Palaeotemperature reconstructions of the European permafrost zone during marine oxygen isotope Stage 3 compared with climate model results

A palaeotemperature reconstruction based on periglacial phenomena in Europe north of approximately 51 °N, is compared with high‐resolution regional climate model simulations of the marine oxygen isotope Stage 3 (Stage 3) palaeoclimate. The experiments represent Stage 3 warm (interstadial), Stage 3 cold (stadial) and Last Glacial Maximum climatic conditions. The palaeotemperature reconstruction deviates considerably for the Stage 3 cold climate experiments, with mismatches up to 11 °C for the mean annual air temperature and up to 15 °C for the winter temperature. However, in this reconstruction various factors linking climate and permafrost have not been taken into account. In particular a relatively thin snow cover and high climatic variability of the glacial climate could have influenced temperature limits for ice‐wedge growth. Based on modelling the 0 °C mean annual ground temperature proves to be an appropriate upper temperature limit. Using this limit, mismatches with the Stage 3 cold climate experiments have been reduced but still remain. We therefore assume that the Stage 3 ice wedges were generated during short (decadal time‐scale) intervals of extreme cold climate, below the mean temperatures indicated by the Stage 3 cold climate model simulations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

华南寒武系年代地层系统的修订及相关问题

将早先提出的华南寒武系4统9阶的年代地层系统,修订成4统10阶,除王村阶的底界略高于全球鼓山阶(Drumian Stage)的底界外,其余界线都与目前的全球4统10阶的年代地层界线一致。新系统采纳了在我国华南建立的全球芙蓉统、排碧阶和古丈阶,在原桃源阶的上部另建"牛车河阶"。原王村阶和桃源阶的时限因这一修订有所缩减。全球鼓山阶的底界与台江阶上部的Ptychagnostus atavus带底界可以精确对比。滇东统包含晋宁阶和梅树村阶(狭义)两个年代地层单位,晋宁阶的底界采用全球寒武系的底界,梅树村阶的底界采用罗惠麟等1994年正式修订后的定义,即位于梅树村剖面的"B"点。梅树村阶的原始定义仅指梅树村剖面的磷块岩层(即现今的中谊村段),它的底界高于现在的以Tricophycus pedum首现定义的全球寒武系底界。     

New fusulinids of the Moscovian Stage found in Iran

The described fusulinids of the Moscovian Stage are found in the Asad-Abad section of the Sanandaj-Sirjan tectonic zone of Iran. Five successive fusulinid assemblages are distinguished. Three lower of them belong to the Kashirian Substage, the other two to the Podolskian Substage. The section studied is correlated with most complete sections of the Moscovian Stage in the western Tethys. Two new species Fusulinella (Moellerites) pygmea and Putrella primaris are identified; in addition to nominative taxon, the latter includes new subspecies P. primaris compacta.     

Deposition Rates of Terrestrial and Marine Organic Carbon in the Osaka Bay, Seto Inland Sea, Japan, Determined Using Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Ratios in the Sediment

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (¹³C and ¹⁵N) of surface sediments were measured within Osaka Bay, in the Seto Inland Sea in Japan, in order to better understand the sedimentation processes operating on both terrestrial and marine organic matter in the Bay. The ¹³C and ¹⁵N of surface sediments in the estuary of the Yodo River were less than –23 and 5 respectively, but increased in the area up to about 10 km from the river mouth. At greater distances they became constant (giving ¹³C of about –20 and ¹⁵N about 6). It can be concluded that large amounts of terrestrial organic matter exist near the mouth of the Yodo River. Stable isotope ratios in the estuary of the Yodo River within 10 km of the river mouth were useful indicators allowing study of the movement of terrestrial organic matter. Deposition rates for total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) over the whole of the Bay were estimated to be 63,100 ton C/year and 7,590 ton N/year, respectively. The deposition rate of terrestrial organic carbon was estimated to be 13,200 (range 2,000–21,500) ton C/year for the whole of Osaka Bay, and terrestrial organic carbon was estimated to be about 21% (range 3–34) of the TOC deposition rate. The ratio of the deposition rate of terrestrial organic carbon to the rate inflow of riverine TOC and particulate organic carbon (POC) were estimated to be 19% (range 3–31) and 76% (range 12–100), respectively.     

Shallow Water Bathymetry Derived from Green Wavelength Terrestrial Laser Scanner

Abstract

Shallow water bathymetry has proved to be a challenging task for remote sensing applications. In this work, Green-Wavelength Terrestrial Laser Scanning (GWTLS) is employed to survey nearshore bathymetry under clear atmospheric and water conditions. First, the obtained seabed points were corrected for refraction and then geo-registration, and filtering processes were exerted to obtain an accurate bathymetric surface. Terrain analysis was performed with respect to a reference surface derived from classical surveying techniques. The overall analysis has shown that the best results stem from 35° to 50° incident angles, whereas for angles higher than 65° measurements are not acceptable, although for the same angle in front and close to the instrument accuracy is considered acceptable due to the high laser power. Also, high resolution micro-topography, shallower than 1?m water depth, was managed to be captured. Systematic experimental approaches are expected to improve the GWTLS technique to detect bathymetry, which is anticipated to assist in mapping very shallow foreshore, tidal, and deltaic environments, to contribute conceptual into developing hybrid observation systems for coastal monitoring, and also to be applied in various maritime applications.     

