Cycladophora davisiana (Radiolaria) in the Okhotsk Sea: A key for reconstructing glacial ocean conditions

Cycladophora davisiana, a radiolarian species dwelling at mesopelagic depths, is known as a representative glacial fauna due to its unique distribution during glacial periods. In the present ocean, abundant production of C. davisiana is only observed in the Okhotsk Sea, indicating an adaptation of C. davisiana for seasonal sea-ice covered conditions. We found pronounced abundant production of C. davisiana during the early to middle Holocene in the Okhotsk Sea, suggesting more favorable conditions for C. davisiana than the present Okhotsk Sea. In order to clarify the reason, oceanographic conditions during the Holocene were reconstructed based on biomarkers, lithogenic grains including ice-rafted debris (IRD), biogenic opal, and total organic carbon (TOC) in two sediment cores from the Okhotsk Sea. These indicators suggest that the pronounced C. davisiana production may be attributed to: 1) a supply to mesopelagic depths under intensified stratification of fine organic particles derived from coccolithophorids, bacteria, and detrital materials; and 2) cold, well-ventilated intermediate water formation.     

Bedrock structure in Adapazari, Turkey—a possible cause of severe damage by the 1999 Kociaeli earthquake

The 1999 Kocaeli earthquake brought serious damage to downtown of Adapazari. To study why strong motions were generated at the town, a bedrock structure was investigated on the basis of Bouguer gravity anomaly, and SPAC and H/V analyses of microseisms. It was revealed that, the basin consists of three narrow depressions of bedrock with very steep edges, extending in E–W or NE–SW directions along the North Anatolia faults, and the depth to bedrock reaches 1000 m or more. Downtown of Adapazari is located 1–2 km apart from the basin-edge. It is considered that, the specific configuration of bedrock amplifies ground motions at the downtown area by focusing of seismic waves and/or interference between incident S-waves and surface-waves secondarily generated at the basin-edge. Studying 3D bedrock structure is an urgent issue for microzoning an urban area in a sedimentary basin.     

Multi-scale Characteristics and Comprehensive Evaluation of Precipitation Heterogeneity in Guangxi

Aiming at the uneven spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation and frequent occurrence of drought and waterlogging disasters in Guangxi, the multi-scale characteristics and comprehensive evaluation of precipitation heterogeneity can provide scientific support for regional response to drought and waterlogging disasters and intelligent management of water resources. Based on the daily precipitation data of 87 grid points from 1961 to 2017 in Guangxi, the Precipitation Concentration Degree (PCD) and Precipitation Concentration Period (PCP) index were used to build day, pentad, ten days, month, season precipitation heterogeneity of multiple time scale level evaluation system. By using R/S analysis and geographical spatial analysis methods, the space-time evolution characteristics and climate division in Guangxi were discussed. The study showed that the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of PCD and PCP at the diurnal, synoptic and monthly scales were relatively consistent, and the heterogeneity of precipitation in Guangxi could be better expressed than that at the monthly and seasonal scales. The diachronic change of PCD in precipitation in Guangxi shows an increasing trend in northeast China and a decreasing trend in southwest China, and the trend of its future period is the same as the diachronic evolution. The spatial distribution of PCD in Guangxi has significant spatial autocorrelation and stratification heterogeneity, which are mainly reflected in the mean value, coefficient of variation and frequency of PCD. The comprehensive heterogeneity of precipitation in Guangxi is highly dispersed in the northeast, highly concentrated in the south, and slightly concentrated or dispersed in the northwest and central regions. The time-scale within a month is the best scale to express the non-uniformity of precipitation in Guangxi. If the advantages of more stable climatic and ten-day scales and more fine daily scales are taken into account, the use of climatic scale for daily sliding calculation and analysis will be the best way.     

