Fire activity in Borneo driven by industrial land conversion and drought during El Niño periods, 1982–2010

Tropical rainforests, naturally resistant to fire when intact, are increasingly vulnerable to burning due to ongoing forest perturbation and, possibly, climatic changes. Industrial-scale forest degradation and conversion are increasing fire occurrence, and interactions with climate anomalies such as El Niño induced droughts can magnify the extent and severity of fire activity. The influences of these factors on fire frequency in tropical forests has not been widely studied at large spatio-temporal scales at which feedbacks between fire reoccurrence and forest degradation may develop. Linkages between fire activity, industrial land use, and El Niño rainfall deficits are acute in Borneo, where the greatest tropical fire events in recorded history have apparently occurred in recent decades. Here we investigate how fire frequency in Borneo has been influenced by industrial-scale agricultural development and logging during El Niño periods by integrating long-term satellite observations between 1982 and 2010 – a period encompassing the onset, development, and consolidation of its Borneo’s industrial forestry and agricultural operations as well as the full diversity of El Niño events. We record changes in fire frequency over this period by deriving the longest and most comprehensive spatio-temporal record of fire activity across Borneo using AVHRR Global Area Coverage (GAC) satellite data. Monthly fire frequency was derived from these data and modelled at 0.04° resolution via a random-forest model, which explained 56% of the monthly variation as a function of oil palm and timber plantation extent and proximity, logging intensity and proximity, human settlement, climate, forest and peatland condition, and time, observed using Landsat and similar satellite data. Oil-palm extent increased fire frequency until covering 20% of a grid cell, signalling the significant influence of early stages of plantation establishment. Heighted fire frequency was particularly acute within 10 km of oil palm, where both expanding plantation and smallholder agriculture are believed to be contributing factors. Fire frequency increased abruptly and dramatically when rainfall fell below 200 mm month⁻¹, especially as landscape perturbation increased (indicated by vegetation index data). Logging intensity had a negligible influence on fire frequency, including on peatlands, suggesting a more complex response of logged forest to burning than appreciated. Over time, the epicentres of high-frequency fires expanded from East Kalimantan (1980’s) to Central and West Kalimantan (1990’s), coincidentally but apparently slightly preceding oil-palm expansion, and high-frequency fires then waned in East Kalimantan and occurred only in Central and West Kalimantan (2000’s). After accounting for land-cover changes and climate, our model under-estimates observed fire frequency during ca. 1990–2002 and over-estimates it thereafter, suggesting that a multi-decadal shift to industrial forest conversion and forest landscapes may have diminished the propensity for high-frequency fires in much of this globally significant tropical region since ca. 2000.     

Niño3.4区上层海洋侧边界热通量及其与ENSO的联系

在Niño3.4区（热带太平洋,5°S–5°N,170°–120°W）,海表温度（SST）变化与40 m厚的上层海洋整体温度变化高度相关。本文利用1979–2018年第五代海洋再分析系统（ORAS5）的逐月数据,探究了Niño3.4区上层海洋的热量收支情况。重点研究上层40米海洋侧边界的经向纬向热输送及其与温度变化的相关情况。在该区域,温跃层被经向环流分为上下两部分,两者环流结构相反,其中上层辐散,下层辐合。上层海洋的整体平均温度变化是由纬向、经向和垂直热传输的总和决定的,他们量级较大但往往相互抵消。一般来说,从大气输送到海洋的海表热量净通量和从深层海洋向上的热传输会由经向和纬向洋流输送出该区域,只留下小部分用于加热或冷却上层海洋。整个40 m厚度上层海洋有效的海表热量净通量影响SST的量级要远小于水平热通量输送。在年际尺度上,纬向和经向热输送的变化与温度异常呈正相关,而来自海洋次表层的垂直热通量输送则与海温变化异常呈负相关。对5次厄尔尼诺事件和5次拉尼娜事件的综合分析也表明,在厄尔尼诺（变暖）和拉尼娜（降温）的演化过程中,水平输送辐合对温度异常有积极的贡献,而垂直输送则不利于温度变化。     

Ice flow direction during late Paleozoic glaciation in western Paraná Basin, Brazil

The recent discovery of ice-striated surfaces associated with the late Paleozoic Aquidauana Formation suggests that glaciers coming from southwest Africa reached westernmost parts of the Paraná Basin in central Brazil. Abrasion features were developed by glaciers moving from SSE towards NNW, mainly on an unconsolidated bed. These records expand to about 1,050,000 km², the coverage of the late Paleozoic glaciation in the region of the Paraná Basin in Western Gondwana.

