东亚夏季风年代际变化的若干重要特征及两份大气再分析资料的异同

本文利用ERA和NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,以及部分观测资料,研究了东亚夏季风年代际变化的若干重要特征. 结果表明,东亚夏季风在20世纪70年代末减弱这一现象是普遍存在的,主要表现为江淮地区表面温度降低,海平面气压升高,出现偏北风异常. 研究发现,这次年代际变化还体现在与东亚季风环流密切相关的重要环流因子,如西太平洋副热带高压、欧亚西风、澳大利亚高压、南极涛动等,它们在20世纪70年代末以后都进入高指数时期. 此外,文章还揭示：ERA和NCEP/NCAR再分析资料在东亚夏季风年代际变化上基本吻合,但也有很多差别.     

东亚夏季风与澳洲冬季风强弱互补变化联系及其异常环流特征

利用NCEP/NCAR再分析资料、Hadley中心海温资料及CMAP降水资料等,通过亚澳季风联合指数挑选异常年份,对东亚夏季风和澳洲冬季风强度反相变化特征进行研究。结果表明,当东亚夏季风偏强、澳洲冬季风偏弱时,南北半球中低纬地区都出现了复杂的异常环流系统。在热带地区对流层低层,西北太平洋为异常反气旋式环流系统所控制,与南太平洋赤道辐合带的异常反气旋环流在赤道地区发生耦合,形成赤道异常东风,而在南北印度洋上则存在两个异常气旋式环流系统。在这两对异常环流之间的海洋性大陆地区,出现赤道以南为反气旋环流而赤道以北为气旋式环流。在东亚季风区,东南沿海的东侧海洋上存在反气旋异常,中国东南地区受异常反气旋西南侧的东南风影响。此外,澳洲北部受异常西风影响。这就形成了东亚夏季风偏强、澳洲冬季风偏弱的情形,从而东亚夏季风和澳洲冬季风活动出现了强弱互补的变化特征。当东亚夏季风偏弱、澳洲冬季风偏强时,南北半球的环流特征则出现与上述相反的环流特征。总体而言,当东亚夏季风偏强、澳洲冬季风偏弱时,东亚—澳洲季风区在南北半球呈现出不同的气候异常分布特征,即北半球降水北少南多、气温北高南低,南半球降水西多东少、气温西高东低。     

印尼海龙目海峡上层环流季节变化及影响机制

本文基于2002—2016年OFAM(Ocean Forecast Australian Model)模式数据,通过谱分析与相关分析等方法,研究了龙目海域上层环流结构的季节变化特征及主要的影响因素。分析结果表明,龙目海峡(Lombok Strait)平均流量占印尼贯穿流(Indonesian throughflow, ITF)总出口流量的15%,呈现出南半球冬强夏弱的特点,具有半年和一年的周期特征;龙目海域上层环流结构具有明显的季节特征,受到卡里马塔海峡贯穿流(Karimatastraitthroughflow,KSTF)和望加锡海峡贯穿流(Makassarstrait throughflow,MSTF)的周期性影响,一年可以分为四个阶段,存在结构性差异。KSTF(MSTF)为上层龙目海峡带来高温低盐(低温高盐)水团。进一步分析发现局地风场、大气季节内振荡(Madden-Julian Oscillation, MJO)以及海底地形是龙目海域上层环流结构季节变化的主要影响因素。     

The Australian continental shelf: Has Australia's high-latitude diplomacy paid off?’

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has granted Australia extended continental shelf areas around two of its sub-Antarctic island groups, and these extend into the Antarctic Treaty area. The overlap potentially raises conflict between Australian and Antarctic interests. Australia's submission included and expressly excluded Antarctic data and its high-latitude diplomacy paid off, but its next steps will be crucial to gaining acceptance by other Antarctic Treaty parties. It is likely that any resource exploitation will stop at the fence (60° South) during the life of the Treaty.     

