Influence of Changes in Solar Radiation on Changes of Surface Temperature in China

The long-term trends of total surface solar radiation(SSR),surface diffuse radiation,and surface air temperature were analyzed in this study based on updated 48-yr data from 55 observational stations in China,and then the correlation between SSR and the diurnal temperature range(DTR) was studied.The effect of total solar radiation on surface air temperature in China was investigated on the basis of the above analyses.A strong correlation between SSR and DTR was found for the period 1961-2008 in China.The highest correlation and steepest regression line slope occurred in winter,indicating that the solar radiation effect on DTR was the largest in this season.Clouds and water vapor have strong influences on both SSR and DTR,and hence on their relationship.The largest correlations between SSR and DTR occurred in wintertime in northern China,regardless of all-day(including clear days and cloudy days) or clear-day cases.Our results also showed that radiation arriving at the surface in China decreased significantly during 1961-1989(dimming period),but began to increase during 1990-2008(brightening period),in agreement with previous global studies.The reduction of total SSR offset partially the greenhouse warming during 1961-1989.However,with the increase of SSR after 1990,this offsetting effect vanished;on the contrary,it even made a contribution to the accelerated warming.Nonetheless,the greenhouse warming still played a controlling role because of the increasing of minimum and mean surface temperatures in the whole study period of 1961-2008.We estimated that the greenhouse gases alone may have caused surface temperatures to rise by 0.31-0.46℃(10 yr) 1 during 1961-2008,which is higher than previously estimated.Analysis of the corresponding changes in total solar radiation,diffuse radiation,and total cloud cover indicated that the dimming and brightening phenomena in China were likely attributable to increases in absorptive and scattering aerosols in the atmosphere,respectively.     

Geological and microbial anomalies in the extinct submarine volcano, Shiribeshi Seamount, in the eastern margin of the Japan Sea

Abstract   The manned submersible Shinkai 2000 investigated yellow patches on the near-summit slope of Shiribeshi Seamount in the Japan Sea. Yellowish patches are often associated with seepage, and the possibility of seepage at Shiribeshi Seamount was tested by the following four lines of observation: (i) high subsurface temperature was measured at a ring-like patch, although no increase in subsurface temperature was observed at other patches; (ii) high gamma ray (γ-ray) intensity from the thorium series was recorded in the patch zone; (iii) the yellowish deposit was composed of calcite, quartz and amorphous iron compound, as seen at the yellowish patches in other seeps and volcanoes; (iv) lipid phosphate, a measure of microbial abundance, in sediments of the ring-like patch was determined, and the recorded microbial abundance was higher inside the patch than outside it. The four lines of observation are explained consistently by postulating that the seepage of warm fluid contained Fe and γ-ray sources. A hydrothermal origin of the yellow patches is not ruled out for the extinct but young (0.9 Ma) arc volcano.