Southwest monsoon of 1979: chemical and biological response of somali coastal waters

In 1979 two areas of upwelling were observed off Somalia, one near 10 degrees N and one near 5 degrees N. The areas of upwelling were characterized by sea surface temperatures between 17 degrees and 22 degrees C, high concentrations of surface nutrients (5 to 20 micromoles of nitrate per liter) and surface chlorophyll a (0.4 to 5.0 milligrams per cubic meter), primary productivity averaging 1.7 grams of carbon per square meter per day, and a phytoplankton assemblage dominated numerically by the diatom Nitzschia delicatissima.     

Asian dust: seasonal transport to the hawaiian islands

Analyses of atmospheric particles collected at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii from February 1979 through September 1982 reveal strong influxes of Asian dust in the spring of each year. Concentrations of a typical crustal element, aluminum, are more than an order of magnitude greater between February and June than during the remainder of the year (71 +/- 51 versus 6.7 +/- 2.3 nanograms per cubic meter). The mass of crustal material transported during the relatively short dust episodes accounts for an average of 80 percent of the total yearly mass of atmospheric particles at 3400 meters on Mauna Loa.     

High-latitude dust over the North Atlantic: inputs from Icelandic proglacial dust storms

Mineral aerosols play an important role in the atmosphere-ocean climate system. Research has focused almost exclusively on sources in low-latitude arid regions, but here we show that there are substantial sources in cold, higher latitudes. A 6-year record of measurements made on Heimaey, an island south of Iceland, reveals frequent dust events with concentrations exceeding 20 micrograms per cubic meter. Much of this potentially iron-rich dust is transported southward and deposited in the North Atlantic. Emissions are highest in spring and spatially and temporally associated with active glacial outwash plains; large dust events appear to be associated with glacial outburst floods. In response to global warming, ice retreat on Iceland and in other glacierized areas is likely to increase dust emissions from these regions.     

Radon-222 in the North Atlantic trade winds: its relationship to dust transport from Africa

The concentration of radon-222 in air was measured during a flight from Miami to Barbados to Dakar and return; concentrations ranged from 1 to 55 picocuries per standard cubic meter of air and were highest in areas of dense haze, which were present along most of the flight path across the Atlantic Ocean. The haze is attributed to dust originating from the arid regions of western Africa. Radon-222 may be useful as a tracer for African air parcels over the equatorial Atlantic.     

Ultragiant urban aerosol particles

Measurements taken 300 meters above ground level show surprisingly high concentrations of ultragiant aerosol particles both upwind and downwind of the St. Louis, Missouri, urban area. Assuming an average particle density of 2.0 grams per cubic centimeter, concentrations of particles with diameters between 5 and 55 micrometers sampled on 11 different days averaged 31 micrograms per cubic meter upwind and 55 micrograms per cubic meter downwind of the city.     

Thermal conductivity of monolithic organic aerogels

The total thermal conductivity lambda of resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogel monoliths has been measured as a function of density rho in the range from rho = 80 to 300 kilograms per cubic meter. A record-low conductivity value in air at 300 K of lambda approximately 0.012 watt per meter per kelvin was found for rho approximately 157 kilograms per cubic meter. Caloric measurements under variation of gas pressure as well as spectral infrared transmission measurements allowed the determination of solid conductivity, gaseous conductivity, and radiative conductivity as a function of density. The development of such low conductivity materials is of great interest with respect to the substitution of environmentally harmful insulating foams made from chlorofluorocarbons.     

Distribution of and feeding by the copepod pseudocalanus under fast ice during the arctic spring

The arctic copepod Pseudocalanus can be highly aggregated in the first few centimeters under landfast ice during spring in concentrations up to 10/(6) per cubic meter. Chlorophyll-derived pigments in the water, the abundance of animals, and their gut pigment index show fluctuations that may be tidally related. Short-term grazing experiments performed at -1.7 degrees C, in which ice algae was used as food, yielded feeding rates comparable to the highest known for the genus. Arctic Pseudocalanus seem to feed opportunistically near the ice-water interface, either directly on the attached epontic (under ice) algae or as it erodes from the ice.     

