Decreasing trend of temperature in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica in the past 150 years

A 50-m firn core drilled in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica, during the 1996/1997 Chinese First Antarctic Inland Expedition, has been measured for d 18O and major ions. Based on the high quality of the seasonal variations of major ions, the firn core was dated with errors within ±3 years. The features of the temperature change in the past 150 years in the investigated region have first been studied based on the oxygen isotope in the upper 32.93 m of the firn core. Results show that the temperature decreased nearly by 2℃ in Princess Elizabeth Land in the past 150 years. On the background of the global, especially the Southern Hemispheric warming in the past 150 years, a temperature decline of 2℃ in Princess Elizabeth Land likely reflects the impacts of the unique Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation, the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW) and the special terrain (such as the large drainage basins) on the coastal regions of Antarctica.     

The Southern Ocean biogeochemical divide

Modelling studies have demonstrated that the nutrient and carbon cycles in the Southern Ocean play a central role in setting the air-sea balance of CO(2) and global biological production. Box model studies first pointed out that an increase in nutrient utilization in the high latitudes results in a strong decrease in the atmospheric carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2). This early research led to two important ideas: high latitude regions are more important in determining atmospheric pCO2 than low latitudes, despite their much smaller area, and nutrient utilization and atmospheric pCO2 are tightly linked. Subsequent general circulation model simulations show that the Southern Ocean is the most important high latitude region in controlling pre-industrial atmospheric CO(2) because it serves as a lid to a larger volume of the deep ocean. Other studies point out the crucial role of the Southern Ocean in the uptake and storage of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and in controlling global biological production. Here we probe the system to determine whether certain regions of the Southern Ocean are more critical than others for air-sea CO(2) balance and the biological export production, by increasing surface nutrient drawdown in an ocean general circulation model. We demonstrate that atmospheric CO(2) and global biological export production are controlled by different regions of the Southern Ocean. The air-sea balance of carbon dioxide is controlled mainly by the biological pump and circulation in the Antarctic deep-water formation region, whereas global export production is controlled mainly by the biological pump and circulation in the Subantarctic intermediate and mode water formation region. The existence of this biogeochemical divide separating the Antarctic from the Subantarctic suggests that it may be possible for climate change or human intervention to modify one of these without greatly altering the other.     

Monitoring the concentration of N2O in the Fildes Peninsula, maritime Antarctica

Gases in the marine boundary layer in Fildes Peninsula, maritime Antarctica were sampled and analyzed for the first time. Sampling sites included areas covered by moss and lichen growth, penguin colonies and an area where scientific research stations are located. A total of 211 samples were analyzed for N₂O concentrations, with an average of (321.33±3.07) nL/L. This is above the global average value of 314 nL/L. It is found that the N₂O concentrations evidently increase during the summer months. Concentrations around the research stations are higher than at remote areas, indicating a potential source from human activities on the island. N₂O concentrations at a large penguin colony on Barton Peninsula are the highest among the sampled areas. This may explain why N₂O concentrations in Fildes Peninsula are higher than the global average. Our preliminary conclusions are that human activities and emissions from penguin dropping-amended soil and vegetation soil constitute the major sources of N₂O in the maritime Antarctic atmosphere.     

Effect of iron supply on Southern Ocean CO2 uptake and implications for glacial atmospheric CO2

Photosynthesis by marine phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean, and the associated uptake of carbon, is thought to be currently limited by the availability of iron. One implication of this limitation is that a larger iron supply to the region in glacial times could have stimulated algal photosynthesis, leading to lower concentrations of atmospheric CO2. Similarly, it has been proposed that artificial iron fertilization of the oceans might increase future carbon sequestration. Here we report data from a whole-ecosystem test of the iron-limitation hypothesis in the Southern Ocean, which show that surface uptake of atmospheric CO2 and uptake ratios of silica to carbon by phytoplankton were strongly influenced by nanomolar increases of iron concentration. We use these results to inform a model of global carbon and ocean nutrients, forced with atmospheric iron fluxes to the region derived from the Vostok ice-core dust record. During glacial periods, predicted magnitudes and timings of atmospheric CO2 changes match ice-core records well. At glacial terminations, the model suggests that forcing of Southern Ocean biota by iron caused the initial approximately 40 p.p.m. of glacial-interglacial CO2 change, but other mechanisms must have accounted for the remaining 40 p.p.m. increase. The experiment also confirms that modest sequestration of atmospheric CO2 by artificial additions of iron to the Southern Ocean is in principle possible, although the period and geographical extent over which sequestration would be effective remain poorly known.     

