34 resultados para global nitrogen cycle
Resumo:
Scientists have paid much attention to the greenhouse effects and the greenhouse gases for the fact of global warming. There are many uncertainties in the prediction of future climatic change. One of the important reasons causing the uncertainties is insufficient researches of the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, especially, there is a missing sink in the global carbon cycle. The recent researches proposal that there may be an important carbon sink in the middle-latitude terrestrial ecosystems (vegetation and soil) in the North Hemisphere, despite that there is much disputation about its position and amplitude. Chinese loess is located in the middle latitude area in the North Hemisphere, what kind of role does it play in and how does it influence on the balance of the global greenhouse gases budget? For this reason, many samples were taken and analyzed from wide range and multi-stratum of Chinese loess to understand characteristics of major greenhouse gases in loess and loess possible effect on global greenhouse gas budget. Using self-made spiral corer, we totally took 81 gas samples and 65 soil samples from 7 loess profiles in China such as Zhaitang loess section of Beijing, Pianguan, Xingxian, Lishi, Puxian, Jishan loess section of Shanxi Province, and Luochuan loess section of Shaanxi Province. The gas concentrations for CO_2, CH_4 and N_2O, the contents of N_2, O_2 and carbonate, and the carbon isotopic compositions of CO_2 and carbonate in loess strata sequences are observed and measured. In addition, 19 gas samples data of the Weinan loess section, Shaanxi Province are combination with this research to study characteristics of greenhouse gases in loess. This research indicates that (1) the free gases in loess are neither paleo-atmospheric gases nor modern atmospheric gases; (2) the concentrations of CO_2, CH_4 and N_2O in loess are higher than atmospheric level; (3) the δ~(13)C of loess CO_2 shows that the CO_2 in loess mainly comes from the oxygenolysis of organic matters, but because of isotopic exchange with carbonate in loess, the carbon isotopic exchange with carbonate in loess, the carbon isotopic compositions of loess CO_2 are much more heavier than organic original CO_2; (4) the concentration of CH_4 in Malan loess is lower because it is not favorable for the decomposition of anaerobic bacteria in the Malan Loess; (5) estimation of the total amount of the carbonate in loess reveals that loess is a huge carbon reservoir (about 850PgC). In addition, the impact of the deuterogenic carbonatization during the loess accumulation on the global carbon cycle was discussed, and the preliminary conclusion is that the research work is still not enough to evaluate the effect of loess on the sources and sinks of the anthropogenic CO_2.
Resumo:
Carbon is an essential element for life, food and energy. It is also a key element in the greenhouse gases and therefore plays a vital role in climatic changes. The rapid increase in atmospheric concentration of CO_2 over the past 150 years, reaching current concentrations of about 370 ppmv, corresponds with combustion of fossii fuels since the beginning of the industrial age. Conversion of forested land to agricultural use has also redistributed carbon from plants and soils to the atmosphere. These human activities have significantly altered the global carbon cycle. Understanding the consequences of these activities in the coming decades is critical for formulating economic, energy, technology, trade, and security policies that will affect civilization for generations. Under the auspices of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), several large international scientific efforts are focused on elucidating the various aspects of the global carbon cycle of the past decade. It is only possible to balance the global carbon cycle for the 1990s if there is net carbon uptake by terrestrial ecosystems of around 2 Pg C/a. There are now some independent, direct evidences for the existence of such a sink. Policymarkers involved in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN-FCCC) are striving to reach consensuses on a 'safe path' for future emissions, the credible predictions on where and how long the terrestrial sink will either persist at its current level, or grow/decline in the future, are important to advice the policy process. The changes of terrestrial carbon storage depend not only on human activities, but also on biogeochemical and climatological processes and their interaction with the carbon cycles. In this thesis, the climate-induced changes and human-induced changes of carbon storage in China since the past 20,000 years are examined. Based on the data of the soil profiles investigated during China's Second National Soil Survey (1979-1989), the forest biomass measured during China's Fourth National Forest Resource Inventory (1989-1993), the grass biomass investigated during the First National Grassland Resource Survey (1980-1991), and the data collected from a collection of published literatures, the current terrestrial carbon storage in China is estimated to -144.1 Pg C, including -136.8 Pg C in soil and -7.3 Pg C in vegetation. The