Occurrence and metabolic activity of organisms under the ross ice shelf, antarctica, at station j9

Seawater samples below the Ross Ice Shelf were collected through an access hole at J9, approximately 400 kilometers from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. The 237-meter water column had sparse populations of bacteria (8.7 x 10(6) to 1.2 x 10(7) per liter), microplankters (10(2) to 10(3) per cubic meter), and zooplankters (10 to 20 per cubic meter) at the depths studied. Microbial biomass estimates from cellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate measurements were very low (10 to 150 nanograms of carbon per liter), comparable with values for the abyssal ocean. Microbial populations assimilated tritiated D-glucose, thymidine, uridine, and adenosine triphosphate at extremely low rates, comparable with deep-sea heterotrophic populations. Sediment samples had 10(7) to 10(8) bacteria per gram (dry weight), which were metabolically active as shown by respiration of uniformly labeled D-[(14)C]glucose. From this study it cannot be determined whether these organisms in the water column and sediments constitute a functioning food web.     

Density of Mars' south polar layered deposits

Both poles of Mars are hidden beneath caps of layered ice. We calculated the density of the south polar layered deposits by combining the gravity field obtained from initial results of radio tracking of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with existing surface topography from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and basal topography from the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding on the Mars Express spacecraft. The results indicate a best-fit density of 1220 kilograms per cubic meter, which is consistent with water ice that has approximately 15% admixed dust. The results demonstrate that the deposits are probably composed of relatively clean water ice and also refine the martian surface-water inventory.     

Erratum

In the article " ;Nuclear winter' from Gulf war discounted," by Eliot Marshall (News & Comment, 25 Jan., p. 372), Tica Novakov's affiliation should have been given as the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, not the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The concentrations of airborne soot reported at various locations should have been given as follows: for greater Los Angeles (summer), a daily average of 5 micrograms per cubic meter; Beijing (winter), a monthly average of 50 micrograms per cubic meter; Yugoslavia (winter), a daily average of 60 micrograms; and London (1-day winter peak in 1952), 750 micrograms, now reduced to less than 15 micrograms.     

Atmospheric sulfur aerosol concentrations and characteristics from the South american continent

Aerosol samples collected from eight geographically distinct locations in South America during the austral winter of 1976 and summer of 1977 with six-stage cascade impactors show a tropospheric sulfur background concentration of about 50 nanograms per cubic meter of air in the fine-particle mode (1 micrometer in aerodynamic diameter). Time-sequence filter samples, taken concurrently at most locations, show an average non-sea spray related sulfur concentration of about 85 nanograms per cubic meter. These concentrations are substantially lower than most published nonurban values for the Northern Hemisphere obtained by similar sampling and analysis techniques and may represent a natural tropospheric background level of aerosol sulfur.     

基肥量对基质培鱼腥草产量及品质的影响

为探讨有机肥作基肥时使用量对基质培鱼腥草产量和品质的影响。采用有机生态型无土栽培种植技术,测定了鱼腥草地上部和地下部产量、Vc、总糖、蛋白质及矿质元素含量。基肥用量为每立方米基质施生物有机肥16kg时,鱼腥草的产量和经济效益最高,可以作为鱼腥草进行有机生态型无土栽培的适宜基肥推荐量。基肥施用量与鱼腥草Vc含量成反比,过多施用基肥会降低总糖含量,基肥量与鱼腥草地下部全钾和地上部全钾、磷含量成正比,与地下部全钠和地上部全镁、钠成反比,对其余矿质元素和蛋白质含量的影响无明显规律。科学的施用基肥能提高鱼腥草的产量和效益,但在获得高产量和高效益的同时不能同时全面提高鱼腥草的品质。     

Jovian Atmosphere: Structure and Composition between the Turbopause and the Mesopause

The occultation of the star Beta Scorpii by Jupiter was observed at high time resolution in three wavelength channels. The results imply a temperature of 220 degrees K at an altitude in the Jovian atmosphere corresponding to 10(14) molecules per cubic centimeter, and temperature fluctuations of 2 degrees to 10 degrees K over vertical scales of 2 to 10 kilometers. They suggest that the vertical eddy diffusion coefficient near the turbopause has a lower limit of 7 x 10(5)K square centimeters per second, and that the turbopause lies above the altitude where the density is 5 x 10(13) molecules per cubic centimeter. Below the turbopause, the ratio of hydrogen to helium is consistent with cosmic abundances.     

