Relationship between Cd and PO4 in the Subtropical Sea near the Ryukyu Islands

The relationship between dissolved cadmium (Cd) and phosphate (PO₄) was examined at three stations in the subtropical area near the Ryukyu Islands in May 1999. Preformed PO₄ was obtained using the Redfield ratio in order to separate the surface water and the other layers in this study area. Almost 0 μM (−0.043 μM to 0.094 μM) was estimated in the layers above 300 m and 250 m at Sts. 1 and 3 and at St. 2, respectively. Up to these depths, water was considered to be uniform, and these layers were defined as the surface water in this study area. In the surface water, the slopes of the regression lines of the Cd-PO₄ plot were 0.162, 0.156, and 0.226 (nM/μM) at Sts. 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and these values were much closer to the estimated regenerated ratio of Cd to PO₄ from the Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU)-Cd/PO₄ plots, which was 0.197 (nM/μM) in this study area. Below surface layers, the slopes of the Cd-PO₄ plot changed to 0.371, 0.352, and 0.362 (nM//μM) at Sts. 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In the relationships between Cd and PO₄, clear deviations or kinks were observed at three stations at a PO₄ concentration of approximately 0.2 μM in the plot, which was attributable to the discontinuity of surface water and the other layers across the North Pacific subtropical mode water. In studies of the interaction between surface water and biogenic particles concerning the Cd/PO₄ ratio, separate analyses of seawater (surface water and the other layers) should be carried out to obtain the individual surface water ratio because the Cd/PO₄ ratio in the surface water is expected to differ from that of the underlying water. Furthermore, the biological fractionation of these constituents is based on the surface water ratio. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

37°N断面营养盐和溶解氧的四季分布特征及变化

以2006年7月至2007年10月期间,4个季节的4个航次对37°N断面的调查资料为依据,分析并讨论了该断面四季生源要素的分布特征以及变化趋势。结果表明：该断面受黄海冷水团和陆源输入的影响,东西两侧的生源要素及温盐特征明显不同。夏季断面东侧由于受到冷水团的控制,底层出现明显的低温、高盐、高营养盐和高溶解氧的特征,并且跃层明显;西侧浅水区的温盐及生源要素的变化则相对均匀。冬季由于温跃层的消失,上下水体混合均匀,故而温盐及生源要素的垂直分布趋于均匀,断面西侧由于受到陆源输入的影响营养盐的浓度明显较东侧高。春季是增温降盐,营养盐逐渐消耗,东侧温跃层逐渐形成的过程;而秋季则恰恰相反。     

Seasonal methyltin and (3-dimethylsulphonio)propionate concentrations in leaf tissue of Spartina alterniflora of the Great Bay estuary (NH)

Concentrations of total recoverable inorganic tin (TRISn), monomethyltin (MeSn³⁺), dimethyltin (Me₂Sn²⁺), trimethyltin (Me₃Sn⁺) and (3-dimethylsulphonio)propionate (DMSP) were determined in leaves of Spartina alterniflora from three sites in the Great Bay estuary (NH) from 8 May to 15 September 1989. Total methyltin concentration increased from 8·9 ng g⁻¹ (fresh weight) on 8 May to 472 ng g⁻¹ on 23 May, decreased to 52 ng g⁻¹ on 7 June and 16ng g⁻¹ on 20 June, and remained low until the last sample on 18 September. Statistical calculations showed that methyltin concentrations varied significantly with sampling week, but not with site. DMSP concentrations showed very different behaviour. During the same sampling period DMSP concentrations varied only from 7·5 to 26 μmol g⁻¹ (fresh weight). DMSP concentrations varied significantly for site, but not sampling week.     

Estimation of mean and extreme waves in the East China Seas

Accurately estimating the mean and extreme wave statistics and better understanding their directional and seasonal variations are of great importance in the planning and designing of ocean and coastal engineering works. Due to the lack of long-term wave measurement data, the analysis of extreme waves is often based on the numerical wave hind-casting results. In this study, the wave climate in the East China Seas (including the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea) for the past 35 years (1979–2013) is hind-casted using a third generation wave model – WAMC4 (Cycle 4 version of WAM model). Two sets of reanalysis wind data from NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, USA) and ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts) are used to drive the wave model to generate the long-term wave climate. The hind-casted waves are then analysed to study the mean and extreme wave statistics in the study area. The results show that the mean wave heights decrease from south to north and from sea to land in general. The extreme wave heights with return periods of 50 and 100 years in the summer and autumn seasons are significantly higher than those in the other two seasons, mainly due to the effect of typhoon events. The mean wave heights in the winter season have the highest values, mainly due to the effect of winter monsoon winds. The comparison of extreme wave statistics from both wind fields with the field measurements at several nearshore wave observation stations shows that the extreme waves generated by the ECMWF winds are better than those generated by the NCEP winds. The comparison also shows the extreme waves in deep waters are better reproduced than those in shallow waters, which is partly attributed to the limitations of the wave model used. The results presented in this paper provide useful insight into the wave climate in the area of the East China Seas, as well as the effect of wind data resolution on the simulation of long-term waves.     

