Siliceous microplankton fluxes and seasonal variations in the central South China Sea during 1993–1995: monsoon climate and El Niño responses

Seasonal variations of radiolarian and diatom fluxes in the central South China Sea during 1993–1995 were overwhelmingly controlled by monsoon climate. Radiolarian and diatom increased obviously during the Northeast (from November to February) and Southwest (from June to September) monsoons and decreased during the periods between the monsoons. The change of circulation driven by the monsoons improved water exchange in the different areas that brought rich nutrient materials for the surface microplankton, thereby enhancing radiolarian and diatom fluxes. Variation of radiolarian flux coincided with organic carbon flux, surface primary and export productivities. High radiolarian flux corresponded to high surface primary productivity. Radiolarian and diatom fluxes raised abnormally during 1994–1995 could be attributed to the El Nino event during the period.     

南海中部浮游有孔虫通量的季节变化

南海中部１９９３－１９９５年连续两年的浅层和深层时间系列沉积捕获器试验,揭示游游有孔虫总通量以及Ｇlobigerinoides saculifer,Globigerinoides ruber,Neogloboquadrina dutertrei,Globigerinita glutinata等种的通量和相对百分数在东北季风和西南季风盛行期出现高值,而Globigerina bulloides,Pulleniatina obiquiloculata和Globorotalia menardii等种则仅在冬东北季风盛行期出现高值。此外,还发现浮游有孔虫属种的通量呈现明显的年际变化,研究表明这种季节和和年际变化主要受与东亚季风相关的表层初级生产力和海洋水文条件变化的控制。     

Estimations of primary production and export production in the South China Sea based on sediment trap experiments

The results of time series sediment trap experiments in the South China Sea show that particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes are influenced by the monsoons. The increase of productivity in the northern South China Sea is mainly due to northeast monsoon while in the central South China Sea the influence of southwest monsoon becomes more prominent. The annual primary production and export production calculated based on POC fluxes are 53.0–63.4 and 10.32–12.93 gC m^-2a^-1, respectively. The enhancement of POC flux during monsoon period suggest that higher palaeoproductivity or organic carbon accumulation rate in glacial age in the South Chma Sea might be the result of strengthening of the monsoons.     

内湾沉积物中生物硅的测定方法及其应用初探

生物硅指来源于硅藻、放射虫和海绵骨针等的生源无定形硅.生物硅积累的时空变动被看作是古生产力和古气候重建的一个重要标志.在内湾水域,生物硅可作为初级生产力和营养盐变动状况的良好指标.我们通过文献查阅和对比实验建立一套针对内湾沉积物样品的生物硅测定方法,并应用该方法分析了厦门西海域沉积物样品中的生物硅含量,同时讨论了利用生物硅数据推断此海域的各种环境参数的变动情况的可行性.     

Late Neogene radiolarian absence event in the southern South China Sea and its paleoceanographic implication

Down-core variations of radiolarians at ODP Site 1143 in the southern South China Sea （SCS） are presented for the last 12 Myr. The fluctuations of radiolarian abundances since the Late Miocene can be divided into three stages： a high abundance stage at 12-5.96 Myr, a radiolarian absent stage at 5.96-3.30 Myr and a gradual increasing stage after 3.30 Myr. The three stages correspond to the forming and vicissitudes of the Western Pacific Warm Pool （WPWP） and the Eastern Asian Summer Monsoon （EASM）. The radiolarian absence event （RAE） was also absent of diatom and occurred nearly simultaneously with the closures of the Panama Isthmus and the Indonesian seaway, which probably caused the reorganization of oceanic circulation systems. Accompanied this circulation reorganization was the weakening of the WPWP and the EASM, which probably led to a weakened upwelling in the southern SCS. In addition dissolved silica （Dsi） content in surface seawater might be very low during 5.96-3.30 Myr due to the ＂biogenic bloom＂ event, which consumed a large amount of Dsi in the surface seawater. All these factors together might lead to a great decrease of siliceous production in the southern SCS and consequently caused the RAE. Moreover, the dissolution of siliceous skeletons might also influence the abundance of radiolarians.     