Supernova remnant w-44: observations at 8350 megacycles per second

The region of W-44 was mapped at 8350 megacycles per second. The degree of linear polarization of the most intense portion of W-44 integrated over the 10.8-minute-of-arc beam was 11+/-2 percent at position angle 45 degrees +/-5 degrees . This high degree of polarization is further evidence that W-44 is a supernova remnant. The integrated flux density of (95+/-25) x 10(-26) watt per square meter per cycle per second for this source is consistent with measurements at lower frequencies extrapolated with the use of a spectral index of-0.44, obtained by other observers. In addition, the compact source 3 minutes of right ascension west of W-44 was unpolarized, within the error of measurement. The flux density of (23+/-6)x 10(-26) watt per square meter per cycle per second determined for it along with the results of other observers indicate that this source has a thermal spectrum.     

In situ observations of a high-pressure phase of H2O Ice

A previously unknown solid phase of H2O has been identified by its peculiar growth patterns, distinct pressure-temperature melting relations, and vibrational Raman spectra. Morphologies of ice crystals and their pressure-temperature melting relations were directly observed in a hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell for H2O bulk densities between 1203 and 1257 kilograms per cubic meter at temperatures between -10 degrees and 50 degreesC. Under these conditions, four different ice forms were observed to melt: two stable phases, ice V and ice VI, and two metastable phases, ice IV and the new ice phase. The Raman spectra and crystal morphology are consistent with a disordered anisotropic structure with some similarities to ice VI.     

Quenchable high-pressure polymorph of zinc selenate

A new quenchable high-pressure form of zinc selenate (ZnSeO(4)) was produced by subjecting the low-pressure modification to 40 kilobars at 400 degrees C for 30 minutes. The new form is orthorhombic, space group D(2h),(17)-Cmcm. The cell constants at 29 degrees C are: a, 5.511 angstroms; b, 8.110 angstroms; and c, 6.585 angstroms. The calculated density is 4.70 grams per cubic centimeter in comparison with 4.61 grams per cubic centimeter for the low-pressure modification. This implies a volume change of 2 percent at the transition.     

Phytoplankton pigments from the nimbus-7 coastal zone color scanner: comparisons with surface measurements

The removal of atmospheric effects from Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) images reveals eddy-like ocean turbidity patterns not apparent in the original calibrated images. Comparisons of the phytoplankton pigment concentrations derived from the corrected CZCS radiances with surface measurements agree to within less than 0.5 log C, where C is the sum of the concentrations of chlorophyll a plus phaeopigments a (in milligrams per cubic meter).     

Ceratoscopelus maderensis: peculiar sound-scattering layer identified with this myctophid fish

A sound-scattering layer, composed of discrete hyperbolic echosequences and apparently restricted to the Slope Water region of the western North Atlantic, has been identified from the Deep Submergence Research Vehicle Alvin with schools of the meyctophid fish Ceratoscopelus maderensis. By diving into the layer and using Alvin's echo-ranging sonar, we approached and visually identified the sound scatterers. The number of echo sequences observed with the surface echo-soutnder (1/23.76 x 10(5) cubic meters of water) checked roughly with the number of sonar targets observed from the submarine (1/7.45 x 105 cubic meters). The fish schools appeared to be 5 to 10 meters thick, 10 to 100 meters in diameter, and on centers 100 to 200 meters apart. Density within schools was estimated at 10 to 15 fish per cubic meter.     

Water content in convective storm clouds

The condensed water content of convective storms was measured by the use of a penetrating aircraft. Regions 1 to 2 kilometers in extent and having condensed water contents of about 20 grams per cubic meter were found to be definite features of the cloud interior.     

Rate constants for the reactions of hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals with ozone

Chain decomposition of ozone by hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals has been observed. The rate constant at 3000 degrees K for OH + O(3)-->HO(2) + O(2) is 8 x 10(-14) cubic centimeters per second. The rate constant for HO(2) + O(3)--> OH + 2O(2), is 3 x 10(-15) cubic centimeters per second. These results have implications concerning stratospheric ozone.