattern of ice sheet growth and decay with changes in centres of mass, and does not require major readvances or ice‐stream events. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hypervelocity impact craters in ammonia rich ice

Research on the impact cratering process on icy bodies has been largely based on the most abundant ice, water. However little is known about the influence of other relatively abundant ices such as ammonia. Accordingly, data are presented studying the influence on cratering in ammonia rich ice using spherical 1 mm diameter stainless steel projectiles at velocities of 4.8±0.5 km s⁻¹. The ice target composition ranged from pure water ice, to solutions containing 50% ammonia and 50% water by weight. Results for crater depth, diameter, volume and depth/diameter ratio are given. The results showed that the presence of ammonia in the ice had a very strong influence on crater diameter and morphology. It was found that with only a 10% concentration of ammonia, crater diameter significantly decreased, and then at greater concentrations became independent of ammonia content. Crater depth was independent of the presence of ammonia in the ice, and the crater volume appeared to decrease as ammonia concentration increased. Between ammonia concentrations of 10 and 20% crater morphology visibly changed from wide shallow craters with a deeper central pit to craters with a smoothly increasing depth from the crater rim to centre. Thus, a small amount of ammonia within a water ice surface may have a major effect on crater morphology.     

A temperature inversion in "Chinese Arctic Research Expedition 1999

1　ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅＡｒｃｔｉｃａｒｅａ ,ａｓｔｈｅｂａｃｋｇｒｏｕｎｄｏｆｇｌｏｂａｌｃｌｉｍａｔｅａｎｄｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔ,ｄｒａｗｓｐｅｏ ｐｌｅ’ｓａｔｔｅｎｔｉｏｎｗｉｔｈｉｔｓｉｍｐａｃｔｏｎｇｌｏｂａｌｃｈａｎｇｅ (ＩＰＣＣ 1 990 ) .Ｇｒｅａｔａｍｏｕｎｔｏｆｅｎｅｒｇｙａｎｄｍａｓｓａｒｅｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅｄｂｅｔｗｅｅｎｔｈｅｓｅａａｎｄａｉｒｗｉｔｈｓｐｅｃｉａｌｉｎｔｅｒｆａｃｅ,ａｉｒ ｉｃｅ ｓｅａｓｕｒｆａｃｅ ,ｉｎｔｈｉｓａｒｅａ .Ｔｈｅｒｅｆｏｒｅｉｔｉ…     

Events of decadal thermocline variations in the South Pacific Ocean

1 INTRODUCTION It has been suggested that interior thermal anomalies that subduct into the subtropics of the North Pacific may propagate to the equatorial region of the Pacific (Russell, 1994; Deser et al., 1996; Gu and Philander, 1997; Huang and Huang an…     

Pixel‐scale evaluation of SSM/I sea‐ice algorithms in the marginal ice zone during early fall freeze‐up

Observed reduction in recent sea ice areal extent and thickness has focused attention on the fact that the Arctic marine system appears to be responding to global‐scale climate variability and change. Passive microwave remote‐sensing data are the primary source underpinning these reports, yet problems remain in geophysical inversion of information on ice type and concentration. Uncertainty in sea‐ice concentration (SIC) retrievals is highest in the summer and fall, when water occurs in liquid phase within the snow–sea‐ice system. Of particular scientific interest is the timing and rate of new ice formation due to the control that this form of sea ice has on mass, energy and gas fluxes across the ocean–sea‐ice–atmosphere interface. In this paper we examine the critical fall freeze‐up period using in situ data from a ship‐based and aerial survey programme known as the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange study combined with microwave and optical Earth observations data. Results show that: (1) the overall physical conditions observed from aerial survey photography were well matched with coincident moderate‐resolution imaging spectroradiometer data and Radarsat ScanSAR imagery; (2) the shortwave albedo was linearly related to old ice concentration derived from survey photography; (3) the three SSM/I SIC algorithms (NASA Team (NT), NASA Team 2 (NT2), and Bootstrap (BT)) showed considerable discrepancies in pixel‐scale comparison with the Radarsat ScanSAR SICs well calibrated by the aerial survey data. The major causes of the discrepancies are attributed to (1) the inherent inability to detect the new thin ice in the NT and BT algorithms, (2) mismatches of the thin‐ice tie point of the NT2 algorithm, and (3) sub‐pixel ambiguity between the thin ice and the mixture of open water and sea ice. These results suggest the need for finer resolution of passive microwave sensors, such as AMSR‐E, to improve the precision of the SSM/I SIC algorithms in the marginal ice zone during early fall freeze‐up. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国地壳运动观测网络基准站GPS观测的位移时间序列结果

