Formation and circulation of the cold intermediate layer in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence

[ 1] The local heat content and formation rate of the cold intermediate layer (CIL) in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence are examined using a combination of new in situ wintertime observations and a three-dimensional numerical model. The field observations consist of five moorings located throughout the gulf over the period of November 2002 to June 2003. The observations demonstrate a substantially deeper surface mixed layer in the central and northeast gulf than in regions downstream of the buoyant surface outflow from the Saint Lawrence Estuary. The mixed-layer depth in the estuary remains shallow (< 60 m) throughout winter, with the arrival of a layer of near-freezing waters between 40 and 100 m depth in April. An eddy-permitting ice-ocean model with realistic forcing is used to hindcast the period of observation. The model simulates well the seasonal evolution of mixed-layer depth and CIL heat content. Although the greatest heat losses occur in the northeast, the most significant change in CIL heat content over winter occurs in the Anticosti Trough. The observed renewal of CIL in the estuary in spring is captured by the model. The simulation highlights the role of the northwest gulf, and in particular, the separation of the Gaspe Current, in controlling the exchange of CIL between the estuary and the gulf. In order to isolate the effects of inflow through the Strait of Belle Isle on the CIL heat content, we examine a sensitivity experiment in which the strait is closed. This simulation shows that the inflow has a less important effect on the CIL than was suggested by previous studies.

Response of the lower St. Lawrence Estuary to external forcing in winter

Mostly because of a lack of observations, fundamental aspects of the St. Lawrence Estuary's wintertime response to forcing remain poorly understood. The results of a field campaign over the winter of 2002/03 in the estuary are presented. The response of the system to tidal forcing is assessed through the use of harmonic analyses of temperature, salinity, sea level, and current observations. The analyses confirm previous evidence for the presence of semidiurnal internal tides, albeit at greater depths than previously observed for ice-free months. The low-frequency tidal streams were found to be mostly baroclinic in character and to produce an important neap tide intensification of the estuarine circulation. Despite stronger atmospheric momentum forcing in winter, the response is found to be less coherent with the winds than seen in previous studies of ice-free months. The tidal residuals show the cold intermediate layer in the estuary is renewed rapidly ( 14 days) in late March by the advection of a wedge of near-freezing waters from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In situ processes appeared to play a lesser role in the renewal of this layer. In particular, significant wintertime deepening of the estuarine surface mixed layer was prevented by surface stability, which remained high throughout the winter. The observations also suggest that the bottom circulation was intensified during winter, with the intrusion in the deep layer of relatively warm Atlantic waters, such that the 3 C isotherm rose from below 150 m to near 60 m.

D. H. Lawrence and the publication of Look! We Have Come Through!

In 1917 D.H. Lawrence's whole outlook on the social and cultural environment of his country was embodied in his attitude towards the literary marketplace. The suppression of The Rainbow in 1915 and his opposition to the war contributed to his feeling of detachment from what he called ‘the bourgeois world, the world which controls press, publication and all’. Presenting new archival evidence, this article examines the publishing history of the poetry volume Look! We Have Come Through, issued by Chatto & Windus in 1917. Closer examination of the motives of the individual editors involved in the production of the volume reveals why Lawrence was required to make changes to his text but also why the firm were eager to publish a volume that was to have little commercial impact. Issued at a critical moment in Lawrence's relationship with the marketplace, and in the history of literary modernism, the episode shows how, in spite of general hostility to his work, there were forces in the mainstream publishing market that were keen to embrace modern literary forms and take risks with the work of authors whose subject-matter was challenging and potentially dangerous.

Ethel Carnie Holdsworth (1886-1962), ex-mill girl novelist

This short article explores the life and work of Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, the first working-class woman in Britain to publish full-length novels. It assesses her politics and her literacy legacy and is part of the Women's History Network's series, 'Reclaiming Women's Histories'.

Blended learning in distance education: Sri Lankan perspective

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of online learning in distance educational delivery at Yellow Fields University (pseudonymous) in Sri Lanka. The implementation of online distance education at the University included the use of blended learning. The policy initiative to introduce online for distance education in Sri Lanka was guided by the expectation of cost reduction and the implementation was financed under the Distance Education Modernization Project. The paper presents one case study of a larger multiple case study research that employed an ethnographic research approach in investigating the impact of ICT on distance education in Sri Lanka. Documents, questionnaires and qualitative interviews were used for data collection. There was a significant positive relationship between ownership of computers and students’ ability to use computer for word processing, emailing and Web searching. The lack of access to computers and the Internet, the lack of infrastructure, low levels of computer literacy, the lack of local language content, and the lack of formal student support services at the University were found to be major barriers to implementing compulsory online activities at the University

Future changes in the Western North Pacific tropical cyclone activity projected by a multidecadal simulation with a 16-km global atmospheric GCM

How tropical cyclone (TC) activity in the northwestern Pacific might change in a future climate is assessed using multidecadal Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP)-style and time-slice simulations with the ECMWF Integrated Forecast System (IFS) at 16-km and 125-km global resolution. Both models reproduce many aspects of the present-day TC climatology and variability well, although the 16-km IFS is far more skillful in simulating the full intensity distribution and genesis locations, including their changes in response to El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Both IFS models project a small change in TC frequency at the end of the twenty-first century related to distinct shifts in genesis locations. In the 16-km IFS, this shift is southward and is likely driven by the southeastward penetration of the monsoon trough/subtropical high circulation system and the southward shift in activity of the synoptic-scale tropical disturbances in response to the strengthening of deep convective activity over the central equatorial Pacific in a future climate. The 16-km IFS also projects about a 50% increase in the power dissipation index, mainly due to significant increases in the frequency of the more intense storms, which is comparable to the natural variability in the model. Based on composite analysis of large samples of supertyphoons, both the development rate and the peak intensities of these storms increase in a future climate, which is consistent with their tendency to develop more to the south, within an environment that is thermodynamically more favorable for faster development and higher intensities. Coherent changes in the vertical structure of supertyphoon composites show system-scale amplification of the primary and secondary circulations with signs of contraction, a deeper warm core, and an upward shift in the outflow layer and the frequency of the most intense updrafts. Considering the large differences in the projections of TC intensity change between the 16-km and 125-km IFS, this study further emphasizes the need for high-resolution modeling in assessing potential changes in TC activity.

The Spanish Guerrilla 1808-1814 as a model for people’s wars and resistance movements

Transforming the meaning of the term 'guerrilla' which had once meant feud or private warfare, and then irregular war conducted by special forces on behalf of a state or government, the Spanish Guerrilla (part of the Peninsular War) against Napoleon became the model to be emulated by insurgency movements across the world. Even though the term itself continued to be used, even in Spanish, for special operations, in henceforth became imbued with an ideological dimension, which is how it would be used especially in the 20th century.