Hydrological effects of water management measures in the Dovinė River basin,Lithuania

Abstract

Lake ?uvintas, located in southern Lithuania in the Dovin? River basin, is one of the largest lakes and oldest nature reserves in the country. However, changes in the hydrology of the Dovin? River basin, caused by large-scale land reclamation and water management works carried out in the 20th century, have resulted in a significant decrease in the biodiversity of the lake and surrounding wetlands. In order to halt the ongoing deterioration of the lake and wetlands, solutions have to be found at the basin level. Using the SIMGRO model, various measures were therefore analysed to evaluate their impact on the water management in the Dovin? River basin. The results show that it is impossible to fully restore the water dynamics and flow pattern in the Dovin? River to their original state. However, a good measure for improving the hydrological conditions is to block drainage ditches and remove bushes and trees from the wetlands.     

Testing a new combined (U,Th)–He and U/Th dating approach on Plio-Pleistocene calcite speleothems

The geochronology of cave deposits in the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site in South Africa provides a timeframe essential for the interpretation of its fossils. The uranium-lead (U–Pb) and uranium-thorium disequilibrium (U/Th) dating of speleothems, mostly flowstones that underlie and blanket the fossil-bearing sediments, have been effective in this sense, but U–Pb is limited by the requirement of ∼1 ppm U concentrations and low common Pb contents, and U/Th has a c. 500 ka limit of applicability. Here we report age results for calcite-aragonite speleothems obtained using a new combined uranium-thorium-helium ((U,Th)–He) and U/Th dating routine. We reproduced within analytical uncertainty, the published U–Pb or U/Th ages for (a) flowstone in three drill core samples in the range 2000–3000 ka, (b) a flowstone hand sample taken at surface with an age of 1800 ka, and (c) five underground flowstone samples in the range 100–800 ka. Calcite retentivity for He under cave conditions is thus demonstrated. In the few cases where helium loss was observed in speleothems, only some of the subsamples were affected, and to varying degrees, suggesting loss by lattice damage not related to diagenetic processes, rather than volume diffusion. In the 100 to 800 ka range, the combined U/Th disequilibrium and (U,Th)–He method also yielded reliable values for initial (²³⁰Th/²³⁸U) and (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) activity ratios. Importantly, most subsamples had high initial (²³⁰Th/²³⁸U) values, ranging from 1.0 to 19.7, although having low Th/U ratios. This is probably due to incorporation of Fe–Mn oxides-hydroxides dust, on which ²³⁰Th was previously adsorbed. Such samples are mostly not dateable by U/Th without the additional input from the He analysis. If not detected and corrected for, such high initial (²³⁰Th/²³⁸U) values can lead to inaccurate U/Th and U–Pb ages. Our study shows that the incorporation of He analysis in U/Th dating has broad potential application, with four methods for calculating the ages, in carbonates from different environments where U-Pb or U/Th dating would not work.     

2007年宁洱6.4级地震序列精定位

Five mobile digital seismic stations were set up by the Earthquake Administration of Yunnan Province near the epicenter of the main shock after the Ning’er M6.4 earthquake on June 3, 2007. In this paper, the aftershock sequence of the Ning’er M6.4 earthquake is relocated by using the double difference earthquake location method. The data is from the 5 mobile digital seismic stations and the permanent Simao seismic station. The results show that the length of the aftershock sequence is 40km and the width is 30km, concentrated obviously at the lateral displacement area between the Pu’er fault and the NNE-trending faults, with the majority occurring on the Pu’er fault around the main shock. The depths of aftershocks are from 2km to 12km, and the predominant distribution is in the depth of 8～10km. The mean depth is 7.9km. The seismic fault dips to the northwest revealed from the profile parallel to this aftershock sequence, which is identical to the dip of the secondary fault of the NE-trending Menglian-Mojiang fault in the earthquake area. There are more earthquakes concentrated in the northwest segment than in the southeast segment, which is perhaps related to the underground medium and faults. The depth profile of the earthquake sequence shows that the relocated earthquakes are mainly located near the Pu’er fault and the seismic faults dip to the southwest, consistent with the dip of the west branch of the Pu’er fault. In all, the fault strike revealed by earthquake relocations matches well with the strike in the focal mechanism solutions. The main shock is in the top of the aftershock sequence and the aftershocks are symmetrically distributed, showing that faulting was complete in both the NE and SW directions.     