Examining sediment infill dynamics at Naracoorte cave megafauna sites using multiple luminescence dating signals

Relatively little is known about the long-term sediment accumulation dynamics of Naracoorte Cave Complex (NCC) solution pipe cavities, and many of the megafauna-bearing infill deposits at this globally significant Australian Pleistocene fossil locality remain partially dated or lack any numerical age control. In this study, we assess the suitability of three different luminescence dating signals for improving existing chronologies at six Late and Middle Pleistocene NCC sites (n = 22 samples), and we undertake multi-site examinations of NCC sediment infill dynamics spanning the last 550 thousand years (ka). Modern analogue samples collected from above and beneath two active cave entrances confirm that single-grain OSL, single-grain TT-OSL and multi-grain pIR-IRSL signals can be reset down to insignificant residual levels (<10⁻¹–10⁰ Gy) when compared with the natural dose ranges of interest for most NCC palaeontological applications. Replicate luminescence dating comparisons performed at six NCC fossil sites (n = 15 samples) reveal consistent ages for twenty-eight out of thirty-one paired OSL–TT-OSL, OSL–pIR-IRSL and TT-OSL–pIR-IRSL datasets. Nineteen of the twenty Middle to Late Pleistocene samples analysed from the NCC sites produce homogeneous OSL, TT-OSL and pIR-IRSL D_e datasets suggesting that the NCC solution pipe deposits considered here are generally not affected by syn-depositional mixing complications that can take place within closed karst cavities (i.e., the remobilisation of unbleached grains from pre-existing cave floor sediments, and their subsequent translocation and incorporation into deposits within deeper parts of the cavity along with externally bleached, allochthonous grain populations). Detailed examination of solution pipe dynamics at Smoke Tortoise Cave (SMT) reveals a complex accumulation history focused on the marine isotope stage (MIS) 9 and MIS 7 interglacial complexes, as well as the MIS 8e interstadial. The SMT case study highlights that NCC solution pipes are not simply associated with short-lived opening and sediment accumulation events, but may involve multiple, discontinuous deposition episodes and reactivation events. An initial multi-site examination of all published NCC infill chronologies (n = 70) appears to suggest statistically significant, preferential solution pipe development during the relatively wet parts of interglacial or interstadial cycles. The non-uniform infill age distribution implies that NCC solution pipe dynamics may have exerted taphonomic biases on fossil accumulation, which should be taken into consideration when reconstructing long-term palaeoecological histories from NCC solution pipe cavities.     

The Experiences of Weak and Non-Swimmers Caught in Rip Currents at Australian Beaches

Beach rip currents present a risk to weak and non-swimmers, whose limited open water swim competencies may render them incapable of swimming out of these common and strong offshore flows. Here, the aim has been to explore this group's vulnerability by identifying how the limits of their swimming competencies influence their abilities to successfully execute a rip current exit strategy. It provides empirical detail on their knowledge of rip currents, their behavioural responses when caught in the rip current, the advice they recalled and the educational messages they recommend to other swimmers. A secondary aim has been to begin a dialogue that recognises the capacity of the Australian beach cultures—as places of relaxation and natural beauty—to influence people's decisions to enter the water. This cultural contextualisation may help explain why some self-identified weak and non-swimmers still enter the water despite their limited competencies. Through a synthesis of survey and interview data, we argue that weak and non-swimmers need to take the threat of rip currents seriously. Pre-emptive safety advice should be sought, especially if people intend to swim regardless of their swimming ability.     

Observed and simulated Lagrangian and eddy characteristics of the East Australian Current and the Tasman Sea

New insights into the Lagrangian and eddy dynamical processes within the East Australian Current (EAC) and the Tasman Sea are presented. We briefly discuss the past campaigns undertaken to observe the EAC and the Tasman Sea eddies as well as the motivation to renew the deployment of drifting buoys into the EAC and the Tasman Sea. The specific features discussed are motivated by the recent observing campaigns using drifting buoys and the availability of high spatial- and temporal-resolution estimates of the ocean state and circulation from eddy resolving models. The interpretation of these features is also aided by other components of the ocean observing system. The dynamics presented includes: (a) transient EAC separation through a vortex dipole, (b) stratified vortex mergers and secondary circulation of EAC eddies, (c) eddy networks in the Tasman Sea and (d) formation and propagation of the EAC separation point. The importance of these dynamical features to the EAC and the Tasman Sea and their implications for the observing system and modelling are discussed.     

