Transient Circulation Event near the Deep Ocean Floor

On 24 January 1968, a transient deep-circulation event was recorded by a triangular array of autonomous current recorders installed 3 meters above the bottom at two of the three positions and at intervals of 3 to 1000 meters above the bottom at the third position in a depth of 3950 meters above the relatively smooth floor of the eastern North Pacific. The event interrupted a 24-hour record of relatively steady but peculiar conditions, lasted for about 1(1/2) hours, and was followed by current directions and speeds that greatly differed from those of the initial period. The event occurred over a volume of the sea of at least 2 kilometers in horizontal dimensions and 1 kilometer thick. Associated with the event were many small clockwise-rotating features extending from 3 to at least 1000 meters above the bottom and a rapidly increasing current velocity at 1000 meters. The event was probably local and may have involved convective motion, internal waves, and the passage of front. Some of the changes in horizontal velocity may have resulted from the combined effects of upwelling and the earth's rotation.     

Turbidity current activity in a british columbia fjord

A year-long monitoring program within an elongated channel-fan system in Bute Inlet of British Columbia, Canada, detected active sand-transporting turbidity currents. Measurements of bottom velocities and sediment collected in traps, as well as damage to moorings and equipment, captured the signatures of frequent energetic events. Maximum calculated velocities achieved were 335 centimeters per second, with flow thicknesses of more than 30 meters. Coarse sand was transported at least 6 to 7.5 meters above the sea floor. Turbidity currents flowed a minimum distance of 25.9 kilometers, but possibly as far as 40 to 50 kilometers, over bottom slopes of generally less than 1 degrees.     

Spatial Variability of Turbulent Mixing in the Abyssal Ocean

Ocean microstructure data show that turbulent mixing in the deep Brazil Basin of the South Atlantic Ocean is weak at all depths above smooth abyssal plains and the South American Continental Rise. The diapycnal diffusivity there was estimated to be less than or approximately equal to 0.1 x 10(-4) meters squared per second. In contrast, mixing rates are large throughout the water column above the rough Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and the diffusivity deduced for the bottom-most 150 meters exceeds 5 x 10(-4) meters squared per second. Such patterns in vertical mixing imply that abyssal circulations have complex spatial structures that are linked to the underlying bathymetry.     

不同储料工况粮仓动力特性及相互作用分析

为研究不同储料工况下立筒群仓的动力特性及各单仓个体之间的动力相互作用,以河南省郑州市某工程用粮食群仓为研究对象,进行了空仓和满仓2种储料工况下的结构模态分析。该粮仓尺寸较大,由3行5列共15个单仓个体组成,平面外轮廓24.0 m×40.0 m,总高34.5 m。为获得较全面的分析结果,对粮仓前7阶自振频率和振型进行了分析研究,结果表明:空仓工况频率值大于满仓工况频率值,空仓是满仓的几乎2倍,说明粮食散粒体对粮仓所提供的质量效应远远大于其提供的刚度效应。粮仓前3阶振型为结构整体变形,而且受储料的影响不明显,各单仓个体的动力反应大小基本相同,可以忽略单仓个体之间的动力相互作用;粮仓后4阶振型为结构局部变形,满仓工况较空仓工况结构振型的平面形状和立面形状更复杂,各单仓个体因所处位置不同受约束程度不同所以动力反应大小不同,而且参与动力相互作用的单仓个体数目也较空仓工况多,说明储料的存在对4阶及以上振型影响显著。     

Detection of overflow events in the shag rocks passage, scotia ridge

During an almost yearlong period of observations made with a current meter in the fracture zone between the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia, several overflow events were recorded at a depth of 3000 meters carrying cold bottom water from the Scotia Sea into the Argentine Basin. The outflow bursts of Scotia Sea bottom water, a mixing product of Weddell Sea and eastern Pacific bottom water, were associated with typical speeds of more than 28 centimeters per second toward the northwest and characteristic temperatures below 0.6 degrees C. The maximum 24-hour average speed of 65 centimeters per second, together with a temperature of 0.29 degrees C, was encountered on 14 November 1980 at a water depth of 2973 meters, 35 meters above the sea floor.     

