The development of Nemurella pictetii Klapálek (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) in two springstreams in central Europe

From April 1997 to June 1998 Nemurella pictetii populations were regularly sampled in two springstreams at 220 and 850 m a.s.l., respectively, in Hesse (Germany), at approximately 51°N. Random samples of larvae were taken at three week intervals during the vegetation period, and once a month during winter. Sex, instar, body length, head capsule width and wing pad length of all larvae were recorded. Temperatures were recorded every hour, temporal patterns of temperature agreed closely between sites. Mean winter lows were 3.9 °C at both sites, the mean summer high was 11.9 °C at the lower site, as opposed to 9.6 °C at the mountain site.At both sites, adult emergence started in May. At the mountain site, recruitment started in late July and continued into autumn. There was cohort splitting in the young generation. Some individuals grew rapidly until October–November, but last instar larvae first appeared in March the next year. 1600 degree-days above 0 °C were accumulated during complete development. At the lower site, recruitment began in early July, and cohort splitting also occurred. Fast growing summer recruits emerged as adults in late August, having accumulated only 700 degree-days (above 0 °C). Their offspring hatched in November-December and emerged the next spring, having accumulated also only 700 degree-days. However, only part of the population was bivoltine. Many of the summer recruits grew more slowly and accumulated close to 1900 degree days until they emerged the next spring, together with the offspring of their own fast-growing siblings. Dependence of growth rate on temperature could not be estimated and appears to vary with daylength. For example, 3–6 °C support growth and development provided daylength exceeds 10 hrs of light, or is rising.At both sites and in all cohorts individuals emerging earliest were larger than later emerging ones. The size decline is significantly correlated with number of days after the winter solstice. For the first time it is shown that the decline does not occur shortly before adult emergence but actually takes place several instars before the last. Size differences are then carried on, and amplified, during subsequent molts, until adulthood. The literature presently relates seasonal size declines of insects to high or rising temperatures experienced by larvae approaching adulthood. Our data show that, at least in Nemurella, this explanation fails. On average, females were distinctly larger than males. Differences in mean last instar size were noticed also between sites and years. They remain presently unexplained. The mean sex ratio in both populations was close to 1:1.     

吐哈盆地中央构造带正反转演化特征

吐哈盆地中央构造带由火焰山构造和七克台构造组成。中央构造带形成于三叠纪晚期至侏罗纪早期,表现为伸展构造特征,生长断层上盘地层厚度明显大于下盘,并于断层上盘所在的台北凹陷形成沉降中心。晚侏罗世,由于拉萨陆块与欧亚大陆的碰撞作用导致吐哈盆地由伸展盆地转变为挤压盆地,中央构造带也于此时发生构造反转,由早期的伸展正断层转变为挤压逆断层。发生于55Ma的喜山构造事件对天山地区产生了深刻的影响,但影响时间略有滞后,大致发生在晚渐新世至早中新世,中央构造带即在此次构造事件中强烈变形,逆冲出露于地表。     

东亚陆缘带构造扩张的深部热力学机制

近年来,我国地球科学家提出“陆缘构造扩张”观点,较好的解释了亚洲东部大陆边缘于新生代发生扩张离散运动的原因。本文基于“陆缘构造扩张”观点,探讨东亚陆缘带构造扩张的深部热力学机制。东亚陆缘带是具有强烈岩浆活动和构造变形的扩张带,此构造带的主要地球物理特征是频繁的地震活动和明显的地热异常。东亚陆缘扩张带地震层析成像显示,太平洋板块低角度俯冲到欧亚板块之下并平卧于670km相变界面之上。这种图像可能是俯冲后撤导致陆缘扩张的结果。热模拟及地球动力学计算表明:俯冲后撤时间距今约76Ma,海沟带后撤为陆缘壳体的生长留下空间,并形成东亚陆缘壳体增生扩展的前沿带,陆缘扩张量约700km。     

‘Bringing government to the people’: women, local governance and community participation in South Africa

This paper considers the ongoing political transformations in South Africa in the context of debates about good governance and participatory democracy. It first appraises the current transformations of local government in South Africa, focusing specifically on relationships between gender equality and citizenship on the one hand, and local government policy, legislation, and community participation on the other, and then explores meanings of participation and how they inform approaches towards local socio-economic development. The findings of primary research conducted with civil society organisations and black women in communities in the Cape Town metropolitan area are explored through three interrelated themes. First, the model of structured participation that is central to South Africa’s democratic transformation is assessed from the perspective of black women. Second, cultures of alienation, both within local governance structures and amongst black women and the extent to which recent restructuring is combating or contributing to these are explored. Third, how participation policies are dealing with conflict within and between target groups are analysed, whether stakeholder group politics obliterate important differences in interests and whether alternative structures might be more effective in terms of women’s participation and empowerment. Finally, the findings are interpreted in relation to theoretical concepts of good governance and participatory democracy, and the potential and problems of realising South Africa’s transformation process toward developmental local government are assessed.     

