Holocene initiation and expansion of the southern margins of northern peatlands triggered by the East Asian summer monsoon recession

Northern peatlands represent one of the largest biospheric carbon reservoirs in the world. Their southern margins act as new carbon reservoirs, which can greatly influence the global carbon dynamics. However, the Holocene initiation, expansion and climate sensitivity of these peatlands remain intensely debated. Here we used a compilation of basal peat ages across six isolated peatlands at the southern margins of northern peatlands to address these issues. We found that the earliest initiation event of these peatlands occurred after the Younger Dryas (YD, 12,800–11,700 years ago) period. The second initiation event and rapid expansion occurred since 5 ka cal. BP. The recession of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) during the YD period and at around 5 ka cal. BP likely played a major role in controlling the initiation and expansion of these peatlands. The rapid expansion of these peatlands possibly contributed to the significant increases in atmospheric methane concentrations during the late Holocene because of the minerotrophic fens status and rapid expansion of them. These ecological processes are different from northern peatlands, indicating the special carbon sink and source implications of these peatlands in the global carbon cycle.     

Under the surface: Pressure-induced planetary-scale waves,volcanic lightning,and gaseous clouds caused by the submarine eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano

We present a narrative of the eruptive events culminating in the cataclysmic January 15, 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Volcano by synthesizing diverse preliminary seismic, volcanological, sound wave, and lightning data available within the first few weeks after the eruption occurred. The first hour of eruptive activity produced fast-propagating tsunami waves, long-period seismic waves, loud audible sound waves, infrasonic waves, exceptionally intense volcanic lightning and an unsteady volcanic plume that transiently reached—at 58 ?km—the Earth's mesosphere. Energetic seismic signals were recorded worldwide and the globally stacked seismogram showed episodic seismic events within the most intense periods of phreatoplinian activity, and they correlated well with the infrasound pressure waveform recorded in Fiji. Gravity wave signals were strong enough to be observed over the entire planet in just the first few hours, with some circling the Earth multiple times subsequently. These large-amplitude, long-wavelength atmospheric disturbances come from the Earth's atmosphere being forced by the magmatic mixture of tephra, melt and gasses emitted by the unsteady but quasi-continuous eruption from 0402±1–1800 UTC on January 15, 2022. Atmospheric forcing lasted much longer than rupturing from large earthquakes recorded on modern instruments, producing a type of shock wave that originated from the interaction between compressed air and ambient (wavy) sea surface. This scenario differs from conventional ideas of earthquake slip, landslides, or caldera collapse-generated tsunami waves because of the enormous (～1000x) volumetric change due to the supercritical nature of volatiles associated with the hot, volatile-rich phreatoplinian plume. The time series of plume altitude can be translated to volumetric discharge and mass flow rate. For an eruption duration of ～12 ?h, the eruptive volume and mass are estimated at 1.9 ?km³ and ～2 900 ?Tg, respectively, corresponding to a VEI of 5–6 for this event. The high frequency and intensity of lightning was enhanced by the production of fine ash due to magma—seawater interaction with concomitant high charge per unit mass and the high pre-eruptive concentration of dissolved volatiles. Analysis of lightning flash frequencies provides a rapid metric for plume activity and eruption magnitude. Many aspects of this eruption await further investigation by multidisciplinary teams. It represents a unique opportunity for fundamental research regarding the complex, non-linear behavior of high energetic volcanic eruptions and attendant phenomena, with critical implications for hazard mitigation, volcano forecasting, and first-response efforts in future disasters.     

Study of the climatological behaviors of Euro-Atlantic and West Asia blockings in the period of 1959–2018

In this study, comparison of blocking climatological behaviors is presented for the two periods of 1959–1988 and 1989–2018 in a part of the Northern Hemisphere including the Atlantic Ocean, Europe and West Asia regions. Blocking events were detected using a modified blocking index that is based on vertically integrated potential vorticity. By applying this index, the characteristics of detected blocking events such as frequency, duration, intensity and area were determined and compared for both the periods.According to the results, on average, 16 and 15 blocking events per year were identified in the first and second periods, respectively. The trend analysis shows that the number of blocking events in the period 1959–1988 was significantly decreased, while it was slightly increased in the period 1989–2018. Blocking activity was most prevalent from the eastern Atlantic through Europe to West Asia, but this longitude band exhibits a relatively eastward shift in the second period. In addition, the seasonal distributions are similar to those found in previous studies with the higher occurrence of blocking events during winter and autumn seasons and the lowest frequency in summer, as well as long-lasting events and greater intensity and extension in winter than the summer time, especially in the second period. These seasonal variations of blocking frequency may be due to synoptic scale eddies and planetary waves which are more active and stronger in the colder seasons than the other seasons. On the other hand, a comparison between the two periods shows that the blocking events tend to be more frequent over West Asia especially during summer in recent years. Although discrepancies between the two periods are not significant, they could be partly due to the impacts of climate change in recent decades.     