Holocene Southern Ocean surface temperature variability west of the Antarctic Peninsula

The disintegration of ice shelves, reduced sea-ice and glacier extent, and shifting ecological zones observed around Antarctica highlight the impact of recent atmospheric and oceanic warming on the cryosphere. Observations and models suggest that oceanic and atmospheric temperature variations at Antarctica's margins affect global cryosphere stability, ocean circulation, sea levels and carbon cycling. In particular, recent climate changes on the Antarctic Peninsula have been dramatic, yet the Holocene climate variability of this region is largely unknown, limiting our ability to evaluate ongoing changes within the context of historical variability and underlying forcing mechanisms. Here we show that surface ocean temperatures at the continental margin of the western Antarctic Peninsula cooled by 3-4 °C over the past 12,000 years, tracking the Holocene decline of local (65° S) spring insolation. Our results, based on TEX(86) sea surface temperature (SST) proxy evidence from a marine sediment core, indicate the importance of regional summer duration as a driver of Antarctic seasonal sea-ice fluctuations. On millennial timescales, abrupt SST fluctuations of 2-4 °C coincide with globally recognized climate variability. Similarities between our SSTs, Southern Hemisphere westerly wind reconstructions and El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation variability indicate that present climate teleconnections between the tropical Pacific Ocean and the western Antarctic Peninsula strengthened late in the Holocene epoch. We conclude that during the Holocene, Southern Ocean temperatures at the western Antarctic Peninsula margin were tied to changes in the position of the westerlies, which have a critical role in global carbon cycling.     

南极苔原近地面CO_2、CH_4、N_2O浓度和通量的相互关系

在南极苔原 ,首次系统地研究了近地面CO2 、CH4、N2 O浓度及通量的相互关系 ,结果表明 :天气条件对三种温室气体浓度日变化影响较大 ;在天气较晴稳及雪天条件下 ,CO2 与CH4、N2 O浓度日变化存在明显的消长关系 ;而在雨天这三种气体浓度日变化趋势基本一致 ;整个夏季CO2 与CH4浓度变化趋势基本一致 ,而N2 O却与二者浓度的变化趋势相反 ;另外 ,在雨、雪天气条件下CH4、N2 O通量日变化存在消长关系 ,整个夏季二者的通量变化也存在明显的消长关系 ;南极苔原土壤对CH4主要起着汇的作用 ,对N2 O主要起着源的作用 .此外 ,CO2 浓度变化对苔原CH4通量有较大影响 ,CO2 浓度增加会适当减缓CH4汇的作用 ,甚至使南极苔原由CH4的汇变为源     

Orbital- and millennial-scale variability of the Asian monsoon during MIS8 from Sanbao Cave at Mount Shennongjia,central China

One stalagmite oxygen isotope record from Sanbao Cave, China, established with 7 230Th ages and 355 oxygen isotope data, pro- vides a continuous history of the East Asian Monsoon (EAM) intensity for the period from 284 to 240 thousand years before present (ka BP) with typical errors of 3―4 ka. This new record extends the previously published stalagmite δ18O record back to the marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 8. The MIS8 EAM record broadly follows orbitally-induced insolation variations and is punctuated by...     

Evidence against dust-mediated control of glacial-interglacial changes in atmospheric CO2

The low concentration of atmospheric CO2 inferred to have been present during glacial periods is thought to have been partly caused by an increased supply of iron-bearing dust to the ocean surface. This is supported by a recent model that attributes half of the CO2 reduction during past glacial stages to iron-stimulated uptake of CO2 by phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean. But atmospheric dust fluxes to the Southern Ocean, even in glacial periods, are thought to be relatively low and therefore it has been proposed that Southern Ocean productivity might be influenced by iron deposited elsewhere-for example, in the Northern Hemisphere-which is then transported south via ocean circulation (similar to the distal supply of iron to the equatorial Pacific Ocean). Here we examine the timing of dust fluxes to the North Atlantic Ocean, in relation to climate records from the Vostok ice core in Antarctica around the time of the penultimate deglaciation (about 130 kyr ago). Two main dust peaks occurred 155 kyr and 130 kyr ago, but neither was associated with the CO2 rise recorded in the Vostok ice core. This mismatch, together with the low dust flux supplied to the Southern Ocean, suggests that dust-mediated iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean did not significantly influence atmospheric CO2 at the termination of the penultimate glaciation.     