Terrestrial and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Mapping in Fire Island National Seashore Using High Spatial Resolution Remote Sensing Data

The vegetation communities and spatial patterns on the Fire Island National Seashore are dynamic as the result of interactions with driving forces such as sand deposition, storm-driven over wash, salt spray, surface water, as well as with human disturbances. We used high spatial resolution QuickBird-2 satellite remote sensing data to map both terrestrial and submerged aquatic vegetation communities of the National Seashore. We adopted a stratified classification and unsupervised classification approach for mapping terrestrial vegetation types. Our classification scheme included detailed terrestrial vegetation types identified by previous vegetation mapping efforts of the National Park Service and three generalized categories of high-density seagrass, low-density seagrass coverages, and unvegetated bottom to map the submerged aquatic vegetation habitats. We used underwater videography, GPS-guided field reference photography, and bathymetric data to support remote sensing image classification and information extraction. This study achieved approximately 82% and 75% overall classification accuracy for the terrestrial and submnerged aquatic vegetations, respectively, and provided an updated vegetation inventory and change analysis for the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network of the National Park Service.     

Origin of short period comets

Reasons for interest in the origin of short-period comets and the difficulties of computing their long-term dynamcal evolution are reviewed. The relative advantages of a source region in an extended inner core of the Oort cloud or a compact comet belt just beyond the planetary system are finely balanced, and it is premature to consider the problem solved. A complication is that some comets belonging to the Jupiter family may be part of a time-dependent system, possibly the remains of a giant comet such as Chiron which could have been part of the system 104 yr ago. The origin of short-period comets plays a pivotal role in many areas of solar system science: planet formation, the source of water (possibly life) on the terrestrial planets, the cratering record on the terrestrial planets and satellites of the outer planets, and the environmental impact posed by massive bodies and their decay products in the Earth's near-space environment.     

关于地球和月球首子午线的研究

首先对地球首子午线在不同时期的定义进行了分析和总结,进一步明确了当前对地球首子午线的严格定义,澄清了地球首子午线即过格林尼治天文台的子午线这一模糊认识。同时,结合我国月球探测工程的需要,分析了目前IAU推荐的月球首子午线定义和Bryce Walden等人提出的月球首子午线定义的优缺点。最后,对我国月球探测工程中坐标系的选择提出了建设性的意见。     

南海西部浮游有孔虫记录的MIS 3期表层海洋环境变化

对南海西部越南岸外上升流区17954-2站浮游有孔虫属种组合变化、浮游有孔虫氧同位素、AMS14C测年的分析以及浮游有孔虫表层海水温度、温跃层转换函数的研究结果表明:在MIS3期,南海西部表层海水温度大体呈现暖-冷-暖的变化趋势;温跃层深度由浅到深阶段性变化;短时间尺度上温度与温跃层发生幅度较大的快速变化。暖事件（IS）对应于浮游有孔虫暖水种、混合层属种含量的增加,冷水种、温跃层属种含量的减少以及冬夏SST的升高;冷事件则与之相反。表层海水生产力亦大致呈现3个阶段（61～51ka,51～42ka和42～32ka）的变化,在千年尺度的快速气候事件中,暖事件对应浮游有孔虫生产力属种含量降低,冷事件对应升高。此外,在MIS3内部分暖事件（IS6和IS11～13）表现出表层海水温度降低,温跃层深度变浅和表层海水生产力升高的状况,表明该区此时上升流的存在,其形成原因推测是由于东亚夏季风加强的结果。     

Spectral Filtering and Classification of Terrestrial Laser Scanner Point Clouds

A method is presented for filtering and classification of terrestrial laser scanner point clouds. The algorithm exploits the four-channel (blue, green, red and near infrared) multispectral imaging capability of some terrestrial scanners using supervised, parametric classification to assign thematic class labels to all scan cloud points. Its principal advantage is that it is a completely data-driven algorithm and is independent of spatial sampling resolution since the processing is performed in four-dimensional spectral feature space. Its application to two data-sets of different spatial extent and spatial and spectral complexity is reported, for which respective overall classification accuracies of 87·0% and 82·0% were achieved. Analysis of the input data with emphasis on the characteristics pertinent to the anticipated outcomes precedes detailed analysis of the classification results and error sources and their causes. Erroneously classified points are attributed to radiometric errors stemming from both detector hardware and physical effects.