八十年代英国中学地理教学

八十年代,地理教学在英国学校中占有众所承认的地位,英国学校把地理教学纳入教程的方式因地方教育机构所管理的学校学制不同而异。最普遍的学制是5～11岁的儿童上小学,9—13岁的儿童上中学,这些学校均将地理纳入综合的教学课程中,或做为环境教育的部分内容。     

Life's origin: the cosmic, planetary and biological processes

From elements formed in interstellar furnaces to humans peering back at the stars, the evolution of life has been a long, intricate and perhaps inevitable process. Life as we know it requires a planet orbiting a star at just the right distance so that water can exist in liquid form. It needs a rich supply of chemicals and energy sources. On Earth, the combination of chemistry and energy generated molecules that evolved ways of replicating themselves and of passing information from one generation to the next. Thus, the thread of life began. This chart traces the thread, maintained by DNA molecules for much of its history, as it weaves its way through the primitive oceans, gaining strength and diversity along the way. Organisms eventually moved onto the land, where advanced forms, including humans, ultimately arose. Finally, assisted by a technology of its own making, life has reached back out into space to understand its own origins, to expand into new realms, and to seek other living threads in the cosmos.     

Partitioning of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons between water and particles compared to bioaccumulation in mussels: a harbour case

Water and particles from three sites located in Halifax Harbour, near and further away from combined municipal sewage effluents (CMSE) were analysed for parental and alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (par and alkPAH). Bioavailability of PAH was compared for inter-tidal mussels collected at the same sites in April and November. The PAH fingerprint determined over 9 sampling times covering a period of 19 months differed more between phases (water and particles) and seasons, than between sites. In the spring, more alkPAH associated with diesel and gasoline were detected in the soluble phase, along with more bioaccumulation of alkPAH in inter-tidal mussels. A broader number of parPAH were detected in mussels collected in the fall. The mean sum of dissolved alkPAH concentrations was higher in water at the site closer to raw CMSE than at the other two sites and particles of that site. However, lowest bioconcentration factors (BCF) were determined in mussels of this more contaminated site. Similar biota-particle accumulation factors (BPAF) were determined for parPAH in mussels from the three sites, all lower than the BCF of alkPAH. The study indicates that sewage treatment plants will reduce the amount of parPAH especially larger than fluoranthene and pyrene from being deposited in the harbour; that alk naphthalenes and fluorenes present in water will continue to be discharged; that the disturbance of sediments can make particle-bound PAH available to mussels.     

1985年空间海洋学的状况和展望

1984年海洋学工程的主要措施是在空间建立海洋观察站。新的海军遥控海洋测向系统卫星(NROSS)和欧洲空间站的地球资源卫星(ERS—Ⅰ)已得到政府的批准,列入了预算项目,开展了利用卫星调查内容的计划和操作运行的计划。NROSS 的传感器有用于风的 NASA(国家航空和航天局)的传播计量器;用于水面温度,冰的性质和海冰边端的微波无线     

通过对重力波曳力的参数化来减小数值天气预报和大气环流模式中的系统性误差

一、引 言 由于地形性激发的中尺度重力波的中断,在加拿大气候中心大气环流谱模式中有时候采用了波的曳力效应的参数化。这一参数化的细节以及它在大气环流模式气候模拟中影响的讨论,可见Boer等人(1985)的工作。 最近,人们利用激发重力波次尺度地形的更好的描绘,来修改这一参数化方案。还有,使用Lindzen(1981)的波饱和概念来描述曳力效应。这一关于地形重力波曳力参数化的作法已在加拿大气候中心的大气环流谱模式中广泛试验,在加拿大气象中心的业务的谱数值预报模式中也正在普遍进行试验。本文的目的所在于概述在这些模式中正在普遍使用的波的曳力方案,并且证明这一方案在消除中期预报和大气环流模拟的系统性误差方面的用处。     

南极沿海伯尔顿盐湖双刺镰状水蚤盐度耐性的季节变化

双刺镰状水蚤Drepanopus bispinosus为南极沿海伯尔顿盐湖(Burton lake)中的越冬种类之一,其雌性性成熟大约于每年的初冬季节,在随后8个多月的生活史中,经历了一个盐度从33(5月份)到39(11月份)的环境变化.本文报道了该水蚤雌性成体对环境盐度适应的季节差异,动物在冬季的耐低盐能力较夏季强,从冬季到夏季,动物对盐度的适应范围明显地向高盐度方向偏移,这与环境盐度对动物的驯化有关.在低盐水中,动物的呼吸率增高,且夏季大于冬季,因而进一步证实了环境盐度的变化对动物盐度适应性的影响.     

Bioenhancement of cadmium transfer along a multi-level food chain

Previous studies have shown that metal partitioned to a subcellular compartment containing trophically available metal (TAM) is readily available to predators and may be enhanced by increased binding of metal to heat-stable proteins (HSP - e.g., metallothioneins). The aim of the current investigation was to determine the influence of TAM on the trophic transfer of Cd along an experimental, three-level food chain: Artemia franciscana (brine shrimp)-->Palaemonetes pugio (grass shrimp)-->Fundulus heteroclitus (mummichog). P. pugio were fed for 7 days on A. franciscana exposed to Cd in solution (including (109)Cd as radiotracer) and subjected to subcellular fractionation or fed to F. heteroclitus. An HSP-driven increase in the percentage of Cd associated with TAM (TAM-Cd%) in A. franciscana exposed to 1 muM Cd resulted in a bioenhancement (i.e., a greater than linear increase with respect to A. franciscana exposure) of Cd trophic transfer to P. pugio. Increased dietary Cd exposure did not affect TAM-Cd% in P. pugio nor trophic transfer to F. heteroclitus.     

Numerical simulation of the general circulation of the atmosphere of Titan

The atmospheric circulation of Titan is investigated with a general circulation model. The representation of the large-scale dynamics is based on a grid point model developed and used at Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique for climate studies. The code also includes an accurate representation of radiative heating and cooling by molecular gases and haze as well as a parametrization of the vertical turbulent mixing of momentum and potential temperature. Long-term simulations of the atmospheric circulation are presented. Starting from a state of rest, the model spontaneously produces a strong superrotation with prograde equatorial winds (i.e., in the same sense as the assumed rotation of the solid body) increasing from the surface to reach 100 m sec-1 near the 1-mbar pressure level. Those equatorial winds are in very good agreement with some indirect observations, especially those of the 1989 occultation of Star 28-Sgr by Titan. On the other hand, the model simulates latitudinal temperature contrasts in the stratosphere that are significantly weaker than those observed by Voyager 1 which, we suggest, may be partly due to the nonrepresentation of the spatial and temporal variations of the abundances of molecular species and haze. We present diagnostics of the simulated atmospheric circulation underlying the importance of the seasonal cycle and a tentative explanation for the creation and maintenance of the atmospheric superrotation based on a careful angular momentum budget.