Nannoplankton successions in the northern Red Sea during the last glaciation (60 to 14.5 ka BP): Reactions to climate change

Due to its restricted connection with the Indian Ocean, the desert-enclosed Red Sea is extremely sensitive to global sea level changes and thus ideally suited for paleoceanographic studies of what occurred during the last glaciation. The understanding of its glacial history is, however, still limited. A serious obstacle to obtain satisfactory paleoecological information has been the rarity of microfossil proxy species caused by high salinities. Here, we present a continuous and well-dated calcareous nannoplankton record from the northern Red Sea, covering the interval from 60–14.5 ka BP. Our investigation shows that the composition of the calcareous nannoplankton community varied between  32 ka BP and 14.5 ka BP in response to rapid environmental changes which are closely correlated to climatic fluctuations described from the North Atlantic region. Heinrich events H3, H2 and H1 are dominated by Emiliania huxleyi. Gephyrocapsa oceanica and especially Gephyrocapsa ericsonii are abundant between H3–H2 and H2–H1. A less pronounced response of the calcareous nannoplankton to the high latitudinal climatic oscillations is documented prior to  32 ka BP, suggesting that a strong atmospheric coupling between the northern Red Sea and the North Atlantic realm was established in the late Marine Isotope Stage 3. In contrast to the previously held view of a sea level related salinity increase as the major cause for changes of the plankton communities within the glacial Red Sea, we interpret the documented variations as being caused by local hydrographic changes under the atmospheric control from the extratropics. Temperature changes and especially variations of the water stratification appear to be critical selective factors for the calcareous nannoplankton composition.     

The impact of extreme weather events on the seagrass Zostera noltii and related Hydrobia ulvae population

Coastal areas are typically subjected to a range of stressors, but they now face the additional stressor of climate change, manifested in part by an increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. Thus, the Mondego estuary (Portugal) has experienced organic enrichment (eutrophication) issues and these are potentially exacerbated by extreme weather events (floods, droughts and heat waves). In this paper, we explore the impact of interactions of these different stressors on the ecology of the system, specifically on the two key components, the seagrass Zostera noltii and the mud snail Hydrobia ulvae. Extreme events affected different components of the estuarine ecosystem (primary producers and macrofauna) differently. Whilst the floods directly impacted on H. ulvae, by wiping out part of its population, they did not directly affect the biomass of Z. noltii. In contrast, drought events, through their effects on salinity, directly impacted the biomass of Zostera, which had knock-on effects on the dynamics of H. ulvae. We conclude that over the period when the estuary experienced eutrophication, extreme weather events contributed to the overall degradation of the estuary, while during the recovery phase following the introduction of a management programme, those extreme weather episodes delayed the recovery process significantly.     

Thunderstorms,Lightning, Sprites and Magnetospheric Whistler-Mode Radio Waves

Thunderstorms and the lightning that they produce are inherently interesting phenomena that have intrigued scientists and mankind in general for many years. The study of thunderstorms has rapidly advanced during the past century and many efforts have been made towards understanding lightning, thunderstorms and their consequences. Recent observations of optical phenomena above an active lightning discharge along with the availability of modern technology both for data collection and data analysis have renewed interest in the field of thunderstorms and their consequences in the biosphere. In this paper, we review the electrification processes of a thunderstorm, lightning processes and their association with global electric circuit and climate. The upward lightning discharge can cause sprites, elves, jets, etc. which are together called transient luminous events. Their morphological features and effects in the mesosphere are reviewed. The wide spectrum of electromagnetic waves generated during lightning discharges couple the lower atmosphere with the ionosphere/magnetosphere. Hence various features of these waves from ULF to VHF are reviewed with reference to recent results and their consequences are also briefly discussed.     

Micro-earthquakes"Justunderneath"Seismic Stations as Ground Truth Events1 Application to the 2008 Wenchuan Aftershock Sequence

Analyzing the aftershock sequence of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake,we considered 26 microearthquakes"just underneath"seismic stations.Making use of such special station-event configurations to determine the depth of these micro-earthquakes provided accurate relocation of aftershocks with a reference set of"ground truth (GT) events".     

