Stage‐dependent thyroxine effects on sea urchin development     

Leland G. Johnson 《新西兰海洋与淡水研究杂志》2013,47(4):531-536

Thyroxine, one of the iodinated hormones produced by vertebrate thyroids, has been reported to accelerate late larval development in several sea urchins (Chino et al. 1994) and in the crown‐of‐thorns starfish (Johnson & Cartwright 1996), but thyroxine effects on earlier portions of echinoderm development have not been reported. I investigated thyroxine effects on developmental rates during several periods spanning development from early cleavage to metamorphosis in the New Zealand sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus (Valenciennes). Thyroxine treatment slowed development between the eight‐cell stage and assembly of the four‐armed pluteus and mid‐larval development between the four‐armed and six‐armed stages. Thyroxine treatment accelerated progress of eight‐armed plutei toward settling, but did not alter the final percentages of larvae that settled and metamorphosed to juvenile urchins. Acceleration of late larval echinoderm development by thyroxine may indicate a relatively ancient evolutionary origin of thyroxine's effects on developmental processes (Johnson 1997).  相似文献   

Observations of Diurnal Cycles Over a West African Meridional Transect: Pre-Monsoon and Full-Monsoon Seasons     

Amanda Gounou  Françoise Guichard  Fleur Couvreux 《Boundary-Layer Meteorology》2012,144(3):329-357

We document and characterize the climatology of the diurnal cycles encountered along a West African transect during the pre-monsoon and full-monsoon periods. The meridional gradient in low-level properties is fundamental for the monsoon dynamics and here, for the first time, it is studied based on a large set of observations from the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) campaign. A detailed analysis of surface energy budget, boundary-layer structures and cloud occurrence is carried out to investigate the diurnal cycles of the low levels. A relatively weak meridional gradient of net radiation is observed during the pre-monsoon period, and a large gradient in sensible heat flux is found over the transect with values increasing from south to north. This, as well as the boundary-layer structures, partly explains the large contrasts in the diurnal amplitude of potential temperature and specific humidity along the transect. During the monsoon period, the atmospheric regimes drastically change involving strong interactions between the surface, atmosphere and clouds. The maximum in net radiation is shifted northwards, towards the Sahel, which potentially has a significant impact on the monsoon circulation. The sensible heat flux is considerably reduced and the diurnal amplitude is strongly damped, while the daytime boundary-layer growth decreases significantly in the Sahel related to changes in the balance of boundary-layer processes. These results highlight the contrasted diurnal cycle regimes encountered over West Africa under dry, moist and wet conditions. They provide observationally-based diagnostics to investigate the ability of models to handle the representation of the diurnal cycle over land.  相似文献   

Selected topics in arctic atmosphere and climate     

William Perrie  Zhenxia Long  Hayley Hung  Amanda Cole  Alexandra Steffen  Ashu Dastoor  Dorothy Durnford  Jianmin Ma  Jan W. Bottenheim  Stoyka Netcheva  Ralf Staebler  James R. Drummond  N. T. O’Neill 《Climatic change》2012,115(1):35-58

This paper summarizes the main elements of four IPY projects that examine the Arctic Atmosphere. All four projects focus on present conditions with a view to anticipating possible climate change. All four investigate the Arctic atmosphere, ocean, ice, and land interfacial surfaces. One project uses computer models to simulate the dynamics of the Arctic atmosphere, storms, and their interactions with the ocean and ice interface. Another project uses statistical methods to infer transports of pollutants as simulated in large-scale global atmospheric and oceanic models verifying results with available observations. A third project focuses on measurements of pollutants at the ice-ocean?Catmosphere interface, with reference to model estimates. The fourth project is concerned with multiple, high accuracy measurements at Eureka in the Canadian Archipelago. While these projects are distinctly different, led by different teams and interdisciplinary collaborators, with different technical approaches and methodologies, and differing objectives, they all strive to understand the processes of the Arctic atmosphere and climate, and to lay the basis for projections of future changes. Key findings include: ? Decreased sea ice leads to more intense storms, higher winds, reduced surface albedo, increased surface air temperature, and enhanced vertical mixing in the upper ocean. ? Arctic warming may affect toxic chemicals by remobilizing persistent organic pollutants and augmenting mercury deposition/retention in the environment. ? Changes in sea ice can dramatically change processes in and at the ice surface related to ozone, mercury and bromine oxide and related chemical/physical properties. ? Structure and properties of the Arctic atmospheric??troposphere to stratosphere??and tracking of transport of pollution and smoke plumes from mid-latitudes to the poles.  相似文献   

Multi‐scale classification of fluvial architecture: An example from the Palaeocene–Eocene Bighorn Basin,Wyoming          下载免费PDF全文

Amanda Owen  Alena Ebinghaus  Adrian J. Hartley  Maurício G. M. Santos  Gary S. Weissmann 《Sedimentology》2017,64(6):1572-1596