Origin of Paleofluids in Dabashan Foreland Thrust Belt:Geochemical Evidence of 13C,18O and 87Sr/86Sr in Veins and Host Rocks

In the last ten years, with important discoveries from oil and gas exploration in the Dabashan foreland depression belt in the borderland between Shanxi and Sichuan provinces, the relationship between the formation and evolution of, and hydrocarbon accumulation in, this foreland thrust belt from the viewpoint of basin and oil and gas exploration has been studied. At the same time, there has been little research on the origin of fluids within the belt. Based on geochemical system analysis including Z values denoting salinity and research on δ13C, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr isotopes in the host rocks and veins, the origin of paleofluids in the foreland thrust belt is considered. There are four principal kinds of paleofluid, including deep mantle-derived, sedimentary, mixed and meteoric. For the deep mantle-derived fluid, the δ13C is generally less than ?5.0‰PDB, δ18O less than -10.0‰PDB, Z value less than 110 and 87Sr/86Sr less than 0.70600; the sedimentary fluid is mainly marine carbonate-derived, with the δ13C generally more than ?2.0‰PDB, δ18O less than ?10.0‰PDB, Z value more than 120 and 87Sr/86Sr ranging from 0.70800 to 0.71000; the mixed fluid consists mainly of marine carbonate fluid (including possibly a little mantle-derived fluid or meteoric water), with the δ13C generally ranging from ?2.0‰ to ?8.0‰PDB, δ18O from ?10.0‰ to ?18.0‰ PDB, Z value from 105 to 120 and 87Sr/86Sr from 0.70800 to 0.71000; the atmospheric fluid consists mainly of meteoric water, with the δ13C generally ranging from 0.0‰ to ?10.0‰PDB, δ18O less than ?8.0‰PDB, Z value less than 110 and 87Sr/86Sr more than 0.71000. The Chengkou fault belt encompasses the most complex origins, including all four types of paleofluid; the Zhenba and Pingba fault belts and stable areas contain a simple paleofluid mainly of sedimentary type; the Jimingsi fault belt contains mainly sedimentary and mixed fluids, both consisting of sedimentary fluid and meteoric water. Jurassic rocks of the foreland depression belt contain mainly meteoric fluid.     

Radiation exposure and Mission Strategies for Interplanetary Manned Missions (REMSIM)

Cosmic radiation is an important problem for human interplanetary missions. The “Radiation Exposure and Mission Strategies for Interplanetary Manned Missions–REMSIM” study is summarised here. They are related to current strategies and countermeasures to ensure the protection of astronauts from radiation during interplanetary missions, with specific reference to: radiation environment and its variability; radiation effects on the crew; transfer trajectories and associated fluences; vehicle and surface habitat concepts; passive and active shielding concepts; space weather monitoring and warning systems.     

On the Limnology of Deep and Saline Lake Burdur in Turkey

Limnological characteristics of Lake Burdur in Lake District in south‐western Turkey are presented. It is a deep, tectonic (estimated max. depth 100 m), athalassic, highly alkaline, and saline lake. A set of physical and chemical variables was monitored, phyto‐ and zooplankton was sampled from surface layer of the lake during 1997. Physico‐chemical variables indicated that the lake is hyposaline and composed of some hydrochemically different water layers formed by groundwater sources located on the bottom of the lake. The phytoplankton composition of Lake Burdur consisted of Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, Dinophyta, and Chrysophyta. The abundance and number of species of Chlorophyta and Cyanophyta were higher than the other taxa. The zooplankton composition of the Lake consisted of Rhizopoda, Rotifera, and Crustacea. Number of species of Rotifera was higher than the other taxa. The diversities of the phyto‐ and zooplankton were calculated according to the Shannon‐Weaver diversity index. The diversity of each group was found to be low in the lake.