Radiolarian record to paleoecological environment change events over the past 1.2 MaBP in the southern South China Sea

This note studies the Radiolarian fossil groups since 1.2 MaBP in ODP leg 184 site 1143, the southern South China Sea (SCS). The result shows that radiolarian abundance experienced a significant variation: before 0.9 MaBP it remained at the extremely low level, but increased with low extent between 0.9–0.65 Ma, which corresponded to the Mid-Pleistocene Transition stage, and it increased rapidly after 0.65 MaBP. During the whole process, the average abundance became higher and higher in each stage, and showed regularly periodic fluctuations. The obvious increase after 0.65 MaBP is inferred to result from the enhanced upwelling in this region, which was induced by the intensified monsoon circulation after the “Mid-Pleistocene Transition”. An outstanding result of the spectral analyses is that a long oscillation of ∼ 0.2 Ma cycle was found in the records of radiolarian abundance and complex diversity, which corresponds well to the result of other paleoceanographic indexes. This probably indicated a special cycle characteristic of paleoecological environment evolution in this area. In addition, all of the radiolarian indexes show an obvious boundary in about 0.47 MaBP, indicating the abrupt variation of the community structure and radiolarian abundance level before and after 0.47 MaBP. So we suppose that there existed a distinct change event of oceanic ecology environment during that period.     

Diatoms from the southwestern continental slope, South China Sea, and their paleoenvironmental significance since the last glacial times

A quantitative study was undertaken on diatoms from cores (SA08-34) obtained from the southwestern continental slope of the South China Sea (SCS). A total of 165 diatom species belonging to 45 genera were identified. We constructed a stratigraphic subdivision and correlation according to the characteristics of diatom assemblages together with ¹⁴C dating and carbonate analysis. We also discuss the sedimentary environment in the sea area since the last glacial times. The research shows that the diatom assemblages coincide with interglacial and glacial times, and changes in diatom abundance reflect the instability of the climate in the southern part of the SCS, such that short-term, temperature descending events correlate with the interglacial interval. The abundance of diatoms is relevant to interglacial and glacial times, since high abundance values were associated with an interglacial interval, and low abundance values with the last glacial maximum. We assume that strong upwelling developed in the interglacial interval, the development of which was influenced by variations of monsoons in the East Asian region.     

厦门港小型浮游生物对可溶性活性磷吸收和再生通量的季节变化

用３２ＰＯ４３－同位素稀释法测定了厦门港小型浮游生物（＜２００μｍ）对可溶性活性磷（ＳＲＰ的吸收和再生通量；并同时测定了现场的Ｃｈｌａ、初级生产力和各种形态磷．厦门港ＳＲＰ吸收和再生通量有明显的季节变化，夏季最大、冬季最小，且ＳＲＰ通量与生源要素呈现协变性；表层（０．５ｍ）ＳＲＰ通量与Ｃｈｌａ成较好的正相关，ＳＲＰ通量的变化与浮游植物的消长密切相关．全年平均表层ＳＲＰ再生能满足初级生产磷吸收的４３．３％；底层（１６ｍ）再生与吸收比远大于１，ＳＲＰ的再生对初级生产的调控具有重要作用．表层全年平均ＳＲＰ的周转时间为８８．７５ｈ，７月ＳＲＰ最低，但其周转时间也最短仅为３．７ｈ，以最大程度地利用磷维持较高的初级生产力．较低的碳、磷同化原子比及较短的ＳＲＰ周转时间表明厦门港磷同化速率较高．     

