Preliminary investigation of mercury in bone tissues of skua and penguin in Antarctica using AFS and Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Fluorescence （SR-XRF）

Mercury （Hg） was investigated in bone tissues of skua （ Catharacta maccormick） and penguin （Pygoscelis adeliae） collected in the maritime Antarctic using atomic fluorescence spectrometry （AFS） and synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence （SR-XRF） method. The total levels of mercury in bone tissues of penguin and skua are much lower than those in other organs （e. g. , kidney, liver）. The toxic effects of mercury in bone tissues of seabirds in polar region are not known. We have used SR- XRF method to map the distribution of trace levels of mercury in bones. The levels of mercury are found to be enriched somewhere near the periosteal surface and/or endosteal surface. The distribution of mercury shows strongly correlation with that of some essential elements and probably poses negative effect on the bone metabolism inferring from the relationship of mercury with the other elements. These studies represent a first step toward understanding the toxic effects of mercury on bone of polar animals by suggesting the possible microscopic investigation.     

Tidal effects on temperature front in the Yellow Sea

Temperature front (TF) is one of the important features in the Yellow Sea, which forms in spring, thrives in summer, and fades in autumn as thermocline declines. TF intensity ⋎S _T ⋎ is defined to describe the distribution of TF. Based on the MASNUM wave-tide-circulation coupled model, temperature distribution in the Yellow Sea was simulated with and without tidal effects. Along 36°N, distribution of TF from the simulated results are compared with the observations, and a quantitative analysis is introduced to evaluate the tidal effects on the forming and maintaining processes of the TF. Tidal mixing and the circulation structure adapting to it are the main causes of the TF. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. G1999043809) and the National Science Foundation of China (No. 49736190).     

NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HEMISPHERIC POLAR LOWS——A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Northern Hemispheric“polar lows”,i.e.maritime,small,but fairly intense cyclonic systems have been studied formore than two decades.Recently researchers have turned their attention towards the occurrence of polar lows and othersmall-scale cyclonic disturbances on the Southern Hemisphere.In this paper a short account of our present knowledgeof Northern Hemispheric polar lows will be given,followed by some preliminary results of an investigation of the natureand occurrence of polar lows on the Southern Hemisphere.     

Late Quaternary submarine bedforms and ice‐sheet flow in Gerlache Strait and on the adjacent continental shelf,Antarctic Peninsula

Geophysical data from Gerlache Strait, Croker Passage, Bismarck Strait and the adjacent continental shelf reveal streamlined subglacial bedforms that were produced at the bed of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) during the last glaciation. The spatial arrangement and orientation of these bedforms record the former drainage pattern and flow dynamics of an APIS outlet up‐flow, and feeding into, a palaeo‐ice stream in the Western Bransfield Basin. Evidence suggests that together, they represent a single ice‐flow system that drained the APIS during the last glaciation. The ice‐sheet outlet flowed north/northeastwards through Gerlache Strait and Croker Passage and converged with a second, more easterly ice‐flow tributary on the middle shelf to form the main palaeo‐ice stream. The dominance of drumlins with low elongation ratios suggests that ice‐sheet outlet draining through Gerlache Strait was comparatively slower than the main palaeo‐ice stream in the Western Bransfield Basin, although the low elongation ratios may also partly reflect the lack of sediment. Progressive elongation of drumlins further down‐flow indicates that the ice sheet accelerated through Croker Passage and the western tributary trough, and fed into the main zone of streaming flow in the Western Bransfield Basin. Topography would have exerted a strong control on the development of the palaeo‐ice stream system but subglacial geology may also have been significant given the transition from crystalline bedrock to sedimentary strata on the inner–mid‐shelf. In the broader context, the APIS was drained by a number of major fast‐flowing outlets through cross‐shelf troughs to the outer continental shelf during the last glaciation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

过渡季节(6—7月)澳大利亚冷高压对赤道辐合带形成的影响

应用车贝雪夫多项式分析过渡季节(6—7月)澳大利亚冷高压与赤道辐合带的关系,得出了对赤道辐合带北移的主要形势以及过程演变特征,最后用合成方法得到它的演变概念模式,为赤道辐合带的北移影响西太平洋及南海地区提供了中期预报的依据。     

济州岛南部海区的双跃层现象

本文分析了济州岛南部区域温度双跃层现象的类型及其成因。特别阐明了双跃层的波状现象,指出:强流锋区的侧向效应,黑潮次—中层混合水的爬升,黄海冷水团边缘密度环流引起的侧向流动,以及上、下层流速、流向不一致引起的剪切作用,是导致双跃层波状现象的主要原因。发现上、下跃层之间存在着“跃层间环流”,这是一个有趣的海洋学现象,它将导致双扩散的发生和有利于双跃层的维持。     

南极普里兹湾气旋的生消发展

利用1989～2000年现场观测的气象资料,特别是自1997年以来在南极考察船上接收的NOAA卫星极轨高分辨的卫星云图,研究了普里兹湾气旋的生消发展;提出了夏季绕极气旋进入普里兹湾内也会发展加强,在湾内东风带里也能生成气旋的新观点,修正了普里兹湾仅是气旋墓地的不全面说法,从而进一步完善了南极西风带绕极气旋和东风带上气旋生消发展的理论;研究了普里兹湾冰-气-海相互作用的机理,解释了气旋发生、发展的物理过程.用整体动力学输送法计算了进入普里兹湾980205号绕极气旋爆发性发展的能量交换,指出气旋在超过冰坝进入冰间湖可以获得巨大的热量,使气旋迅速发展成为具有南极特色的强风暴,风力达12级以上,平均风速为38m/s;瞬时最大风速达100m/s.     

南黄海陆架沉积学研究

黄海中部、济州岛西南,存在厚层的泥质沉积,它们分别与上述地区的冷涡活动区相对应。在两个泥质沉积区之间又出现连接它们的通道,形成别有特征的“冷涡-通道”沉积体系。经分析发现,这个沉积体系,完全受控于黄海暖流、冷涡及其相关的环流体系。此外,在黄海西南部及东海北部海底发现大面积砂岩及其砾石,揭示了黄、东海陆架沉积物的新源地。     

长江口及济州岛邻近海域温、盐、密度的跃层现象

本文根据CTD观测资料,分析了研究海区的温、盐、密度跃层的分布与变化,讨论了逆温逆盐层的分布区域,并从跃层角度出发,分析了深层水的涌升,黄海冷水团的上边界以及台湾暖流在东海北部的影响范围。     

中国南极中山锚地勘测

本文介绍了南极中山锚地的选择条件,勘测实施过程及水文、气象特点,并对测量区域作了分析研究与评价,科学地确定了适合科考船抛锚的锚地,致使“雪龙”船首次在中山锚地抛锚试抛成功,结束了中山站附近海域无锚地的历史。