Late pleistocene history of coniferous woodland in the mohave desert

Seventeen ancient wood-rat middens, ranging in radiocarbon age from 7400 to 19,500 years and to older than 40,000 years, have been uncovered in the northeastern, north-central, southeastern, and southwestern sectors of the Mohave Desert. Excellent preservation of macroscopic plant materials (including stems, buds, leaves, fruits, and seeds) enables identification of many plant species growing within the limited foraging range of the sedentary wood rat. An approximately synchronous zonal differentiation of vegetation in response to a gradient of elevation on limestone in the northeastern Mohave Desert is apparent from the macrofossil evidence, preserved in wood-rat middens and ground-sloth coprolites, covering a time span bracketed by radiocarbon ages of about 9000 and 10,000 years. XerophilQus juniper woodlands descended to an elevation of 1100 meters, some 600 meters below the present lower limit of woodland (1700 meters) in the latitude of Frenchman Flat. But desert or semidesert shrubs coexisted with the woodland trees throughout much of the span of elevation corresponding to the pluvial lowering of the woodland zone, and the more mesophytic phase of pinyonjuniper woodland was evidently confined to montane habitats at elevations above 1500 meters. Joshua trees, accompanied by desert shrubs, prevailed down to about 600 meters at Gypsum Cave, Nevada, but only the shrubs of the existing warm-desert vegetation occurred at 530 meters near Rampart Cave, Arizona. Pleistocene middens from the southeastern Mohave Desert record a relatively large downward shift of the pinyon-juniper woodland zone, paralleling the remarkably low minimum elevation of the existing woodland zone in that area. The macrofossil evidence speaks for former continuity of the many disjunct stands of woodland vegetation in the Mohave Desert region, at least along the higher divides connecting most of the ranges. However, there is no macrofossil evidence of pluvial continuity of range for the more mesophytic, montane, coniferous-forest zone of ponderosa pine or white fir now occupying islands of relatively mesic environment on the highest mountains of the region. On the contrary, the uneven stocking of the lofty mountains of the Mohave Desert with mesephytic or boreal species and the trend toward endemism suggest a long history of isolation.     

Deformation and slip along the Sunda megathrust in the great 2005 Nias-Simeulue earthquake

Seismic rupture produced spectacular tectonic deformation above a 400-kilometer strip of the Sunda megathrust, offshore northern Sumatra, in March 2005. Measurements from coral microatolls and Global Positioning System stations reveal trench-parallel belts of uplift up to 3 meters high on the outer-arc islands above the rupture and a 1-meter-deep subsidence trough farther from the trench. Surface deformation reflects more than 11 meters of fault slip under the islands and a pronounced lessening of slip trenchward. A saddle in megathrust slip separates the northwestern edge of the 2005 rupture from the great 2004 Sumatra-Andaman rupture. The southeastern edge abuts a predominantly aseismic section of the megathrust near the equator.     

A Far-Field Hydrothermal Plume from Loihi Seamount

An extensive helium plume in the north central Pacific emanates from Loihi Seamount on the flanks of Hawaii. The maximum helium signal is found at a depth of about 1100 meters, the same depth as the near-field plume directly above Loihi Seamount. Although this helium plume is strongest near Hawaii, where the 3He/4He ratio at a depth of about 1100 meters reaches values 28 percent above the atmospheric ratio, it can be detected quite clearly at latitude 24°N, over 400 kilometers to the north. Excess 3He is also present on the same isopycnal between 15°N and 20°N at 135°W, some 2000 kilometers east of the Hawaiian Islands.     

Ice volume and sea level during the last interglacial

During the last interglacial period, ~125,000 years ago, sea level was at least several meters higher than at present, with substantial variability observed for peak sea level at geographically diverse sites. Speculation that the West Antarctic ice sheet collapsed during the last interglacial period has drawn particular interest to understanding climate and ice-sheet dynamics during this time interval. We provide an internally consistent database of coral U-Th ages to assess last interglacial sea-level observations in the context of isostatic modeling and stratigraphic evidence. These data indicate that global (eustatic) sea level peaked 5.5 to 9 meters above present sea level, requiring smaller ice sheets in both Greenland and Antarctica relative to today and indicating strong sea-level sensitivity to small changes in radiative forcing.     