soil organic (SOC) and inorganic carbon (SIC) storage are -78.2 Pg C and -58.6 Pg C, respectively. In the vegetation reservoir, the forest carbon storage is -5.3 Pg C, and the other of-1.4 Pg C is in the grassland. Under the natural conditions, the SOC, SIC, forest and grassland carbon storage are -85.3 Pg C, -62.6 Pg C, -24.5 Pg C and -5.3 Pg C, respectively. Thus, -29.6 Pg C organic carbon has been lost due to land use with a decrease of -20.6%. At the same time, the SIC storage also has been decreased by -4.0 Pg C (-6.4%). These suggest that human activity has caused significant carbon loss in terrestrial carbon storage of China, especially in the forest ecosystem (-76% loss). Using the Paleocarbon Model (PCM) developed by Wu et al. in this paper, total terrestrial organic carbon storage in China in the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was -114.8 Pg C, including -23.1 Pg C in vegetation and -86.7 Pg C in soil. At the Middle Holocene (MH), the vegetation, soil and total carbon were -37.3 Pg C, -93.9 Pg C and -136.0 Pg C, respectively. This implies a gain of-21.2 Pg C in the terrestrial carbon storage from LGM to HM mainly due to the temperature increase. However, a loss of-14.4 Pg C of terrestrial organic carbon occurred in China under the current condition (before 1850) compared with the MH time, mainly due to the precipitation decrease associated with the weakening of the Asian summer monsoon. These results also suggest that the terrestrial ecosystem in China has a substantial potential in the restoration of carbon storage. This might be expected to provide an efficient way to mitigate the greenhouse warming through land management practices. Assuming that half of the carbon loss in the degraded terrestrial ecosystem in current forest and grass areas are restored during the next 50 years or so, the terrestrial ecosystem in China may sequestrate -12.0 Pg of organic carbon from the atmosphere, which represents a considerable offset to the industry's CO2 emission. If the ' Anthropocene' Era will be another climate optimum like MH due to the greenhouse effect, the sequestration would be increased again by -4.3 - 9.0 Pg C in China.
Resumo:
We present a detailed study of lambda similar to 9.75 mu m GaAs/AIGaAs quantum cascade lasers. For a coated 2-mm-long and 40-mu m-wide laser, an optical power of 85 mu W is observed 95% duty cycle at 80 K. At a moderate driving pulse (1 kHz and 1% duty cycle), the device presents a peak power more than 20 mW even at 120 K. At 80 K, the fitted result of threshold current densities shows evidence of potential cw operation.
Resumo:
The annual cycle of nutrient-phytoplankton dynamics in Bohai Sea (BS) is simulated using a coupled physical-biological model in this study. By comparison, the modeled seasonal variations of nutrients and primary productivity agree with observations rather well. Although the annual cycles of chlorophyll a and primary production are both characterized by a double-peak configuration, a structural difference is still apparent: the phytoplankton biomass reaches the highest value in spring while summer is characterized by the most productivity in the BS, which can be ascribed to the combined impact of seawater temperature and zooplankton-grazing pressure on the growth of algae. Based on the validated simulations, the annual budgets of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are estimated, and are about 0.82 mt C surplus, 39 kt N deficit and 12kt P surplus, respectively, implying that the BS ecosystem is somewhat nitrogen limited. The contribution of two external nutrient sources, namely river discharges and resuspended sediments, to the growth of algae is also examined numerically, and it is found that the influence of river-borne nutrients mainly concentrates in estuaries, whereas the reduction of sediment-borne nutrients may significantly inhibit the onset of algae bloom in the whole BS. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Resumo:
Nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in relation to fallowing in a fish cage farm was investigated in a shallow lake in China. Four sampling sites were set: beneath the cages, at the cage sides, and 50 and 100 m east of the cage farm. Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in lake water and sediment were analyzed during a 2-year rearing cycle. The cage culture had a fish yield of 16.3-39.2 tonnes in the study period. Based on the mass balance equation, 1533-3084 kg TN and 339-697 kg TP were contributed to the lake environment. Nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations showed greater increase in the first culture period than in the second rearing cycle. No obvious changes were found at the sampling sites 50 and 100 m east of the cages during the study periods. Main impacts were found close to the cages (beneath the cages and at the cage side); the sampling points at the cage side showed relatively high TN and TP sedimentation. After 3 months of fallowing, water TN and TP decreased significantly but the sediment TN and TP contents remained high. Therefore, recovery seems to happen during fallowing but attention should be paid to whether the culture continues to operate in the future.