1953-2005年深圳灾害性天气气候事件的变化

以1953-2005年深圳市逐日最高、最低、平均温度资料为基础,分析近50 a来深圳市的气温变化特征,通过气候变暖前后灾害事件的次数和强度的对比,分析了灾害性天气气候事件的变化规律。研究表明,在全球气候增暖和城市化快速发展的过程中,深圳市的灾害性天气气候事件发生了明显的变化：变暖前后,暴雨次数无明显变化,但20世纪90年代极端降水事件加剧;雷暴日数减少;霾现象日趋严重;高温日数明显增加,持续高温加剧;低温、低温阴雨天气明显减少;影响深圳的热带气旋数量减少,但降水强度在加大。     

长江三峡考古遗址文化断层研究

长江三峡考古遗址的地理位置、14C 测年数据及考古学文化年代、地面高程、文化层的连续性、文化层的埋深和厚度、文化断层的埋深和厚度等统计数据综合分析的结果表明长江三峡地区新石器时代到历史时期考古遗址沉积地层中有5 期文化断层: (1) 城背溪文化末期到大溪文化初期(7200~6000a BP); (2) 大溪文化关庙山类型三期(5800~5500a BP); (3) 夏代 (4000~3500a BP); (4) 春秋晚期至战国时期(2500~2200a BP); (5) 宋代以来(960A.D.以来)。探讨文化断层与灾变事件发生之间的关系, 从而揭示三峡地区史前和历史时期环境演变过程及其与人类活动的影响。     

MULTI-PERIODIC COLLISIONAL PROCESS BETWEEN INDIAN AND ASIAN CONTINENTS:A CASE OF EASTERN HIMALAYAN SYNTAXIS AND HENGDUAN MOUNTAINS

MULTI-PERIODIC COLLISIONAL PROCESS BETWEEN INDIAN AND ASIAN CONTINENTS:A CASE OF EASTERN HIMALAYAN SYNTAXIS AND HENGDUAN MOUNTAINS1　ZhongDalai,DingLin .RisingprocessoftheQinghai Xizang (Tibet) plateauanditsmechanism[J].ScienceInChina (se riesD) ,1996 ,39(4) :36 9～ 379. 2　DingLin ,ZhongDalai,PanYusheng ,etal.Fission trackevidenceforNeogenetoQuaternaryupliftoftheeasternHi malayansyntaxis[J].ChineseScienceBulletin ,1995 ,40 (16 ) :…     

Monitoring climate variability over the past 116 years in coral oxygen isotopes from Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

 116-year record of coral skeletal δ¹⁸O is presented from a colony of Porites lutea from Ningaloo Reef, western Australia. Interannual variability of sea-surface temperatures (SST) inferred from skeletal δ¹⁸O is dominated by a 9.5-year period, and may constitute a characteristic signal of the Leeuwin Current. On long-terms coral skeletal δ¹⁸O indicates a near-continuous increase of SST at Ningaloo Reef over one century. The skeletal δ¹⁸O time series was checked for the presence of seasonal cooling events resulting from major volcanic eruptions. An ∼1  °C cooling is evident following the eruption of Pinatubo in 1991, which reproduces the results of previous investigations. However, only weak or no signals can be related to the eruptions of Krakatau (1883) and Agung (1963). Received: 9 November 1998 / Accepted: 12 April 1999     

甘肃北山西部新元古代陆块汇聚与裂解事件的岩石记录

甘肃北山西部地处塔里木、柴达木和华北 (阿拉善 )三个前寒武纪地块的交汇部位 ,是受显生宙天山造山带、祁连造山带和阿尔金造山带多次叠加改造的地区。近几年 ,随着新元古代榴辉岩、花岗岩的新发现 ,结合新元古代伟晶岩脉群、辉绿岩墙群和震旦纪未变质沉积盖层 ,初步确定了该地区新元古代陆块汇聚与裂解的地质事件框架。在新元古代早期 ,塔里木地块与柴达木地块可能发生斜向汇聚 ,并以深层次韧性剪切带进行焊接 ,其时间在 913Ma左右。稍后 ,在塔里木地块北部的柳园一带 ,塔里木地块与另一个地块发生碰撞 ,形成了榴辉岩和大面积带状分布的花岗岩 ,其时间在 86 0～ 880Ma左右。之后 ,在经过汇聚的大陆块内部发生裂解 ,形成了两期辉绿岩墙群。随着裂解作用的进一步加强 ,该地区进入到陆相砂砾岩和海相碳酸盐沉积阶段 ,形成了安南坝群沉积建造 ,其时间在 70 0Ma左右。     

中国-朝鲜长白山区新生代火山事件的划分及对比

中朝长白山地区新生代火山堪称东北亚之冠 ,为进一步认识火山时、空、物的演化发展势态 ,对活动的稳定性作出科学评估 ,综合分析了 6 0年代以来 ,特别是近期中、朝地质学家的成果 ,从火山事件地层学理论出发 ,对该区提出划分 31次火山事件的新方案