对中国地壳运动观测网络基准网于1998年9月－2001年10月GPS连续观测结果所获得的位移时间序列进行了初步分析，讨论了适用于地震分析预报的位移时间序列生成中的基准选择。选东部长期相对水平位移很小的9个站组成的一组稳定点作为基准，得到水平位移时间序列；选分布于不同区域相对垂直位移较小的7个站为稳定点组，得到垂直位移时间序列。2000－2001年我国西部的基准站出现2次明显的水平与垂直位移异常变化，这种异常变化有可能与南北地震带上云南地区发生的6级左右地震活动有一定的关系。     

南极纳尔逊冰帽的雪层及其成冰作用研究

纳尔逊冰帽雪—粒雪的演化依赖于融水渗浸冻结作用下的暖变质过程。积雪的密实化过程的快慢,取决于温度条件和融水的参与程度,以及自身的物理状况。粒雪的密实化过程表现为均匀且变幅小。纳尔逊冰帽成冰深度在23～25m,成冰历时17～19年。成冰带分为暖渗浸—重结晶带,渗浸—冻结带,消融带。     

Past 100 ky surface salinity-gradient response in the Eastern Arabian Sea to the summer monsoon variation recorded by δO of G. sacculifer

Northward flowing coastal currents along the western margin of India during winter–spring advect low-salinity Bay of Bengal water in to the Eastern Arabian Sea producing a distinct low-salinity tongue, the strength of which is largely governed by the freshwater flux to the bay during summer monsoons. Utilizing the sedimentary records of δ¹⁸O_{G. sacculifer}, we reconstructed the past salinity-gradient within that low-salinity tongue, which serves as a proxy for the variation in freshwater flux to the Bay of Bengal and hence summer monsoon intensity.The north–south contrast in the sea level corrected (residual)-δ¹⁸O_{G. sacculifer} can be interpreted as a measure of surface salinity-contrast between those two locations because the modern sea surface temperature and its past variation in the study region is nearly uniform. The core-top residual-δ¹⁸O_{G. sacculifer} contrast of 0.45‰ between the two cores is assumed to reflect the modern surface salinity difference of 1 psu and serves as a calibration for past variations.The residual-δ¹⁸O_{G. sacculifer} contrast varies between 0.2‰ at 75 ky B.P. (i.e., late-Marine Isotope Stage 5) and 0.7‰ at 20 ky B.P. (i.e., Last Glacial Maximum), suggesting that the overall salinity difference between the northern- and southern-end of the low-salinity tongue has varied between 0.6 and 1.6 psu. Considerably reduced difference during the former period than the modern suggests substantially intensified and northward-extended low-salinity tongue due to intense summer monsoons than today. On the other hand, larger difference (1.6 psu) during the latter period indicates that the low-salinity tongue was significantly weakened or withdrawn due to weaker summer monsoons. Thus, the salinity-gradient in the eastern Arabian Sea low-salinity tongue can be used to understand the past variations in the Indian summer monsoons.     

广东省应大力发展海洋牧场

综述了我国及广东省十多年来鱼虾种苗人工放流及人工鱼礁的投放情况，结合广东省广大海区的水温、盐度、ｐＨ值、海流、营养盐含量情况及天然饵料的种类、分布等，提出了除在大亚湾已设置了水产增殖站以外，还应该在广东东部的南澳和西部的湛江各设一个增殖站，会收到更大的效果。人工鱼礁应总结过去投放的经验，加强礁区管理，逐步解决投资与收益的关系问题，并进一步扩大投放人工鱼礁的地点和密度，把广东海区切实建成理想的海洋牧场。