Modelling phytoplankton succession on the Bering Sea shelf: role of climate influences and trophic interactions in generating Emiliania huxleyi blooms 1997–2000

Several years of continuous physical and biological anomalies have been affecting the Bering Sea shelf ecosystem starting from 1997. Such anomalies reached their peak in a striking visual phenomenon: the first appearance in the area of bright waters caused by massive blooms of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi (E. huxleyi). This study is intended to provide an insight into the mechanisms of phytoplankton succession in the south-eastern part of the shelf during such years and addresses the causes of E. huxleyi success by means of a 2-layer ecosystem model, field data and satellite-derived information. A number of potential hypotheses are delineated based on observations conducted in the area and on previous knowledge of E. huxleyi general ecology. Some of these hypotheses are then considered as causative factors and explored with the model. The unusual climatic conditions of 1997 resulted most notably in a particularly shallow mixed layer depth and high sea surface temperature (about 4 °C above climatological mean). Despite the fact that the model could not reproduce for E. huxleyi a clear non-bloom to bloom transition (pre- vs. post-1997), several tests suggest that this species was favoured by the shallow mixed layer depth in conjunction with a lack of photoinhibition. A top-down control by microzooplankton selectively grazing phytoplankton other than E. huxleyi appears to be responsible for the long persistence of the blooms. Interestingly, observations reveal that the high N:P ratio hypothesis, regarded as crucial in the formation of blooms of this species in previous studies, does not hold on the Bering Sea shelf.     

Bound and mobile soil water isotope ratios are affected by soil texture and mineralogy,whereas extraction method influences their measurement

Questions persist about interpreting isotope ratios of bound and mobile soil water pools, particularly relative to clay content and extraction conditions. Interactions between pools and resulting extracted water isotope composition are presumably related to soil texture, yet few studies have manipulated the bound pool to understand its influence on soil water processes. Using a series of drying and spiking experiments, we effectively labelled bound and mobile water pools in soils with varying clay content. Soils were first vacuum dried to remove residual water, which was then replaced with heavy isotope-enriched water prior to oven drying and spiking with heavy isotope-depleted water. Water was extracted via centrifugation or cryogenic vacuum distillation (at four temperatures) and analysed for oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios via isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Water from centrifuged samples fell along a mixing line between the two added waters but was more enriched in heavy isotopes than the depleted label, demonstrating that despite oven drying, a residual pool remains and mixes with the mobile water. Soils with higher clay + silt content appeared to have a larger bound pool. Water from vacuum distillation samples have a significant temperature effect, with high temperature extractions yielding progressively more heavy isotope-enriched values, suggesting that Rayleigh fractionation occurred at low temperatures in the vacuum line. By distinctly labelling bound and mobile soil water pools, we detected interactions between the two that were dependent on soil texture. Although neither extraction method appeared to completely extract the combined bound and mobile (total water) pool, centrifugation and high temperature cryogenic vacuum distillations were comparable for both δ²H and δ¹⁸O of soil water isotope ratios.     

Effect of the additional low-sensitivity channel on the amplitude response of the electromagnetic seismograph

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Identity of the characteristics of electrodynamic seismographs with non-standard periods of seismometers and galvanometers

Summary The maximum changes of magnification were determined for electrodynamic seismographs with standard characteristics and for some experimental long-period seismographs, the constants of which are given in Tab. 1, when the period of the seismometer or galvanometer has a deviation of not more than 5% from the standard value. Under the assumption of control of the other constants of the seismograph, identical amplitude and phase responses with a small change of the absolute magnification of the seismograph may be achieved with characteristicsAII ( ² >0.2), AIV ( ² 0.4), B ( ² >0.3) Nos28, 32 and33. This deviation can also be compensated by adjusting the optical distance. The procedure of adjusting the identical characteristics is suitable for systems with which an accurate setting of the period is difficult and for systems with an uncontrollable period, provided their values are within the limits of allowed deviations from the standard constants.     

Seismic noise at the international gravity point in Prague-Ruzyně (Czechoslovakia)

Summary The vertical component of ground displacement was measured at the Prague - Ruzyn International Gravity Point in the frequency range of 1–300 Hz. The permanent noise, the vibrations caused by the observers during gravimetric observations and by the wind, as well as those due to normal operations at the airport, display maximum peak-to-peak amplitudes of 0.06 µm in the frequency range of 1–50 Hz; with a CG-2 gravimeter this is not detrimental to the accuracy of the observations. The taxiing of turbo-jet and jet aircraft and engine tests of aircraft generate vibrations in frequency ranges of 75–90 and 190–270 Hz. Their amplitudes, according to the results of laboratory tests published for various types of gravity meters (CG-2, GAK-PT, GVP-3, KVG), are of magnitudes which generate errors in tenths of mgl.