Boreal temperature variability inferred from maximum latewood density and tree-ring width data, Wrangell Mountain region, Alaska

Variations in both width and density of annual rings from a network of tree chronologies were used to develop high-resolution proxies to extend the climate record in the Wrangell Mountain region of Alaska. We developed a warm-season (July–September) temperature reconstruction that spans A.D. 1593–1992 based on the first eigenvector from principal component analysis of six maximum latewood density (MXD) chronologies. The climate/tree-growth model accounts for 51% of the temperature variance from 1958 to 1992 and shows cold in the late 1600s–early 1700s followed by a warmer period, cooling in the late 1700s–early 1800s, and warming in the 20th century. The 20th century is the warmest of the past four centuries. Several severely cold warm-seasons coincide with major volcanic eruptions. The first eigenvector from a ring-width (RW) network, based on nine chronologies from the Wrangell Mountain region (A.D. 1550–1970), is correlated positively with both reconstructed and recorded Northern Hemisphere temperatures. RW shows a temporal history similar to that of MXD by increased growth (warmer) and decreased growth (cooler) intervals and trends. After around 1970 the RW series show a decrease in growth, while station data show continued warming, which may be related to increasing moisture stress or other factors. Both the temperature history based on MXD and the growth trends from the RW series are consistent with well-dated glacier fluctuations in the Wrangell Mountains and some of the temperature variations also correspond to variations in solar activity.     

Global thermal and dynamical perturbations due to Cretaceous mantle avalanche

The numerical models of mantle convection agree to depict avalanches behaviour according to the level of endothermicity of the spinel → perovskite phase change. Their potential effects on the global thermal and dynamical states of the mantle have been computed thanks to a numerical code, which takes into account both the 400-km exothermic and the 660-km endothermic phase changes. The cycle followed by the avalanches is: local layering, destabilization of the 660-km thermal layer, travelling and spreading on the core, and reappearing of the local layering. Therefore, mantle convection is characterized by quiet periods of partial layering embedded in catastrophic events. During the avalanche, the amplitude of the surface velocity is multiplied by two, which would imply an enhanced plate tectonic and ridge activities. The global thermal effects of the avalanche are compatible with a high mantle temperature and an acceleration of Earth's rotation during the Cretaceous. They also offer a coherent explanation to locate the origin of mantle plumes both within the CMB and just below the transition zone.     

中国西部退耕还林(草)和沙漠化土地绿化的区域性气候效应

中国正在实施的西部大开发必将导致较大规模的土地利用和地表覆盖(LULC)变化,其中最重要的两类LULC变化是退耕还林(草)和沙漠化土地绿化工程。利用最新的全球地表特征资料数据库(GLCCD)识别以上两项生态建设工程的实施规模与范围,并以此更新了目前比较流行的区域气候模式的下边界条件,利用修正了的区域气候模式研究上述大规模LULC变化可能对中国区域性气候造成的影响。使用的卫星资源数据库是由美国地质测绘局(USGS)和Nebraska-Lincoln大学牵头,根据NOAA卫星的AVHRR资料、USGS掌握的高分辨率数字化地图,以及生态区划和植被分布等资料组建的。     

Replacing carbon lost from forests: an assessment of insurance, reserves, and expiring credits

Concern over the “non-permanence” or reversibility of carbon sequestration projects has been prominent in discussions over how to develop guidelines for forest project investments under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol. Accordingly, a number of approaches have been proposed that aim to help ensure that parties do not receive credit for carbon that is lost before project obligations are fulfilled. These approaches include forest carbon insurance, land reserves, and issuance of expiring credits. The potential costs of each of these different approaches are evaluated using a range of assumptions about project length, risk and discount rate, and a comparison of costs is ventured based on the estimated reduction in value of these credits compared with uninsured, and permanent credits. Obstacles to participation in the different approaches are discussed related to problems of long-term commitments, project scale, rising replacement costs, and low credit value. It is concluded that a system of expiring credits, which could be coupled with insurance or reserves, could guarantee obligations that span time-scales longer than that of conventional insurance policies while maintaining incentives for long-term sequestration.     

强震前大气层中温压相关特征的异常显示

对中国大陆已发生的多次7级以上强震震中区气温、气压资料进行了研究，结果表明：在大震前（30天之内），气温－气压函数的平衡状态被破坏，其相关系数（代数值）不断增大，“正弓”形可作为短临异常的标志，同时对其成因也进行了初步探讨。     

温度客观预报自动化业务系统

介绍了一以Ｔ６３数值预报产品为因子，用卡尔曼滤波方法作４８小时最高，最低温度客观预报方法及其自动化业务系统，能补充目前地市台温度预报主要依靠主观预报的不足，对温度有一定的预报能力。