当归在大别山地区引种栽培试验初报

评估甘肃岷归在大别山地区引种栽培的可行性。方法：试验地点设在大别山地区海拔860m和1060m^2处,每处分生地试验和熟地试验2个处理,每个处理设遮荫和不遮荫两种措施;试验分2a进行,第1a育苗,第2a移栽。结果：当归在海拔1060m处的生地生长良好,遮荫处理的当归生长势好于未遮荫的。结论：甘肃岷归在海拔高于1000m以上的大别山地区适合生长,可在该地区引种栽培。     

Gas exchange-wind speed relation measured with sulfur hexafluoride on a lake

Gas-exchange processes control the uptake and release of various gases in natural systems such as oceans, rivers, and lakes. Not much is known about the effect of wind speed on gas exchange in such systems. In the experiment described here, sulfur hexafluoride was dissolved in lake water, and the rate of escape of the gas with wind speed (at wind speeds up to 6 meters per second) was determined over a 1-month period. A sharp change in the wind speed dependence of the gas-exchange coefficient was found at wind speeds of about 2.4 meters per second, in agreement with the results of wind-tunnel studies. However, the gas-exchange coefficients at wind speeds above 3 meters per second were smaller than those observed in wind tunnels and are in agreement with earlier lake and ocean results.     

Eustatic sea level 120,000 years ago on oahu, hawaii

Extensive dating of the fossil corals associated with the Waimanalo shoreline on Oahu has shown that 120,000 years ago the ocean was approximately 7.6 meters above its present level. Corals grown during that time constitute a major portion of the subaerial reef-derived material on the island, with exposures ranging from about 10 meters to near sea level. This evidence corroborates the notion that 120,000 years before the present was the last time during which the sea stood significantly higher than it does today. The reported benches at 3.7, 1.5, and 0.6 meters, if not of Recent origin, could be features created by brief halts of the sea during rapid regression shortly after the Waimanalo high stand.     

Shallow scattering layer in the subarctic pacific ocean: detection by high-frequency echo sounder

Shallow scattering layers consisting mainly of Calanus cristatus were detected on a trans-Pacific crossing to depths of 60 meters with a high-frequency echo sounder. Biomass estimates of these layers indicate concentrations of zoo-plankton that are greater and more extensive than previously reported in the open ocean.     

Long-term sea-level fluctuations driven by ocean basin dynamics

Earth's long-term sea-level history is characterized by widespread continental flooding in the Cretaceous period (approximately 145 to 65 million years ago), followed by gradual regression of inland seas. However, published estimates of the Late Cretaceous sea-level high differ by half an order of magnitude, from approximately 40 to approximately 250 meters above the present level. The low estimate is based on the stratigraphy of the New Jersey margin. By assimilating marine geophysical data into reconstructions of ancient ocean basins, we model a Late Cretaceous sea level that is 170 (85 to 270) meters higher than it is today. We use a mantle convection model to suggest that New Jersey subsided by 105 to 180 meters in the past 70 million years because of North America's westward passage over the subducted Farallon plate. This mechanism reconciles New Jersey margin-based sea-level estimates with ocean basin reconstructions.     