Monitoring the concentration of N2O in the Fildes Peninsula, maritime Antarctica

Gases in the marine boundary layer in Fildes Peninsula, maritime Antarctica were sampled and analyzed for the first time. Sampling sites included areas covered by moss and lichen growth, penguin colonies and an area where scientific research stations are located. A total of 211 samples were analyzed for N2O concentrations, with an average of (321.33±3.07) nL/L. This is above the global average value of 314 nL/L. It is found that the N2O concentrations evidently increase during the summer months. Concentrations around the research stations are higher than at remote areas, indicating a potential source from human activities on the island. N2O concentrations at a large penguin colony on Barton Peninsula are the highest among the sampled areas. This may explain why N2O concentrations in Fildes Peninsula are higher than the global average. Our preliminary conclusions are that human activities and emissions from penguin dropping-amended soil and vegetation soil constitute the major sources of N2O in the maritime Antarctic atmosphere.     

Oceanic Cd/P ratio and nutrient utilization in the glacial Southern Ocean

During glacial periods, low atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has been associated with increased oceanic carbon uptake, particularly in the southern oceans. The mechanism involved remains unclear. Because ocean productivity is strongly influenced by nutrient levels, palaeo-oceanographic proxies have been applied to investigate nutrient utilization in surface water across glacial transitions. Here we show that present-day cadmium and phosphorus concentrations in the global oceans can be explained by a chemical fractionation during particle formation, whereby uptake of cadmium occurs in preference to uptake of phosphorus. This allows the reconstruction of past surface water phosphate concentrations from the cadmium/calcium ratio of planktonic foraminifera. Results from the Last Glacial Maximum show similar phosphate utilization in the subantarctic to that of today, but much smaller utilization in the polar Southern Ocean, in a model that is consistent with the expansion of glacial sea ice and which can reconcile all proxy records of polar nutrient utilization. By restricting communication between the ocean and atmosphere, sea ice expansion also provides a mechanism for reduced CO2 release by the Southern Ocean and lower glacial atmospheric CO2.     

Southern Ocean dust-climate coupling over the past four million years

Dust has the potential to modify global climate by influencing the radiative balance of the atmosphere and by supplying iron and other essential limiting micronutrients to the ocean. Indeed, dust supply to the Southern Ocean increases during ice ages, and 'iron fertilization' of the subantarctic zone may have contributed up to 40?parts per million by volume (p.p.m.v.) of the decrease (80-100 p.p.m.v.) in atmospheric carbon dioxide observed during late Pleistocene glacial cycles. So far, however, the magnitude of Southern Ocean dust deposition in earlier times and its role in the development and evolution of Pleistocene glacial cycles have remained unclear. Here we report a high-resolution record of dust and iron supply to the Southern Ocean over the past four million years, derived from the analysis of marine sediments from ODP Site 1090, located in the Atlantic sector of the subantarctic zone. The close correspondence of our dust and iron deposition records with Antarctic ice core reconstructions of dust flux covering the past 800,000 years (refs 8, 9) indicates that both of these archives record large-scale deposition changes that should apply to most of the Southern Ocean, validating previous interpretations of the ice core data. The extension of the record beyond the interval covered by the Antarctic ice cores reveals that, in contrast to the relatively gradual intensification of glacial cycles over the past three million years, Southern Ocean dust and iron flux rose sharply at the Mid-Pleistocene climatic transition around 1.25 million years ago. This finding complements previous observations over late Pleistocene glacial cycles, providing new evidence of a tight connection between high dust input to the Southern Ocean and the emergence of the deep glaciations that characterize the past one million years of Earth history.     

东南印度洋海域冬季水文特征及其水团分析

为了研究东南印度洋海域冬季水文特征及其水团结构,利用澳大利亚海洋与南极研究所2012-2013年南半球冬季在东南印度洋观测得到的温度、盐度和溶解氧的资料进行分析。结果表明:表层温度呈现明显的北高南低态势,次表层均存在较强的温度、盐度、密度跃层,且均呈现出高/低盐带与高/低溶解氧带,高盐带在经向断面上最为明显;在105°E断面上存在显著的中尺度现象,且呈现上下层暖、冷涡叠置的分布特征,根据温度、盐度及溶解氧的特性,除南印度洋中央水和南极中层水外,分别将研究海域其他水团命名为副热带东南印度洋表层水、副热带东南印度洋次表层水、副热带东南印度洋模态水、副热带东南印度洋中层水、副热带东南印度洋深层水和副热带东南印度洋底层水,并给出各自的特性指标。     

Modeling the impact of Australian Plate drift on Southern Hemisphere climate and environment