Fluvial channel geometry classification schemes are commonly restricted in relation to the scale at which the study took place, often due to outcrop limitations or the need to conduct small‐scale detailed studies. A number of classification schemes are present in the literature; however, there is often limited consistency between them, making application difficult. The aim of this study is to address this key problem by describing channel body geometries across a depositional basin to ensure that a wide range of architectures are documented. This was achieved by studying 28 locations over 4000 m of vertical succession in Palaeocene‐aged and Early Eocene‐aged deposits within the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA. Five different channel body geometries have been defined based on the external geometric form, and internal arrangement and nature of storey contacts. These include the massive channel body geometry, semi‐amalgamated channel body geometry, internally amalgamated channel body geometry and offset stacked channel body geometry, which are considered to be subdivisions of the sheet geometry of many other classifications. An isolated channel body geometry has also been recognized alongside splay channel and sheet sandstone geometries in the floodplain facies associations. Field evidence, including the stacking style of storey surfaces, suggests that the different geometries form a continuum. The nature and degree of amalgamation at the storey scale are important in producing the different geometries and are related to the degree of channel migration. It is speculated that this is the result of differences in sediment supply and available accommodation. In contrast to previous schemes, the classification scheme presented here recognizes the importance of transitional geometries. This geometrical range has been recognized because of the basin‐scale nature of the study.  相似文献   

Holocene soils and soil-geomorphic relations in an arid region of southern New Mexico   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Leland H. Gile 《Quaternary Research》1975,5(3):321-360

A study area in an arid region of southern New Mexico is in basin-and-range topography and includes both a river valley and a closed basin. Holocene soils occur in valley fills and low terraces between Pleistocene fans, in and near drainageways on the fan-piedmont, on ridges, and in dunes. Holocene soils suggest the character of initial development in soils that are much older and more complex, and record the beginnings of various soil horizons. Noncalcareous brown or reddish brown B horizons have formed in low-carbonate parent materials of stable sites. Incipient development of the argillic horizon and the Haplargids occurs at stable sites in very gravelly materials that are about 1–2000 yr old. The cambic horizon and Camborthids occur in adjacent low-gravel materials of the same age. The argillic horizon occurs continuously in soils of earliest Holocene, particularly in very gravelly materials. Where soils have been truncated, as in areas affected by landscape dissection, argillic and cambic horizons are usually absent and the soils are Torripsamments, Torriorthents, or Torrifluvents depending on content of sand, gravel, and organic carbon. In high-carbonate parent materials, noncalcareous, reddish brown B horizons have not formed at any time in the Holocene. Most of these soils are Torriorthents or Torrifluvents although an incipient calcic horizon has formed in some of the oldest Holocene soils; the latter are Calciorthids. Horizons of carbonate accumulation are the best and most common pedogenic indicators of soil age. Stage I carbonate horizons are a major feature of pedogenesis in the Holocene. Because of additions of carbonate from the atmosphere, carbonate horizons are morphologically similar whether they have formed in high or low-carbonate alluvium. The carbonate accumulations are illuvial.Some Holocene deposits apparently resulted from changes in climate. Others, such as the youthful deposits of coppice dunes, apparently were caused by man's introduction of cattle and subsequent overgrazing and seed dispersal.  相似文献   

Rates of development of tafoni in the Moenkopi and Kaibab formations in Meteor Crater and on the Colorado Plateau,northeastern Arizona     

Stephen A. Norwick  Leland R. Dexter 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2002,27(1):11-26

Tafoni are pits formed by non‐uniform weathering in otherwise uniform rock. Two equations have been proposed for the rate of development of tafoni, both based on 2000‐year‐old outcrops from the coast of Japan. We have taken tafoni measurements from the Meteor Crater, Arizona, and vicinity that extend the equations back at least 50 000 years. As reported in earlier studies, we found pit depth to be the best tafone parameter to measure. The size of the pit decreases significantly with increasing inclination of the rock surface; however, the size of the pit can vary greatly for other reasons. In some cases the measurements are statistically significantly different between two stations taken from contiguous areas of similar inclination and aspect in an apparently homogeneous bed. It is clear, however, that over tens of thousands of years tafoni enlarge significantly. Our data are generally log‐normal and all are markedly heteroscedastic. The 1991 equation proposed by Matsukura and Matsuoka does not fit our data. The 1996 equation proposed by Sunamura provides a better fit. We propose a sigmoidal equation D = b1 + e^(b2+(b3/t)) where D is the depth, t is the age, and b1, b2 and b3 vary with lithology. This new equation fits our data far better than the earlier published equations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Evidence and Implications of Recent Climate Change in Northern Alaska and Other Arctic Regions   总被引：19，自引：0，他引：19  

Larry D. Hinzman  Neil D. Bettez  W. Robert Bolton  F. Stuart Chapin  Mark B. Dyurgerov  Chris L. Fastie  Brad Griffith  Robert D. Hollister  Allen Hope  Henry P. Huntington  Anne M. Jensen  Gensuo J. Jia  Torre Jorgenson  Douglas L. Kane  David R. Klein  Gary Kofinas  Amanda H. Lynch  Andrea H. Lloyd  A. David McGuire  Frederick E. Nelson  Walter C. Oechel  Thomas E. Osterkamp  Charles H. Racine  Vladimir E. Romanovsky  Robert S. Stone  Douglas A. Stow  Matthew Sturm  Craig E. Tweedie  George L. Vourlitis  Marilyn D. Walker  Donald A. Walker  Patrick J. Webber  Jeffrey M. Welker  Kevin S. Winker  Kenji Yoshikawa 《Climatic change》2005,72(3):251-298