徐宿弧形构造对袁庄矿矿井构造的影响机制

以徐宿弧形构造西部外缘带中段闸河复式向斜北部的袁庄矿地质构造为主要研究对象,探讨了徐宿弧形构造对闸河向斜和袁庄矿矿井构造形成的影响机制,并分析了各级构造对煤层、瓦斯及岩浆岩的控制作用。研究表明:在徐宿弧形构造背景下,闸河向斜构造虽处于应力集中区,但因石炭-二叠纪地层软弱,故闸河向斜褶皱发育,逆冲断裂却很少,这与向斜两侧的逆冲断裂系形成鲜明对比;袁庄矿矿井构造秉承了闸河向斜构造特征,以褶皱为主要构造形式;煤层赋存、瓦斯含量及岩浆岩等开采地质条件的特征明显受各级构造形式的影响。研究认为,不同尺度下的各级构造有一定的相似性,但又有各自独有的特征,因此在多级次构造研究中,在考虑区域构造背景的同时还应重视次级构造自身条件的研究。     

A multi-proxy reconstruction of spatial and temporal variations in Asian summer temperatures over the last millennium

To investigate climate variability in Asia during the last millennium, the spatial and temporal evolution of summer (June–July–August; JJA) temperature in eastern and south-central Asia is reconstructed using multi-proxy records and the regularized expectation maximization (RegEM) algorithm with truncated total least squares (TTLS), under a point-by-point regression (PPR) framework. The temperature index reconstructions show that the late 20th century was the warmest period in Asia over the past millennium. The temperature field reconstructions illustrate that temperatures in central, eastern, and southern China during the 11th and 13th centuries, and in western Asia during the 12th century, were significantly higher than those in other regions, and comparable to levels in the 20th century. Except for the most recent warming, all identified warm events showed distinct regional expressions and none were uniform over the entire reconstruction area. The main finding of the study is that spatial temperature patterns have, on centennial time-scales, varied greatly over the last millennium. Moreover, seven climate model simulations, from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), over the same region of Asia, are all consistent with the temperature index reconstruction at the 99 % confidence level. Only spatial temperature patterns extracted as the first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) from the GISS-E2-R and MPI-ESM-P model simulations are significant and consistent with the temperature field reconstruction over the past millennium in Asia at the 90 % confidence level. This indicates that both the reconstruction and the simulations depict the temporal climate variability well over the past millennium. However, the spatial simulation or reconstruction capability of climate variability over the past millennium could be still limited. For reconstruction, some grid points do not pass validation tests and reveal the need for more proxies with high temporal resolution, accurate dating, and sensitive temperature signals, especially in central Asia and before AD 1400.     

Tree-ring reconstructed summer temperature anomalies for temperate East Asia since 800 C.E.

We develop a summer temperature reconstruction for temperate East Asia based on a network of annual tree-ring chronologies covering the period 800–1989 C.E. The East Asia reconstruction is the regional average of 585 individual grid point summer temperature reconstructions produced using an ensemble version of point-by-point regression. Statistical calibration and validation tests indicate that the regional average possesses sufficient overall skill to allow it to be used to study the causes of temperature variability and change over the region. The reconstruction suggests a moderately warm early medieval epoch (ca. 850–1050 C.E.), followed by generally cooler ‘Little Ice Age’ conditions (ca. 1350–1880 C.E.) and 20th century warming up to the present time. Since 1990, average temperature has exceeded past warm epochs of comparable duration, but it is not statistically unprecedented. Superposed epoch analysis reveals a volcanic forcing signal in the East Asia summer temperature reconstruction, resulting in pulses of cooler summer conditions that may persist for several years. Substantial uncertainties remain, however, particularly at lower frequencies, thus requiring caution and scientific prudence in the interpretation of this record.     

World continental modeling for water resources using system dynamics

This research assesses the severity of future water scarcity and its impact on the growth of human civilization through system dynamics modeling of the world at regional level. Six sectors of activities are modeled in each continent to represent the human society. Continental interactions such as migration and trade are also modeled to express the synergy of activities among the various continents. Results of the model simulations from 1960 to 2100 show that water scarcity, unlike other limitations such as nonrenewable resources and persistent pollution, gives severe, detrimental problems within short delays after its occurrence.     

用深井观测的地震研究东川地区随深度变化的场地放大因子.