生物炭添加对土壤冻融过程中温室气体排放的影响

【目的】研究模拟生物炭添加对土壤冻融过程中二氧化碳(CO₂)、甲烷(CH₄)和氧化亚氮(N₂O)排放的影响,为冻融期土壤温室气体的减排提供参考。【方法】以伊犁河谷典型农田为研究对象,野外采集原状土柱,并在室内模拟不同幅度的冻融过程(+5 ℃、-5 ℃～ +5 ℃和-10 ℃ ～ +10 ℃),探求冻融过程中土壤CO₂、CH₄和N₂O排放对生物炭添加(0、20和40 t/hm²)的响应特征。【结果】与不添加生物炭的处理相比,添加生物炭会使冻融过程中的土壤CO₂排放量提高1.1～1.4倍,但该影响远小于冻融作用对土壤CO₂排放的促进作用(为CK的1.5～3.2倍); 虽然冻融作用未显著(P > 0.05)影响土壤CH₄的累积排放量,但生物炭的添加显著(P < 0.05)促进了45.5%～81.8%的CH₄吸收量; 冻融作用使土壤N₂O的累积排放量提高了1.3～3.0倍,生物炭降低了冻融过程中10.2%～30.9%的土壤N₂O排放量,但在多数情况下这种减小并不显著(P > 0.05)。【结论】模拟生物炭添加会增加土壤冻融过程中CO₂的排放,也会促进CH₄的吸收和N₂O的减排。     

Ion flux dropout observed near dipolarization front

An ion flux dropout near the dipolarization front （DF） at around XGSM =- 11 RE in the Earth＇ s plasma sheet was observed by Time History of Events and Macroscale Interaction during substorms （THEMIS） on March 31, 2009. The ion differential energy fluxes at energies from 450 eV to 150 keV measured by the ESA and SST instruments from THC began to decrease about 2 s before the detection of the DF and reached a local minimum 6 s later. Then, the ion fluxes gradually increased to form a dropout around the DF. The spatial extent of the dropout was about 4,000 km. For energies above 20 keV, the ion fluxes after the dropout are greater than those before it, contrary to the fluxes at energies below 20 keV. The associated ion density variation indicates that the ion flux dropout coincides with the ion density dropout. Taking advantage of multipoint observations, THD, THC, and THE detected the same DF consecutively. Only THC detected an obvious ion flux dropout; THD observed an indistinct one about 2 s before THC; no high-energy （E 〉 30 keV） ion flux dropout was observed by THE. Our study suggests that the ion flux dropout may evolve with the earthward-propagating DF, and its properties can depend on locations relative to the DF.     

Millennial-scale monsoonal climatic change from paleosol sequences on the Chinese western Loess Plateau and Tibetan Plateau: a brief summary and review

This paper summarizes the work from the INQUA 1997 Project "Response of soil formation to short-warm-episodes of Asian summer monsoon" and its seeded related international and domestic grants. It reviews the effects of the millennial monsoonal changes on the loess- paleosols of the Chinese Loess and Tibetan Plateaus. High-resolution proxy records of pedogenesis and monsoons demonstrate that both Asian winter and summer monsoons were unstable and synchronously and inversely coupled during the last glaciation. During that time rapid episodic cycles of cold surges and warm enhancements spanned only ca. 1-2 ka in high- frequency domain. Sub-Milankovitch cycles (6-8 ka) of progressive cooling or weakening in low- frequency domain generally resembled the pattern of the North Atlantic climatic change. However, during the last interglacial, Asian winter and summer monsoons seemed to vary independently, the former being stable and the later unstable. Soil formation seems to occur in surprisingly fast response to the summer monsoon warm enhancements, resulting in weakly or moderately developed paleosol sequences. North Atlantic and polar cold air surges though the westerlies and other paths, and the north-south swing of the westerlies beside the Tibetan Plateau, may be the alternative mechanisms for the rapid monsoonal changes during the last glacial. But in the last interglacial, the summer monsoons worked largely independently.     

环钦州湾河流入海污染物通量及其对海水生态环境的影响

利用2001至2010年监测结果和统计资料,研究环钦州湾近10年河流主要污染物人海通量变化特征,分析污染物人海通量变化与钦州市人口和地区生产总值（GDP）之间的关系,探讨近10年来环钦州湾污染物人海通量变化的原因及其对钦州湾水质和生态环境的影响效应。结果表明,河流输入是钦州湾人海污染源的最主要部分,人海污染物以有机物（COD）和营养盐为主。钦江和茅岭江输入的总污染物通量在前5年变化较大而后5年相对平稳;有机物通量与总污染物通量的变化特征一致;营养盐通量在近10年中显示出增加的趋势。钦州湾周边地区的社会经济快速发展以及近年来环境保护政策和措施的综合作用是河流污染物通量变化的主要原因。近10年河流营养盐入海通量持续增加,引起海湾营养盐的增加及富营养化程度的加重,最终导致钦州湾赤潮的风险增加以及浮游植物群落结构和多样性的变化,影响着海湾的生态系统健康。     

