Near-surface sand-dust horizontal flux in Tazhong-the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert

Tazhong is the hinterland and a sandstorm high-frequency area of the Taklimakan Desert. However, little is known about the detailed time-series of aeolian sand transport in this area. An experiment to study the sand-dust horizontal flux of near-surface was carried out in Tazhong from January to December 2009. By measur- ing the sand-dust horizontal flux throughout sixteen sand-dust weather processes with a 200-cm tall Big Spring Number Eight （BSNE） sampler tower, we quantitatively analyzed the vertical variation of the sand-dust horizontal flux. And the total sand-dust horizontal flux of different time-series that passed through a section of 100 cm in width and 200 cm in height was estimated combining the data of saltation movement continuously recorded by piezo- electric saltation sensors （Sensit）. The results indicated that, in the surface layer ranging from 0-200 cm, the inten- sity of sand-dust horizontal flux decreased with the increase of the height, and the physical quantities obeyed power function well. The total sand-dust horizontal flux of the sixteen sand-dust weather processes that passed through a section of 100 cm in width and 200 cm in height was about 2,144.9 kg, the maximum of one sand-dust weather event was about 396.3 kg, and the annual total sand-dust horizontal flux was about 3,903.2 kg. The high levels of aeolian sand transport occurred during daytime, especially from 13：00 to 16：00 in the afternoon. We try to develop a new method for estimation of the detailed time-series of aeolian sand transport.

Tracing surface seawater mixing and nutrient transport by^(222)Rn on the northern coast of Beibu Gulf,China

The transport and diffusion of substances in seawater are limited by the mixing motion of water bodies,while the main forms of mixing in offshore water bodies are advection and eddy diffusion.The eddy diffusion process of water indicates the possible transport direction of dissolved substances.However,the complex environment in the coastal zone makes it difficult to quantitatively assess the water diffusion process.^(222)Rn is a useful tool to trace the diffusion process of water bodies.However,studies on the^(222)Rn distribution and its behavior in the Beibu Gulf are scarce.In this study,the activity distribution characteristics of^(222)Rn in surface seawater of the Guangxi shelf area of the Beibu Gulf were measured.Based on the one-dimensional,steady-state model,the vorticity diffusion coefficient of^(222)Rn in the horizontal direction was calculated as(0.42−2.13)×10^(8) m^(2)/d,and the offshore fluxes of^(222)Rn under the influence of water mixing were calculated as 2.00×10^(12) Bq/d.Correspondingly,the horizontal transport fluxes of silicate,phosphate,nitrite and nitrate were 6.28×10^(−3)mol/(m^(2)·d),0.10×10^(−3)mol/(m^(2)·d),0.20×10^(−3)mol/(m^(2)·d)and 4.15×10^(−3)mol/(m^(2)·d),respectively.These results indicate that the study of eddy current diffusion in offshore marine water facilitates a deeper understanding of the water mixing process and nutrient transport and migration.