不同施氮水平下深层土壤硝态氮淋失特征研究

通过GeoprobeR深层取土18m,分析了不同施氮水平下厚不饱和层土壤中NO3--N的迁移变化。发现不同施氮处理下NO3--N在一个生育期的淋失变化主要体现在0～4m土体内,土壤中硝态氮累积峰下移深度为0.2～0.6m,高施肥土体中,深层土壤6.7～8m和13～15m土体中也有少量硝态氮淋失,施氮量越高,淋失量和累积量也越高;不同施肥处理下,厚不饱和层土壤中NO3--N累积量变化主要体现4m土体特别是根区土层中,在2m土体内,土体中NO3--N的累积量与施入的氮肥量呈极显著线性关系,根区以下不饱和层中NO3--N累积量超过1800kg/hm2。     

神农架东南坡土壤研究初报

采自神农架小当阳桥海拔1010m 处的01剖面属黄棕壤特性,粘土矿物主要是蛭石、伊利石和绿泥石。采自铁厂河和红坪海拔1500m 和1830m 处的02、03两剖面属棕壤特性,粘土矿物主要是伊利石、绿泥石。采自天门垭海拔2200m 处的04剖面属暗棕壤特性,粘土矿物主要是伊利石、绿泥石。神农架东南坡土壤的垂直带谱分布下限:黄棕壤不应高于海拔1000m,棕壤不应高于海拔1500m,暗棕壤不应高于海拔2200m。     

The 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake: displacement reaching the trench axis

We detected and measured coseismic displacement caused by the 11 March 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake [moment magnitude (M(W)) 9.0] by using multibeam bathymetric surveys. The difference between bathymetric data acquired before and after the earthquake revealed that the displacement extended out to the axis of the Japan Trench, suggesting that the fault rupture reached the trench axis. The sea floor on the outermost landward area moved about 50 meters horizontally east-southeast and ~10 meters upward. The large horizontal displacement lifted the sea floor by up to 16 meters on the landward slope in addition to the vertical displacement.     

Prehistoric cultural ecology in southern jordan

Research in the mountains of southern Jordan resulted in the discovery of 109 archaeological sites that are from the Lower Paleolithic to the Chalcolithic period [150 to 6 thousand years ago (ka)]. Beginning with the Middle Paleolithic (70 ka) two site types (long-term and ephemeral camps) are recognized. Long-term sites have larger areas, thicker deposits, higher artifact densities, and more abundant archaeological features than ephemeral sites. Their natural settings (elevation and exposure) and associated seasonal evidence (phytolith and cementum increment data) indicate that long-term sites were occupied during the winter, wet season and ephemeral sites during the warm, dry season. These differences in site use and seasonality likely reflect an adaptive strategy of transhumance that persisted to modern Bedouin times. At the end of the Pleistocene, the onset of warmer, drier conditions induced a shift of the long-term winter camps from relatively low (800 to 1000 meters above sea level) to high (1000 to 1250 meters above sea level) elevations and largely reversed the earlier transhumant pattern.     

Transcontinental baselines and the rotation of the Earth measured by radio interferometry

Nine separate very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiments, carried out in 1972 and 1973 with radio telescopes 3900 kilometers apart, yielded values for the baseline length with a root-mean-square deviation about the mean of less than 20 centitneters. The corresponding fractional spread is about five parts in 10(8). Changes in universal time and in polar motion were also detertnined accurately from these data; the root-mean-square scatter of these results with respect to those based on optical methods were 2.9 milliseconds and 1.3 meters, respectively. Solid-earth tides were apparently detected, but no useful estimate of their amplituide was extracted.     

兴隆山自然保护区土壤的形成与分布

本文研究了由前震旦系和震旦系岩层构成的兴隆山土壤的形成和分布。结果表明:土壤形成及分布与气候、植被和海拔有显著的相互关系。随着海拔高度由2300米到3500米,温度由暖变寒,湿度由干燥到湿润,植被由落叶阔叶林(在2300米～2600米海拔范围)到以阔叶林为主的针阔混交林(2600米～3000米),再过渡到亚高山(3000米～3500米)和高山(>3500米)灌丛草甸,土体淋溶由弱变强,3000米以上土壤风化变成寒冻风化为主,相应的土壤类型依次由石灰性灰褐土和典型灰褐土到淋溶灰褐土,渐变到亚高山灌丛草甸土,到高山草甸土和高山灌丛草甸土,其中淋溶灰褐土面积最大。丰富的兴隆山土壤资源和它们相应的地理要素一起共同构成了黄土高原西部独特的生态环境。