Resumen

A recente descoberta de superfícies estriadas associadas à Formação Aquidauana, de idade permocarbonífera, sugere que as geleiras provenientes do sudoeste da África alcançaram as porções ocidentais da Bacia do Paraná, na região central do Brasil. As feições de abrasão foram geradas pelo deslocamento de geleiras de SSE para NNW, principalmente sobre substrato inconsolidado. Estes novos registros evidenciam que a glaciação neopaleozóica cobriu uma área de pelo menos de 1.050.000 km² na região ocupada pela Bacia do Paraná no Gondwana Ocidental.     

Heavy Metal Load of Sediments of the River Gurk (Carinthia/Austria) — Merits and Limitations of Sequential Leaching Schwermetallbelastung des Sediments der Gurk in Kärnten — Vorzüge und Einschränkungen sequentieller Löseverfahren

By means of the analysis of sediments cored in the small river Gurk (Carinthia/Austria), the input of Ag, Cd, Ce, Cr, Hg, La, Mo, Ni, V, and W from a chemical industrial plant could be detected. To estimate the actual load, and to obtain data for comparison with other sites, both unsieved fine sediments and sediments sieved to 20 μm were investigated from the same cores. Environmental mobilities of toxic heavy metals (Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn) have been shown by sequential leaching following Tessier/Förstner. In the last step, HNO₃ leaches a purely geogenic fraction, which is fairly constant along the investigated river. Whereas the additional Cr from the input of the chemical plant is mainly found in the oxalate-leachable fraction, short-time-load to unpolluted sediments in the laboratory is found mainly in hydroxylamine/acetic acid. Both is due to the high affinity of Cr to Fe- and Mn-oxides. Adsorption/desorption experiments reveal that the low carbonate content of the Gurk sediments increases the importance of Fe/Mn-oxides for the sorption of Cr compared to other samples containing carbonate. The Ni-load was primarily found in weak-acid-leachable and oxalate-leachable fractions. Similarly, the oxalate-leachable fraction is dominant for adsorption of other metals and phosphorus. Other interelement relationships among the amounts leached, which are attributable partly to carbonate-, silicate-, organic or coating phases, have been found by means of factor analyses together with marker fractions for each type.     

Impact of Southern Oscillation on the Frequency of Monsoon Depressions in the Bay of Bengal

The impact of Southern Oscillation on thecyclogenesis over the Bay of Bengal duringthe summer monsoon has been investigated.The analysis of correlation coefficients(CCs) between the frequency of monsoondepressions and the Southern OscillationIndex (SOI) reveals that more depressionsform during July and August of El Niñoyears. Due to this, the seasonal frequencyof monsoon depressions remains little higherduring El Niño epochs even though thecorrelations for June and September are notsignificant. The CCs for July and August aresignificant at the 99% level.The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)is known to affect Indian MonsoonRainfall (IMR) adversely. The enhancedcyclogenesis over the Bay of Bengal duringJuly and August is an impact of ENSO whichneeds to be examined closely. Increasedcyclogenesis over the Bay of Bengal may bereducing the deficiency in IMR duringEl Niño years by producing more rainfallover the eastern parts of India duringJuly and August. Thus there is a considerablespatial variation in the impact of ENSOon the monsoon rainfall over India and El Niñoneed not necessarily imply a monsoonfailure everywhere in India.The area of formation of monsoon depressionsshifts eastward during El Niño years.Warmer sea surface temperature (SST) anomaliesprevail over northwest and adjoiningwestcentral Bay of Bengal during premonsoon andmonsoon seasons of El Niño years.May minus March SOI can provide useful predictionsof monsoon depression frequencyduring July and August.     

Observations of the North Equatorial Current,Mindanao Current,and Kuroshio current system during the 2006/07 El Niño and 2007/08 La Niña

Two onboard observation campaigns were carried out in the western boundary region of the Philippine Sea in December 2006 and January 2008 during the 2006/07 El Niño and the 2007/08 La Niña to observe the North Equatorial Current (NEC), Mindanao Current (MC), and Kuroshio current system. The NEC and MC measured in late 2006 under El Niño conditions were stronger than those measured during early 2008 under La Niña conditions. The opposite was true for the current speed of the Kuroshio, which was stronger in early 2008 than in late 2006. The increase in dynamic height around 8°N, 130°E from December 2006 to January 2008 resulted in a weakening of the NEC and MC. Local wind variability in this region did not appear to contribute to changes in the current system.     

西风爆发事件对暖池厄尔尼诺和冷舌厄尔尼诺的作用——一个概念模型得到的结果

本文通过1个概念模型讨论了西风爆发事件对暖池厄尔尼诺与冷舌厄尔尼诺两种事件的作用,并讨论了它们对应的物理机制。结果表明,由西风爆发所诱导的纬向平流异常和海洋波动对厄尔尼诺的多样性有着至关重要的作用。由于模型包含了最基本的海-洋与大气物理变量及其相互作用机制,本结果可为解释西风爆发事件对厄尔尼诺多样性影响研究提供最基本的框架。