青藏高原5月大气热源与黑龙江省盛夏降水的关系

利用1961—2017年黑龙江省夏季降水资料和NCEP再分析资料,采用奇异值分解、相关分析、回归分析等方法,研究了青藏高原大气热源与黑龙江省盛夏降水的关系及可能的影响机制。结果表明:5月青藏高原热源与黑龙江省7月降水关系最密切,当5月高原东部热源偏强时,7月黑龙江省中部降水显著偏少。5月热源偏强年,在副热带西风急流的作用下,7月中纬度环流呈现类似“丝绸之路”型遥相关波列,同时东亚沿岸环流呈现类似“东亚—太平洋”型遥相关波列,在二者共同作用下黑龙江省受反气旋式环流影响,7月降水偏少。     

青藏高原大地形对华南持续性暴雨影响的数值试验

利用新一代中尺度数值预报模式WRF3.2及NCEP/NCAR 逐日4次1°×1°的FNL再分析资料,通过有、无青藏高原以及将高原高度降低到临界高度的数值试验,研究了青藏高原大地形对我国华南地区2010 年5 月一次持续性暴雨过程的影响。试验结果表明:高原大地形对降水的影响显著,随着高原高度的升高,降水增多,高原以东地区的雨带也由北向南移动;高原地形的机械阻挡作用使迎风坡一侧的近地面层附近为强上升运动,背风坡为下沉运动,并分别对应降水的峰值和谷值区;高原对西风气流的爬流、绕流作用明显,高原升高后爬坡作用减弱,以绕流作用为主;高原的加热作用使气流过高原时南支减弱,北支加强,并加强了高原及其东部地区低层的正涡度和高层的负涡度,使高原上空为强烈的上升运动;高原的热力作用使西太平洋副热带高压位置偏南、偏西并稳定维持;高原大地形对形成稳定的高原季风环流圈有重要作用;高原地形高度的作用有利于定常波的形成,波动中心对应强上升运动,形成降水的大值区,稳定维持的定常波使得降水持续集中在同一地区,造成持续性暴雨。     

冬季北太平洋风暴轴异常及其与东亚大气环流的关系

利用NCEP/NCAR逐日再分析资料,应用滤波方差、相关分析、合成分析等研究了1963年冬季至2011年冬季北太平洋风暴轴的时空演变特征,并探讨了风暴轴活动强弱与东亚—北太平洋大气环流的关系。结果表明：与1980s后期风暴轴活动显著增强相比,近10 a来风暴轴活动又进入较气候平均水平偏低的阶段,且风暴轴主体位置有着向东北、西南两侧的振荡现象。风暴轴活动强（弱）年,东亚地区近地面温度偏高（低）、对流层低层阿留申低压和西伯利亚高压偏弱（强）、中国东部及日本上空850 hPa北风减弱（加强）;对流层中层东亚大槽减弱北缩（加深南进）、对流层高层西风急流减弱（加强）。风暴轴活动与冬季影响中国的冷空气活动次数相关关系显著。     

登陆台风变性过程的物理机制分析

0509号台风“Matsa”和0712号台风“Wipha”,均在中国大陆发生变性成为温带气旋。但前者变性后再度加强,后者变性后减弱消亡。用日本JRA25再分析资料,对其变性过程对比分析。表明：“Matsa”和“Wipha”均是在登陆后北上与中高纬西风槽相互作用的过程中,受到冷空气入侵后变性,从垂直对称分布演变为倾斜的非对称分布,且在北上过程中与中纬度高空锋区作用,但“Matsa”中心嵌入中纬度高空锋区,有再加强过程;而“Wipha”仅外围环流与锋区接触,中心未进入锋区,无再加强过程。通过对大气稳定度和垂直螺旋度等进一步分析表明：“Matsa”变性过程是系统性冷空气的南侵,而Wipha的变性只有弱冷空气的入侵;台风中心所在的垂直涡度ζ_p的增长大值区是否落在△θ_e<0的大气对流性不稳定的区域内,对台风变性后是否再加强有一定影响。此外,垂直螺旋度的高低空配置及正涡度柱与上升运动的相互配合是使台风变性加强的重要因素。     

Brief history of ground-based very high energy gamma-ray astrophysics with atmospheric air Cherenkov telescopes

The discovery of the Crab Nebula as the first source of TeV gamma rays in 1989, using the technique of ground-based imaging air Cherenkov telescope, has marked the birthday of observational gamma astronomy in very high energy range. The team led by Trevor Weekes, after twenty years of trial and error, success and misfortune, step-by-step improvements in both the technique and understanding of gamma shower discrimination methods, used the 10 m diameter telescope on Mount Hopkins in Arizona, and succeeded measuring a 9σ signal from the direction of Crab Nebula. As of today over 160 sources of gamma rays of very different types, of both galactic and extra-galactic origin, have been discovered due to this technique. This is a really fast evolving branch in science, rapidly improving our understanding of the most violent and energetic sources and processes in the sky.The study of these sources provides clues to many basic questions in astrophysics, astro-particle physics, physics of cosmic rays and cosmology. Today’s telescopes, despite the young age of the technique, offer a solid performance. The technique is still maturing, leading to the next generation large instrument. This article is devoted to outlining the milestones in a long history that step-by-step have made this technique emerge and have brought about today’s successful source hunting.     

Spectral analysis of the background in ground-based, long-slit spectroscopy

This paper examines the variations, because of atmospheric extinction, of broad-band visible spectra, obtained from long-slit spectroscopy, in the vicinity of some stars, nebulae, and one faint galaxy.