Natural methyl bromide and methyl chloride emissions from coastal salt marshes

Atmospheric methyl bromide (CH3Br) and methyl chloride (CH3Cl), compounds that are involved in stratospheric ozone depletion, originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Current estimates of CH3Br and CH3Cl emissions from oceanic sources, terrestrial plants and fungi, biomass burning and anthropogenic inputs do not balance their losses owing to oxidation by hydroxyl radicals, oceanic degradation, and consumption in soils, suggesting that additional natural terrestrial sources may be important. Here we show that CH3Br and CH3Cl are released to the atmosphere from all vegetation zones of two coastal salt marshes. We see very large fluxes of CH3Br and CH3Cl per unit area: up to 42 and 570 micromol m(-2) d(-1), respectively. The fluxes show large diurnal, seasonal and spatial variabilities, but there is a strong correlation between the fluxes of CH3Br and those of CH3Cl, with an average molar flux ratio of roughly 1:20. If our measurements are typical of salt marshes globally, they suggest that such ecosystems, even though they constitute less than 0.1% of the global surface area, may produce roughly 10% of the total fluxes of atmospheric CH3Br and CH3Cl.     

近50年钦江水沙变化研究

【目的】分析钦江近50年来河流水沙变化特征,以及河床演变对水沙变化的响应。【方法】以钦江为研究对象,收集长时间序列的水沙和河床断面资料,基于小波分析、"3S"和Mann-Kendall非参数秩次相关检验等方法,分析水沙变化及其影响因素。【结果】20世纪60年代以来钦江水沙均呈现下降趋势,其中含沙量下降趋势尤为明显,水沙变化突变年份是1979年和1995年;夏半年的平均流量与平均输沙量分别占全年的58.62%和61.77%,年平均流量和年平均含沙量存在4~6年和15年的周期振荡特征;中游河床枯季先冲刷后淤积,下游则以冲刷为主;流量主要受降雨控制,而含沙量则主要受控于水土流失、森林保育和人口增长等多种因素。【结论】钦江水沙总体呈下降趋势,水土流失、水利工程和耗水量等人类活动是泥沙减少的重要影响因素。     

Abrupt variations of the radiolarian fauna at Mid-Pleistocene climate transition in the South China Sea

Based on a detailed study of the radiolarian fauna, the abundance pattern of planktic foraminifera as well as on isotope and sedimentological records, the Mid-Pleistocene climate transition as a multiple transition phenomenon could be recognized at Core 17957-2 from the South China Sea. Distinct changes in the radiolarian/foraminfera ratio, the coarse fraction and the radiolarian assemblages can be related to the global climate cooling observed at the Mid-Pleistocene revolution (MPR) around 900 ka. A pronounced southward shift of the North Equatorial Current that leads to lower sea-surface temperatures in the South China Sea is documented by the shift of tropical to subtropical radiolarian assemblages at 900 ka. Increasing radiolarian abundance after the MPR can be interpreted as a result of stronger upwelling and nutrient supply. These abrupt variations could result from the northern trade wind system and East Asian monsoon circulation.     

Estimation of components of energy balance on drifting ice over Arctic Ocean

Estimation and simulation were carried out for the components of ice-surface energy balance and tur bulent exchange parameters using the flux-profile method and the sinple biosphere model version 2 (SiB2, hereinafter) respectively based on the measured results for the atmosphere in the near-ice-surface layer, which were observed by the First Arctic Scientific Expedition of China in August, 1999 at a joint ice-research station (75°02′N, 160°51′W) on the drifting ice of Arctic Ocean. Evidence suggests that during the melting period of drifting ice the sum of the ice-released sensible heat and effective melting-consumed heat is greater than the net ice-absorbed radiation on the surface, with the excess heat coming via heat conduction from the deep layers of the ice mass. The simulated net radiation is systematical lv 18% greater than the measured results, while the simulated sensible heat flux is systematically 3% lower than the measured ones; and the simulated ice-surface heat flux differs noticeably from its calculation. Hence, we see that al though the measured sequences are short, the simulations of net radiation and sensible heat fluxes by the SiB2 model are comparatively good, the simulation of other forms of fluxes still needs to be improved.     