Using a global atmosphere-ocean coupled model with the present-day and 14 MaB.P. oceanic topography respectively, two experiments are implemented to investigate the effect of different locations of Australian Plate on the atmospheric circulation in middle-high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. The results show that when Australian Plate lay south at 14 MaB.P., both anticyclone circulations in the subtropical oceans and cyclone circulation around 60°-70°S are strengthened. Subtropical highs and circumpolar low pressure appear stronger, which results in much stronger Antarctic Oscillation and shorter period of Antarctic Oscillation Index （AOI） at 14 MaB.P. The rainfall and the surface air temperature also change correspondingly.The precipitation decreases around 40°S and increases around 60°- 70°S, and the surface air temperature rises in high latitudes of the South Pacific and descends over the Weddell Sea and its north side. Besides, due to the changes of the temperatures and winds, Antarctic sea ice coverage also changes with its increasing in the Ross Sea and its west regions and decreasing in the Weddell Sea.     

Rapid Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica induced by declining atmospheric CO2

The sudden, widespread glaciation of Antarctica and the associated shift towards colder temperatures at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary (approximately 34 million years ago) (refs 1-4) is one of the most fundamental reorganizations of global climate known in the geologic record. The glaciation of Antarctica has hitherto been thought to result from the tectonic opening of Southern Ocean gateways, which enabled the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the subsequent thermal isolation of the Antarctic continent. Here we simulate the glacial inception and early growth of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet using a general circulation model with coupled components for atmosphere, ocean, ice sheet and sediment, and which incorporates palaeogeography, greenhouse gas, changing orbital parameters, and varying ocean heat transport. In our model, declining Cenozoic CO2 first leads to the formation of small, highly dynamic ice caps on high Antarctic plateaux. At a later time, a CO2 threshold is crossed, initiating ice-sheet height/mass-balance feedbacks that cause the ice caps to expand rapidly with large orbital variations, eventually coalescing into a continental-scale East Antarctic Ice Sheet. According to our simulation the opening of Southern Ocean gateways plays a secondary role in this transition, relative to CO2 concentration.     

Simulation of CO2 variations at Chinese background atmospheric monitoring stations between 2000 and 2009: Applying a CarbonTracker model

We carried out a downscaling treatment over China using the CarbonTracker numerical model, which was applied using double grid nesting technology (3° × 2° over the whole globe, 1° × 1° over China), simulating and analyzing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations over 10 recent years (2000–2009). The simulation results agreed very well with observed data from four background atmospheric monitoring stations in China (The periods for which the simulation results and observed values be compared were January 2000 to December 2009 for the WLG station and June 2006 to December 2009 for the SDZ, LFS, and LAN stations), giving correlation coefficients of >0.7. The high-resolution simulation data correlated slightly better than the low resolution simulation data with the observed data for three of the regions’ atmospheric background stations. Further analysis of the annual, seasonal CO₂ concentration variations at the background stations showed that the CO₂ concentration increased each year over the study period, with an average annual increase of more than 5%, and annual increases of more than 7% at the Shangdianzi and Lin’an stations. Seasonal CO₂ variations were greater at the Longfengshan station than at the Shangdianzi or Lin’an stations. However, the CO₂ concentrations were higher at the Shangdianzi and Lin’an stations because they are greatly affected by human activities in the Jingjinji and Changjiang Delta economic zones. Spatial distribution in CO₂ concentrations and fluxes were higher in eastern than in western China.     

Atmospheric science: early peak in Antarctic oscillation index

The principal extratropical atmospheric circulation mode in the Southern Hemisphere, the Antarctic oscillation (or Southern Hemisphere annular mode), represents fluctuations in the strength of the circumpolar vortex and has shown a trend towards a positive index in austral summer in recent decades, which has been linked to stratospheric ozone depletion and to increased atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations. Here we reconstruct the austral summer (December-January) Antarctic oscillation index from sea-level pressure measurements over the twentieth century and find that large positive values, and positive trends of a similar magnitude to those of past decades, also occurred around 1960, and that strong negative trends occurred afterwards. This positive Antarctic oscillation index and large positive trend during a period before ozone-depleting chemicals were released into the atmosphere and before marked anthropogenic warming, together with the later negative trend, indicate that natural forcing factors or internal mechanisms in the climate system must also strongly influence the state of the Antarctic oscillation.     

