River salinity variations in response to discharge: examples from the western United States during the early 1900s

Major controls on river salinity (total dissolved solids) in the western United States are climate, geology, and human activity. Climate, in general, influences soil-river salinity via salt-balance variations. When climate becomes wetter, river discharge increases and soil-river salinity decreases; when climate becomes drier river discharge decreases and soil-river salinity increases. This study characterizes the river salinity response to discharge using statistical-dynamic methods. An exploratory analysis of river salinity, using early 1900s water quality surveys in the western United States, shows much river salinity variability is in response to storm and annual discharge. Presumably this is because river discharge is largely supported by surface flow.

Interannual to decadal time-scale variations in glacier mass balance [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): The mass balance of glaciers depends on the seasonal variation in precipitation, temperature, and insolation. For glaciers in western North America, these meteorological variables are influenced by the large-scale atmospheric circulation over the northern Pacific Ocean. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between mass balance at glaciers in western North America and the large-scale atmospheric effects at interannual and decadal time scales.

The Little Ice Age: glacier variations and climate since AD 1250 [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): During the past hundred years, mountain glaciers throughout the world have retreated significantly from moraines built during the previous several centuries. In the 1930s, Francois Matthes of the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that the moraines represent the greatest advances of glaciers since the end of the last glacial age, some 10,000 years earlier, and informally referred to this late Holocene interval of expanded ice cover as the Little Ice Age.

Decadal hydroclimatic variability in the western coastal United States: temporal and spatial variations in precipitation, streamflow, and lake level

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): We have analyzed streamflow variations recorded at 15 USGS gauging stations in California during the past 90 years or so. The anomalies (departures from the 1960-1990 mean discharge) of streamflow on annual-to-decadal time scales are strongly correlated with precipitation anomalies in each drainage basin. ... Although causes of the decadal climate (precipitation) variability are not known with certainty, the use of streamflow records may help us understand the relative strengths of moisture sources and shift of the jet stream in atmospheric circulation.

Seasonal variations in the biochemical composition of the clam Tellina angulata from Bombay

Change in the proximate composition and energy value of Tellina angulata from Bombay were studied for a period of 15 months. Irrespective of sex protein as percentage at dry weight ranged from 39.04 to 75.72, carbohydrate 4.83 to 24. 89, lipid 7.41 to 19.81, carbon 21.99 to 39.89 and ash 4.01 to 27.56. Sexwise protein and lipid were maximum in male and carbohydrate in female. Seasonal variation in the proximate composition of the species was well defined.

Textural and compositional variations in beach sands along Karachi coast

The texture of clastic sediments is a fairly reliable index of the erosional history and energy conditions of the depositional environment, while its mineralogy reflects the composition of the source rocks. The beach sands of Clifton, Sandspit, Hawkesbay and Paradise Point were studied to determine their erosional history, depositional environment and their source

Ecophysiological response of Nerita oryzarum (Recluz), a gastropod, to variations in temperature, pH and salinity

During ecophysiological investigations on an intertidal gastropod, Nerita oryzarum (Recluz), of Mumbai shore, various biochemical changes could be recorded. Glycogen and lipid contents of N. oryzarum were found to decrease, whereas, water content increased with decreasing salinity. The rate of oxygen consumption declined with the decrease in salinity and also in highly acidic (pH 2) as well as highly alkaline (pH 10) sea water. The observed variations in the rate of oxygen consumption and changes in biochemical composition in the animal with changes in salinity, pH and temperature are probably the process of physiological and biochemical adjustments to the fluctuating environmental conditions in the intertidal region.

Salinity and temperature variations of the surface waters in the Jaffna Lagoon

Salinity and temperature in the sea surface of the Jaffna Lagoon were observed from August 1967 to July 1968. Peak surface temperatures were recorded during April and the lowest temperature recorded was in December. The seasonal variations of surface temperature closely followed a similar pattern in all locations of the lagoon. Salinity values in the lagoon surface were very high during the period from May to August and were relatively low during the period from October to December. Monsoon, rainfall, exchange of water between the lagoon and the sea and within the lagoon, and the currents in the Palk Bay might have been the factors which influenced the salinity structure of the surface waters of the lagoon during this period.

Hydrobiology of Colombo (Beira) Lake, 1. Diurnal variations in temperature, hydrochemical factors and zooplankton

An extensive study of the hydrobiology of the Colombo Lake was initiated by the authors in May 1969 as a contribution to the International Biological Program (Productivity of freshwater communities) by the Department of Zoology, Vidyalankara University of Ceylon, Kelaniya. The Colombo Lake often referred to as the Beira Lake covers an area of approximately 160 acres. The water is usually very turbid with a greenish blue appearance due to the presence of large quantities of blue green algae.

The adaptive variations in catchability of trawls on the Wadge Bank

The author made a trip on the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation trawler m/t "Pesalai" from 18th February, to 4th March, 1970, in order to study, amongst other matters, the "Adaptive Variations in catch ability of Trawls on the Wadge Bank". This was during the period of the north-east monsoon which offers very not favorable conditions for commercial fishing on the Wadge Bank. It was a normal commercial fishing trip and the work of the author was clone in keeping with the schedule of work of the trawler. A trip made to the Wadge Bank on the trawler m/t "Myliddy" in November, 1969, also helped in this study.

Genetic diversity and population history of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) as inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence variations

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is one of the flagship species in worldwide conservation and is of special interest in evolutionary studies due to its taxonomic uniqueness. We sequenced a 236-bp fragment of the mitochondrial D-loop region in a sample of 5