采用中日合作，分别布设于东川垂直竖井中地下200ｍ、100ｍ 和地面３个位置的高精度数字化地震仪记录的地方震资料（震中距8.5～95ｋｍ，震级ML1.3～5.1），用频谱比的分析方法计算了东川地区不同深度（－100ｍ 和地面）的场地放大因子．在８个频率（f ＝0.75，1.0，1.5，2，3，4，5和12Ｈｚ）上所对应的在-100ｍ 处的3个分向（N-S，E-W，U-D）的场地放大因子（与-200ｍ 处相比），当0.75Ｈｚ f 2Ｈｚ时，为1.0～1.49；当2Ｈｚ＜ f ＜12Ｈｚ时，为0.47～0.99；在地面，3个分向在8个频率上所对应的场地放大因子（与-200ｍ 处相比）均大于1，其值为1.6～7.63．-100ｍ 处的Ｓ波和尾波场地放大因子与地面的Ｓ波和尾波的场地放大因子的相关系数，当0.75Ｈｚ f 2Ｈｚ频段时，分别为0.82和0.81；当2Ｈｚ＜ f＜12Ｈｚ频段时，分别为0.47和0.45．      

Particle dynamics in the deep water column of Sagami Bay, Japan. I: origins of apparent flux of sinking particles

Temporal variations of sinking particle flux, together with their organic chemical properties, were monitored in the deep basin of Sagami Bay, Japan, using sediment traps with very high time resolutions from March 1997 to August 1998. At a height of 350 m above the bottom (about 1200 m water depth), the averaged total mass flux was more than 1000 mg/m²/day, which is about 10 times higher than those obtained for open ocean regions near Sagami Bay. While large amounts of phytodetritus, derived from phytoplankton blooms in the surface water, were transported downward in spring, the following extraordinary patterns in the temporal variability of sinking particle flux were also observed: (1) A sustained large flux of sinking particles during low productive periods from summer to winter in 1997. (2) An episodic increase of sinking particle flux in June 1998. (3) A difference in the temporal variability of sinking particles between the spring bloom periods of 1997 and 1998. The content of total organic carbon (TOC) and the stable carbon isotopic ratio (δ¹³C) of TOC demonstrated that the large fluxes observed in (1) and (2) could be attributed to the resuspension of phytodetritus deposited on the sea floor during the spring bloom period, and the abrupt erosion of surface sediment on the continental slope, respectively. The concentration of suspended particles in the deep water column affect the apparent flux of sinking particles. At the same time, sinking particles exported from surface waters during the spring bloom both decrease and increase suspended particle concentration through scavenging and rebound processes, respectively. Finally, the apparent difference in sinking particle flux between 1997 and 1998, (3), could be explained by differences in the extent of the scavenging process, which depend on the flux and quality of exported particles from the surface waters.     

Origin and decomposition of sinking particulate organic matter in the deep water column inferred from the vertical distributions of its δN, δ and δ

Sinking particles were analyzed for their nitrogen isotopic ratio δ¹⁵N) of total particulate nitrogen (PN), stable carbon isotopic ratio (δ¹³C) and radioactive isotopic ratio (δ¹⁴C) of total particulate organic carbon (POC), at three different latitudinal (temperate, subpolar and equatorial) and geomorphological (trench, proximal abyssal plain and distal abyssal plain) sites in the western North Pacific Ocean using year-long time series sediment trap systems, to clarify the common vertical trends of the isotopic signals in deep water columns. Although the δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values of sinking particulate organic matter (POM) were partly affected by the resuspension of sedimentary POM from the sea floor, especially in the trench, the changes in δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values owing to the resuspension could be corrected by calculation of the isotopic mass balance from δ¹⁴C of sinking POC. After this correction, common downward decreasing trends in δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values were obtained in the deep water columns, irrespective of the latitudes and depths. These coincidental isotopic signals between δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values provide new constraints for the decomposition process of sinking POM, such as the preferential degradation of ¹⁵N- and ¹³C-rich compounds and the successive re-formation of the sinking particles by higher trophic level organisms in the deep water column.