Sea surface temperature and subtropical front movement in the South Tasman Sea during the last 800 ka

Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude westerlies contribute to the ventilation of the deep Southern Ocean (SO), and drive changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the global climate. As the westerlies control directly oceanic fronts, the movement of the subtropical front (STF) reflects the westerlies migration. Thus it is important to understand the relationships between STF movement and the weaterlies, ventilation of the deep SO, ice volume and atmospheric CO₂. To this end, we use two new high-resolution records from early Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 20 (~800 ka) of sea surface temperature (SST) based on Uk’ 37 paleo-thermometer and benthic oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸OB) at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1170B in the southern Tasman Sea (STS), to construct linkages between the marine records and atmospheric proxies from Antarctic ice-cores. During the last 800 ka, the average SST (10.2°C) at Site 1170B is 1.8°C lower than today (annual average 12°C). The highest average SST of 11.6°C occurred during MIS 1, and the lowest average SST of 7.8°C occurred during MIS 2. The warmest and coldest records of 14.7°C and 6.2°C occurred in the MIS 5 and MIS 2, respectively. In the glacial-interglacial cycles of the last 800 ka, variability of reconstructed SST shows that the STF moved northward or southward more than 3° of latitude compared with its present location. In the warmest stage MIS 5, the STF shifted to its southernmost location of ~49°S. In contrast, in the coldest stage MIS 2, the STF moved to its northernmost location of ~43°S. In response to orbital cycles, the westerlies movement led ice volume and atmospheric CO₂ changes, but it was in phase with change in Antarctic atmospheric temperature. Ice volume only preceded atmospheric CO₂ only a little at the 23-ka precession band, lagged the atmospheric CO₂ at the 100-ka eccentricity band, and was in phase with atmospheric CO₂ at the 40-ka obliquity band.     

The influence of Antarctic sea ice on glacial-interglacial CO2 variations

Ice-core measurements indicate that atmospheric CO2 concentrations during glacial periods were consistently about 80 parts per million lower than during interglacial periods. Previous explanations for this observation have typically had difficulty accounting for either the estimated glacial O2 concentrations in the deep sea, 13C/12C ratios in Antarctic surface waters, or the depth of calcite saturation; also lacking is an explanation for the strong link between atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic air temperature. There is growing evidence that the amount of deep water upwelling at low latitudes is significantly overestimated in most ocean general circulation models and simpler box models previously used to investigate this problem. Here we use a box model with deep-water upwelling confined to south of 55 degrees S to investigate the glacial-interglacial linkages between Antarctic air temperature and atmospheric CO2 variations. We suggest that low glacial atmospheric CO2 levels might result from reduced deep-water ventilation associated with either year-round Antarctic sea-ice coverage, or wintertime coverage combined with ice-induced stratification during the summer. The model presented here reproduces 67 parts per million of the observed glacial-interglacial CO2 difference, as a result of reduced air-sea gas exchange in the Antarctic region, and is generally consistent with the additional observational constraints.     

Surface ozone observations during voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic regions

Surface ozone concentration and UV-B data between 75° N and 70° S were obtained aboard the Chinese polar scientific vessel “Xue -long” (Snow-Dragon) during the first voyage to the Arctic and the 16th to the Antarctic in 1999–2000. Analysis of these data presents that variations of the surface ozone concentration have small amplitude during voyages except the mid-latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. As a whole, average surface ozone concentration in the Northern Hemisphere is higher than that in the Southern, and high value occurred when the ship sailed close to the continents. The average diurnal variations of the surface ozone in the Northern Hemisphere are also higher compared to the southern counterparts, and high diurnal variations were found at low latitudes, and relative low level in the polar region.     

重金属铬对黑斑蛙胚胎和蝌蚪生长发育的影响及血细胞DNA损伤效应

运用单细胞凝胶电泳技术研究了不同浓度重铬酸钾(K2Cr2O7)溶液(2.5,12.5,62.5μmol.L-1)对黑斑蛙(Rara nigromaculata)外周血细胞DNA的链断裂损伤效应,并观察了重铬酸钾对黑斑蛙胚胎和蝌蚪生长发育的影响.结果表明,12.5和62.5μmol.L-1的重铬酸钾具有明显的DNA链断裂损伤诱导效应,染毒15 d的DNA损伤率分别为85%和98%.在测试浓度范围内,重铬酸钾对黑斑蛙胚胎发育的影响不明显;低浓度<(12.5μmol.L-1)重铬酸钾对黑斑蛙蝌蚪生长发育的影响不明显,高浓度(62.5μmol.L-1)重铬酸钾对黑斑蛙蝌蚪的生长发育则具有明显的抑制作用.