The Arctic climate is changing. Permafrost is warming, hydrological processes are changing and biological and social systems are also evolving in response to these changing conditions. Knowing how the structure and function of arctic terrestrial ecosystems are responding to recent and persistent climate change is paramount to understanding the future state of the Earth system and how humans will need to adapt. Our holistic review presents a broad array of evidence that illustrates convincingly; the Arctic is undergoing a system-wide response to an altered climatic state. New extreme and seasonal surface climatic conditions are being experienced, a range of biophysical states and processes influenced by the threshold and phase change of freezing point are being altered, hydrological and biogeochemical cycles are shifting, and more regularly human sub-systems are being affected. Importantly, the patterns, magnitude and mechanisms of change have sometimes been unpredictable or difficult to isolate due to compounding factors. In almost every discipline represented, we show how the biocomplexity of the Arctic system has highlighted and challenged a paucity of integrated scientific knowledge, the lack of sustained observational and experimental time series, and the technical and logistic constraints of researching the Arctic environment. This study supports ongoing efforts to strengthen the interdisciplinarity of arctic system science and improve the coupling of large scale experimental manipulation with sustained time series observations by incorporating and integrating novel technologies, remote sensing and modeling.  相似文献   

Oxygen isotopic composition and U-Pb discordance in zircon   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4  

Amanda L. Booth  Yehoshua Kolodny  Michael McWilliams  Joseph Wooden 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2005,69(20):4895-4905

We have investigated U-Pb discordance and oxygen isotopic composition of zircon using high-spatial resolution δ¹⁸O measurement by ion microprobe. δ¹⁸O in both concordant and discordant zircon grains provides an indication of the relationship between fluid interaction and discordance. Our results suggest that three characteristics of zircon are interrelated: (1) U-Pb systematics and concomitant age discordance, (2) δ¹⁸O and the water-rock interactions implied therein, and (3) zircon texture, as revealed by cathodoluminescence and BSE imaging. A key observation is that U-Pb-disturbed zircons are often also variably depleted in ¹⁸O, but the relationship between discordance and δ¹⁸O is not systematic. δ¹⁸O values of discordant zircons are generally lighter but irregular in their distribution. Textural differences between zircon grains can be correlated with both U-Pb discordance and δ¹⁸O. Discordant grains exhibit either a recrystallized, fractured, or strongly zoned CL texture, and are characteristic of ¹⁸O depletion. We interpret this to be a result of metamictization, leading to destruction of the zircon lattice and an increased susceptibility to lead loss. Conversely, grains that are concordant have less-expressed zoning and a smoother CL texture and are enriched in ¹⁸O. From this it is apparent that various stages of water-rock interaction, as evidenced by systematic variations in δ¹⁸O, leave their imprint on both the texture and U-Pb systematics of zircon.  相似文献   

Environmental co-operation in the Baltic Sea region: A Lithuanian perspective     

Amanda Banks 《GeoJournal》1994,33(1):37-43

International co-operation is vital if the ecological crisis in the Baltic Sea is to be reversed. Organisations such as the Baltic Co-operation Council and HELCOM and agreements such as the Helsinki Convention, the Baltic Sea Declaration, and the Gdansk Convention, already exist to facilitate co-operation. Successful implementation of these conventions requires commitment at the national level. Lithuania's commitment is hampered by internal economic, and political problems which must be surmounted if the country is to reduce its impact on the Baltic Sea.Part of the following article is published in Baltic Studies in Australia II: AABS; Melbourne, 1993 — the proceedings from the 7th bi-annual Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (Australasian Section) held in Melbourne, September, 1993.  相似文献   

Inversion approach for thermal data from a convecting hydrothermal system     

Paul Kasameyer  Leland Younker  Jonathan Hanson 《Journal of Geodynamics》1985,4(1-4)

Hydrothermal systems are often studied by collecting thermal gradient data and temperature/depth curves. These data contain important information about the flow field, the evolution of the hydrothermal system, and the location and nature of the ultimate heat sources. Thermal data are interpreted by the “forward” method; the thermal field is calculated based on selected initial conditions and boundary conditions such as temperature and permeability distributions. If the calculated thermal field matches the data, the chosen conditions are inferred to be possibly correct. Because many sets of initial conditions may produce similar thermal fields, users of the “forward” method may inadvertently miss the correct set of initial conditions. Analytical methods for “inverting” data also allow the determination of all the possible solutions consistent with the definition of the problem. In this paper we suggest an approach for inverting thermal data from a hydrothermal system, and compare it to the more conventional approach. We illustrate the difference in the methods by comparing their application to the Salton Sea Geothermal Field by Lau (1980a) and Kasameyer, et al. (1984). In this particular example, the inverse method was used to draw conclusions about the age and total rate of fluid flow into the hydrothermal system.  相似文献