Caribbean corals in crisis: record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005

Background: The rising temperature of the world’s oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin. Methodology/Principal Findings: Satellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers’ field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior efforts in detail and extent, and provided a new standard for documenting the effects of bleaching and for testing nowcast and forecast products. Collaborators from 22 countries undertook the most comprehensive documentation of basin-scale bleaching to date and found that over 80% of corals bleached and over 40% died at many sites. The most severe bleaching coincided with waters nearest a western Atlantic warm pool that was centered off the northern end of the Lesser Antilles. Conclusions/Significance: Thermal stress during the 2005 event exceeded any observed from the Caribbean in the prior 20 years, and regionally-averaged temperatures were the warmest in over 150 years. Comparison of satellite data against field surveys demonstrated a significant predictive relationship between accumulated heat stress (measured using NOAA Coral Reef Watch’s Degree Heating Weeks) and bleaching intensity. This severe, widespread bleaching and mortality will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for reef ecosystems and suggests a troubled future for tropical marine ecosystems under a warming climate

虎斑夜鳽分布与亚群态势研究

本世纪以来对虎斑夜鳽分布地点的新发现,表明该种从滨海到内陆漫布于中国长江以南广大地区,并向北渗透直逼东洋界北限秦岭-淮河一线;作者据此将各地的虎斑夜鳽初划为11个亚群,提出目前该种存有3个相对健康而稳定的亚群,即黄山-天目山亚群、南岭亚群和广西亚群,且每个亚群的分布范围均至少不会小于5000km2,其中以黄山-天目山亚群的记录由历史至现今相对最为长久而完整,进而提出今后在上述诸亚群范围之外还会有新的发现.文中指出,尽管近期对虎斑夜鳽分布状况有了新认识,目前仍可视该种的受胁等级为濒危.

云南鸟类种的新记录——海南■

2006年10月28日凌晨3点,笔者在位于云南省新平县哀牢山的金山丫口鸟类环志站进行夜间鸟类环志工作时,用灯光诱捕到一只鹭科鸟类,经鉴定为海南(Gorsachius magnificus),为云南省鸟类物种新记录。形态特征:头和颊部黑褐色;枕部具黑褐色的延长羽冠;有明显的白色眼后条纹,颊纹白色;眼球外凸,黄绿色的眼睑向外伸出;眼先裸露皮肤呈黄绿色;喉白,中央有褐色条纹;颈侧棕色,前端有黑色条纹,前颈具褐白斑驳的条纹,后颈黑褐色;背部、翅和尾羽褐色;第一枚初级飞羽外栗红色;胸、腹部、尾下覆羽及翅下覆羽白色,杂有褐色斑纹;上嘴黑色,下嘴嘴基黄色,嘴端黑色;虹膜褐色(中国鸟类野外手册上记载的虹膜为黄色,MacKinnon et al,2000);跗黄绿色。雌性标本量度(g,mm)如下:体重563,全长565,嘴峰72,翅长305,尾长111,跗76。海南是中国的特有种鸟类,属国家Ⅱ级重点保护鸟类。分布于中国南方的少数地区,国外仅在越南东京有过一次记录(MacKinnon et al,2000),种群数量稀少,过去曾记录于安徽、浙江、福建(Cheng,1987)、海南、广西及广东(Gao et al,200...

Experience using MEMS-based accelerometers in dynamic testing

Measurement of acceleration in dynamic tests is carried out routinely, and in most cases, piezoelectric accelerometers are used at present. However, a new class of instruments based on MEMS technology have become available and are gaining use in many applications due to their small size, low mass and low-cost. This paper describes a centrifuge lateral spreading experiment in which MEMS and piezoelectric accelerometers were placed at similar depths. Good agreement was obtained when the instruments were located in dense sands, but significant differences were observed in loose, liquefiable soils. It was found that the performance of the piezoelectric accelerometer is poor at low frequency, and that the relative phase difference between the piezoelectric and MEMS accelerometer varies significantly at low frequency. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Isolating shallow foundations from seismic loading

Most modern design codes do not allow for movement between a shallow foundation and the underlying soil during seismic loading. Consequently, the full magnitude of seismic energy is transmitted from the soil to the foundation during an earthquake. This energy either has to be dissipated before reaching the superstructure via engineering solutions such as base isolation systems, or the structure itself must withstand the full impact of the earthquake resulting in high material usage and expensive design. However, the inherent hysteric behaviour of soil can be used to isolate a foundation from the underlying soil. As part of a study into the soil-structure-interaction of shallow foundations, methods to optimise foundation isolation were investigated. In this paper the results from centrifuge tests investigating two of these methods are compared to results when no special foundation layout was implemented and the impact of the proposed isolation methods is discussed. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Imaging the failure of a rock-fill dam following liquefaction

Rock-fill dams are popular in developing countries due to their ease of construction and use of local materials. They are used to store water and to provide flood defences. The presence of such dams in earthquake-prone regions poses risks, particularly from ground liquefaction. In this paper, results from physical model tests on dams with different configurations are presented. Model dams with impermeable cores including sheet pile walls and clay cores were tested and the effect of reservoir water was investigated. High-speed photography was used to capture the response of the model dams allowing the movement of foundation soil below the dam to be established. It is concluded that the stiffness of the impermeable core has a significant influence on the ultimate deformation of the dam. The presence of reservoir water led to increased downstream movements of the dam and differential settlements between the upstream and downstream sides.