Resumo:
The surface solar radiation (SSR) is of great importance to bio-chemical cycle and life activities. However, it is impossible to observe SSR directly over large areas especially for rugged surfaces such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This paper presented an improved parameterized model for predicting all-sky global solar radiation on rugged surfaces using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) atmospheric products and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The global solar radiation was validated using 11 observations within the plateau. The correlation coefficients of daily data vary between 0.67-0.86, while those of the averages of 10-day data are between 0.79-0.97. The model indicates that the attenuation of SSR is mainly caused by cloud under cloudy sky, and terrain is an important factor influencing SSR over rugged surfaces under clear sky. A positive relationship can also be inferred between the SSR and slope. Compared with horizontal surfaces, the south-facing slope receives more radiation, followed by the west- and east-facing slopes with less SSR, and the SSR of the north-facing slope is the least.
Resumo:
We study the origin of robustness of yeast cell cycle cellular network through uncovering its underlying energy landscape. This is realized from the information of the steady-state probabilities by solving a discrete set of kinetic master equations for the network. We discovered that the potential landscape of yeast cell cycle network is funneled toward the global minimum, G1 state. The ratio of the energy gap between G1 and average versus roughness of the landscape termed as robustness ratio ( RR) becomes a quantitative measure of the robustness and stability for the network. The funneled landscape is quite robust against random perturbations from the inherent wiring or connections of the network. There exists a global phase transition between the more sensitive response or less self-degradation phase leading to underlying funneled global landscape with large RR, and insensitive response or more self-degradation phase leading to shallower underlying landscape of the network with small RR. Furthermore, we show that the more robust landscape also leads to less dissipation cost of the network. Least dissipation and robust landscape might be a realization of Darwinian principle of natural selection at cellular network level. It may provide an optimal criterion for network wiring connections and design.
Resumo:
C-37 unsaturated alkenones were analyzed on a core retrieved from the middle Okinawa Trough. The calculated U-37(K') displays a trend generally parallel with those of the oxygen isotopic compositions of two planktonic foraminiferal species, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei and Globigerinoides sacculifer, suggesting that in this region, SST has varied in phase with global ice volume change since the last glacial -interglacial cycle. The U-37(K')-derived SST ranged from ca. 24.0 to 27.5 degrees C, with the highest value 27.5 degrees C occurring in marine isotope stage 5 and the lowest similar to 24.0 degrees C in marine isotope stage 2. This trend is consistent with the continental records from the East Asian monsoon domain and the marine records from the Equatorial Pacific. The deglacial increase of the U-37(K')-derived SST is similar to 2.4 degrees C from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Resumo:
A suitable method for the pretreutment of dissolved nitrate samples in seawaters for nitrogen isotopic analysis was established. First, the seawater samples were processed by removing nitrite and amonium. Then Devard's alloy was added in sample for conversion of dissolved nitrate to ammonium. The sample was distilled, and then the ammonium condensate was collected with zeolite. after distillation, the collected condensate was filtered and prepared for determining nitropic values. Some tests of the method were conducted. The distillation condition, the influence of salinity on nitrogen isotopic analysis, absorption of ammonium onto zeolite and an improved method on a large volume of seawater were discussed in this study. The results showed that the distillation step had an average recovery of (104.9 +/- 4.2) % (n = 6) when distillating every 300 mL aliquot of the sample under a strong alkaline condition with 0.5 g devard's alloy and a distillation time of 30 min. The nitrogen isotopic fractionation decreased markedly when salinity was increased from 0% to 0.5%; further increase(1% - 3.5%) showed little effect. The adsorption rate of ammonium onto zeolite had a high yield of (95.96 +/- 1.08) % (n = 6) in average. An improved collection method was used to process a large volume of seawater with several distillations, and had good effect on analysis. The method had been applied to analyze water samples collected from Changjiang estuary. The analytical results indicate that the method is suitable for delta N-15 analysis of dissolved nitrate in seawaters. The present method could provide valuable information about the source and cycle mechanism of dissolved nitrogen in estuary waters.