A fresh framework for the ecology of arid Australia

A revised set of propositions about ecology in arid Australia is presented, based on research literature since publication of Stafford Smith and Morton (1990). Fourteen propositions distil our argument that most features of the Australian deserts are explicable in terms of two dominant physical and climatic elements: rainfall variability, leading to extended droughts and occasional flooding rains; and widespread nutrient poverty. Different landscapes within the arid zone show these features to varying degrees, and so it is important to think about different places separately when considering our propositions. Plant life-histories strongly reflect temporal patterns of soil moisture; because Australian deserts receive more variable rainfall than most others, there is a distinctive spectrum of life-histories. Low levels of phosphorus (together with abundant soil moisture on irregular occasions) favour plants producing a relative excess of carbohydrate (C). In turn, C-rich plant products sometimes lead to fire-prone ecosystems, assemblages dominated by consumers of sap and other C-based products, and abundant detritivores (particularly termites). Fluctuations in production due to variable rainfall provide openings for consumers with opportunistic life-histories, including inhabitants of extensive but ephemeral rivers and lakes. Most consumer species exhibit some dietary flexibility or utilise more dependable resources; these strategies give rise to greater stability in species dynamics and composition of assemblages than might first be imagined under the variable rainfall regime. Aboriginal people have had long-standing ecological influence as they accessed resources. For each proposition we suggest the extent to which it is ‘different’, ‘accentuated’ or ‘universal’ in comparison with other deserts of the world, recognising that this categorisation is in need of critical testing. Further tests of each proposition are also suggested to fill the many gaps that still exist in our knowledge of the structure and functioning of Australia’s deserts.     

Crustal architecture of the Capricorn Orogen,Western Australia and associated metallogeny

A 581 km vibroseis-source, deep seismic reflection survey was acquired through the Capricorn Orogen of Western Australia and, for the first time, provides an unprecedented view of the deep crustal architecture of the West Australian Craton. The survey has imaged three principal suture zones, as well as several other lithospheric-scale faults. The suture zones separate four seismically distinct tectonic blocks, which include the Pilbara Craton, the Bandee Seismic Province (a previously unrecognised tectonic block), the Glenburgh Terrane of the Gascoyne Province and the Narryer Terrane of the Yilgarn Craton. In the upper crust, the survey imaged numerous Proterozoic granite batholiths as well as the architecture of the Mesoproterozoic Edmund and Collier basins. These features were formed during the punctuated reworking of the craton by the reactivation of the major crustal structures. The location and setting of gold, base metal and rare earth element deposits across the orogen are closely linked to the major lithospheric-scale structures, highlighting their importance to fluid flow within mineral systems by the transport of fluid and energy direct from the mantle into the upper crust.     

The Pelecypods Undulomya,Cosmomya and Palaeocosmomya in the permian of India and Western Australia

Goniomya sp. ind., and Goniomya sp. ind. aff. G. kasanensis (Geinitz), described by Diener (1903) from the Permian of the Central Himalayas, are shown to belong to Undulomya. Goniomya uhligi Holdhaus, 1913, thought by Holdhaus to be of Jurassic age, is also regarded as an Undulomya and con‐specific with or closely related to the above species. Cosmomya egregaria Holdhaus, 1913, the type species of Cosmomya Holdhaus, 1913, which comes from the same locality as Undulomya uhligi, is regarded as congeneric with Palaeocosmomya Fletcher, 1946. Palaeocosmomya therefore, becomes a synonym of Cosmomya, but is retained at the subgeneric level. The evidence now available indicates that Undulomya uhligi and Cosmomya egregaria are of Late Permian age.

Undulomya and Cosmomya are regarded as two quite distinctive genera which also differ from the Jurassic genus Goniomya, in which species of both have hitherto often been included. Undulomya and Cosmomya have so far been recorded from Australia, India, Madagascar and the Soviet Union and Cosmomya, in addition, from Greenland.