Experimental and numerical investigation of the seismic behavior of rectangular tunnels in soft soils

Underground structures constitute crucial components of the transportation networks. Considering their significance for modern societies, their proper seismic design is of great importance. However, this design may become very tricky, accounting of the lack of knowledge regarding their seismic behavior. Several issues that are significantly affecting this behavior (i.e. earth pressures on the structure, seismic shear stresses around the structure, complex deformation modes for rectangular structures during shaking etc.) are still open. The problem is wider for the non-circular (i.e. rectangular) structures, were the soilstructure interaction effects are expected to be maximized. The paper presents representative experimental results from a test case of a series of dynamic centrifuge tests that were performed on rectangular tunnels embedded in dry sand. The tests were carried out at the centrifuge facility of the University of Cambridge, within the Transnational Task of the SERIES EU research program. The presented test case is also numerically simulated and studied. Preliminary full dynamic time history analyses of the coupled soil-tunnel system are performed, using ABAQUS. Soil non-linearity and soil-structure interaction are modeled, following relevant specifications for underground structures and tunnels. Numerical predictions are compared to experimental results and discussed. Based on this comprehensive experimental and numerical study, the seismic behavior of rectangular embedded structures is better understood and modeled, consisting an important step in the development of appropriate specifications for the seismic design of rectangular shallow tunnels.

Analysis of mode characteristics for equilateral-polygonal resonators with a center hole

Mode characteristics for equilateral triangles, squares, and hexagonal resonators with a center hole are numerically simulated by the finite-different time domain (FDTD) technique. The center hole does not break the symmetry behavior of the original resonators and can result in modification of the mode field patterns and mode Q factors. In an equilateral triangle resonator the center hole can suppress the symmetry state of degenerate states with the merit of single mode operation. In a square resonator, the Q factor can be enhanced for some modes with a suitable size of the hole. For a hexagonal resonator with a side length of 1 mu m and a refractive index of 3.2, the mode Q factors first gradually decrease with the increase of the hole diameter for modes at a wavelength of about 1500 nm, then the modes transform to that of a microdisk with a jump of the mode wavelength as the hole diameter approaches 0.7 mu m. Finally, the mode Q factors greatly enhance as the hole diameter reaches about 1 mu m. The results indicate that the center hole can greatly modify mode characteristics, especially that of the mode Q factor. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Analysis of mode characteristics for equilateral triangle semiconductor microlasers with imperfect boundaries

The influence of imperfect boundaries on the mode quality factor is investigated for equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) semiconductor microlasers by the finite difference time domain technique and the Pade approximation with Baker's algorithm. For 2-D ETR with a refractive index of 3.2 and side length of 5 mum, the confined modes can still have a quality factor of about 1000 as small triangles with side length of 1 mum are cut from the vertices of the ETR. For a deformed 5 mum ETR with round vertices and curve sides, the simulated mode quality factors are comparable to the measured results.

Self-assembling of submicrometer three-dimensional photonic crystals in concave microzones etched on silicon substrates

By vertical sedimentation and oblique titration, silica microspheres were grown in different shapes of concave microzones that were etched on a (100) p-silicon substrate. Through scanning electron microscope observation and optical reflective spectra measurement, sedimentation of microspheres in those microzones was compared. An index was introduced to judge the efficiency of sedimentation. The comparison demonstrates that regular hexagons and triangles facilitate the growth of photonic crystals the most. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America

Micro-mould method for self-assembling three-dimensional opal photonic crystals

By vertical sedimentation, silica micro-spheres were grown in different shapes of concave micro-zones which were etched on a (100) p-silicon substrate. The following were found: this method can effectively raise the quality of films by avoiding cracks; the geometry of the micro-zones affects the sediment of the film; regular hexagons and triangles best facilitate the growth of photonic crystals. This method is practical for its ability to fabricate self-assembly photonic crystals in previously designed small areas.

VGIS-COLLIDE: an effective collision detection algorithm for

Collision detection is an important component in simulation applications which are based on virtual geographic information system (VGIS). In this paper, an effective collision detection algorithm for multiple objects in VGIS, VGIS-COLLIDE, is presented. The algorithm firstly integrates existing quadtree, which is the global hierarchical structure of VGIS, with axis-aligned bounding box of object to perform the broad-phase of collision detection. After that, exact collision detection between two objects which have passed the broad-phase of collision detection is performed. The algorithm makes no assumption about input primitives or object's motion and is directly applicable to all triangulated models. It can be applicable to both rigid and deformable objects without preprocessing. The performance of the algorithm has been demonstrated in several environments consisting of a high number of objects with hundreds of thousands of triangles.

Fabrication and characterization of uniform Fe3O4 octahedral micro-crystals

Uniform Fe3O4 octahedral microcrystals with perfect appearance have been successfully synthesized by a Triton X100-assisted polyol process. During the polyols process for the preparation of Fe3O4 octahedra. the introduction of Triton X100 decreases significantly the needed concentration of NaOH. The results show that Fe3O4 octahedra are composed of eight triangular sheets, which are equilateral triangles. The edge size of Fe3O4 octahedron is about 4 mu m. The magnetic properties of Fe3O4 octahedral particles were evaluated on a SQUID magnetometer at room temperature.