Anti-correlation of summer/winter monsoons?

On the basis of the anti-correlation of their palaeoclimatic proxy for the strength of the East Asian winter monsoon from Lake Huguang Maar, China, with stalagmite records of the strength of the summer monsoon, Yancheva et al. claim that the strengths of the summer and winter monsoons are anti-correlated on a decadal timescale. They argue that the summer rainfall deficit during ad 700-900 that they infer from their evidence of a stronger winter monsoon, in conjunction with a Tanros battle, led to the collapse of the Tang dynasty (ad 618-907). Using historical climate records, we show here that most cold winters during ad 700-900 were associated with relatively wet summers, indicating that the strengths of the winter and summer monsoons were not negatively correlated during this period.     

Temperature-induced fractionation of oxygen isotopes of diatom frustules and growth water in Lake Sihailongwan in Northeast China

Diatom oxygen isotopes have been widely applied in quantitative reconstruction of the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment, but have rarely been reported in China. In the present study, Lake Sihailongwan in Northeast China was selected for detailed investigation of oxygen isotopic fractionation between diatom frustules and lake water induced by growth temperature. This study involved a 2-year period of field monitoring of the lake water temperature at multiple depths and biweekly collections of traps for both sediment and water at shallow and bottom depths (7 and 49 m below the lake surface, respectively), diatom separation and purification of the trap sediments, and oxygen isotope measurement for diatom silica and lake water samples. The conditioned experiment conducted herein demonstrated that the laboratory device, methods and techniques used in this study were capable of generating reliable data for the typical oxygen isotope composition of diatom frustules. The data obtained revealed a prominent linear relationship between the oxygen isotope composition of the modern diatom and lake temperature during growth. The fractionation coefficient was about −0.185‰/°C−0.238‰/°C in the temperature range of 3.6–24°C, which is consistent with the observations from various aquatic environments and laboratory culture with different diatom taxa. These findings provide strong support for the dominant control of the growth temperature on the oxygen isotope fractionation between the diatom frustules and ambient water. A notable difference in the fractionation coefficient was observed between the surface and bottom diatom oxygen isotopes, suggesting that various depositional processes and taphonomic effects influenced the surface and bottom trap samples. Another factor leading to this difference may be that enrichment by evaporation and dilution by rainfall have a stronger influence on the surface. Overall, the results presented here demonstrate significant progress in evaluation of diatom oxygen isotopes in China and draw attention to the differences between surface and bottom diatom oxygen isotope compositions.     

Variation of the East Asian Monsoon and the tropospheric biennial oscillation

Study of the tropospheric biennial oscillation (TBO) has attracted significant interest since the 1980s.However,the mechanism that drives this process is still unclear.In the present study,ECMWF daily data were applied to evaluate variation of the East Asian monsoon and its relationship to the TBO.First,the general East Asian monsoon index (EAMI) was delineated on the basis of a selected area using the 850 hPa u and v components.This new index may describe not only the characteristics of summer monsoons,but also the features of winter monsoons,which is crucial to understand the transition process between summer and winter monsoons.The following analysis of EAMI shows that there is a close relationship between summer and winter monsoons.In general,strong East Asian winter monsoons are followed by strong East Asian summer monsoons,and weak winter monsoons lead to weak summer monsoons.While strong (weak) summer monsoons followed by weak (strong) winter monsoons form a kind of 2-year cycle,which may be the possible mechanism leading to the TBO over the East Asian region.     

Validating a dust production model by field experiment in Mu Us Desert, China

It is essential for validation and improvement of a dust production model to perform field observations on dust emissions. The dust production model (DPM model) consists of two physically explicit sub-models, namely saltation model [1, 2] (eq. (1)) and sandblasting model [3] (eqs. (2) and (3)). Fh is saltation flux, E is fraction of erodible surface, C is a dimensional constant, ρa is air density, g is gravitational acceleration, U* is the wind friction velocity, Ut*(Dp) is threshold frict…