全球空间测地站矢量场对板块运动的描述及地幔的经、纬向流

从 2 0 0 1年IERS公布的ITRF参考框架系下的 4 32个空间测地站中以面积平均随机选用了111个站 ;这些点的站速度矢量图描述了北半球欧亚 (EA)、北美 (NA)和北太平洋 (NP)三大板块的运动态势 :以北大西洋洋脊为轴 ,欧亚板块向NE—E—SE运动 ;北美板块向NW—W—SW运动 ,呈绵羊角式张裂运动 ,两者在大西洋两侧的N向运动越过极区后 ,汇集指向阿留申 ;北太平洋板块以超过北美板块和欧亚板块 6倍左右的速度向NWW运动 ,与欧亚板块呈正面碰撞型关系 ,表现为大洋壳的深俯冲与大陆壳仰冲 ;北太平洋板块与北美板块以圣安德烈斯断层为界呈剪切拉张型关系。文中描述了南半球南美 (SA)、非洲 (AF)、阿拉伯 (AR)、印—澳 (IN—AU)和东南太平洋 (SP)的运动态势 :以东南太平洋洋脊为轴 ,其东侧的纳兹卡 (NZ)板块高速向东运动 ,而其前方的南美、非洲、阿拉伯和印—澳等板块则向NE—NNE运动 ,速度依次增高 ,可能与其间的大西洋洋脊、印度洋洋脊和红海裂谷张裂的正、反向叠加作用有关。西南太平洋与澳大利亚板块的东北缘和东缘均呈强碰撞强剪切型运动关系 ,而纳兹卡板块与北美板块呈追尾型运动关系。南极板块 (Ant)从环南极洋脊的东南太平洋段为起点向南运动 ,过南极后继续向北、向非洲、印度洋方向运动 ,并略显右旋。上述板?

DETERMINATION OF ONSET DATE OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA SUMMER MONSOON IN 2006 USING LARGE-SCALE CIRCULATIONS

Since the South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon (SCSSM) is pronouncedly featured by abruptly intensified southwesterly and obviously increased precipitation over the SCS,the lower-tropospheric winds and/or convection intensities are widely used to determine the SCSSM onset.The methods can be used successfully in most of the years but not in 2006.Due to the intrusion of Typhoon Chanchu(0601)that year,the usual method of determining SCSSM onset date by utilizing the SCS regional indices is less capable of pinpointing the real onset date.In order to solve the problem,larger-scale situations have to be taken into account.Zonal and meridional circulations would be better to determine the break-out date of SCSSM in 2006.The result indicates that its onset date is May 16.Moreover,similar onset dates for other years can be obtained using various methods,implying that large-scale zonal and meridional circulations can be used as an alternative method for determining the SCSSM onset date.

Performance of dynamically loaded journal bearings lubricated with couple stress fluids considering the elasticity of the liner

To take into account the couple stress effects, a modified Reynolds equation is derived for dynamically loaded journal beatings with the consideration of the elasticity of the liner. The numerical results show that the influence of couple stresses on the bearing characteristics is significant. Compared with Newtonian lubricants, lubricants with couple stresses increase the fluid film pressure, as a result enhance the load-carrying capacity and reduce the friction coefficient. However, since the elasticity of the liner weakens the couple stress effect, elastic liners yield a reduction in the load-carrying capacity and an increase in the friction coefficient. The elastic deformation of the bearing liner should be considered in an accurate performance evaluation of the journal bearing.

A new presentation of the Indian Ocean shallow overturning circulation from a vertical perspective

The calculation of the meridional overturning streamfunction in the southern Indian Ocean is biased by the Indonesian Throughflow.Therefore,this study applies the vertical overturning streamfunction to diagnose the shallow overturning circulation in the Indian Ocean.Using the Ocean General Circulation Model for the Earth simulator output,improvements with the vertical overturning streamfunction compared with the meridional overturning streamfunction are explored.The results show that the vertical overturning streamfunction smoothly connects the shallow overturning circulations of the northern Indian Ocean and the southern Indian Ocean with the whole cycle of the subtropical cell and the cross-equatorial cell.The vertical overturning streamfunction shows a much cleaner shallow overturning circulation,which is underestimated by the meridional overturning streamfunction.It shows that the shallow overturning circulation has a magnitude of~13 Sv(1 Sv≡106 m 3 s−1),of which the subtropical cell accounts for~8 Sv.In addition,the vertical overturning streamfunction captures a clockwise overturning cell in the upper 600 m layer between 30°S and 34°S.This cell has a magnitude of about−5 Sv and probably corresponds to the wind-forced subtropical gyre.Therefore,the vertical overturning streamfunction provides a new approach for estimating the shallow overturning circulation in the Indian Ocean.

Simulation of Volume and Heat Transport along 26.5°N in the Atlantic

The observed meridional overtuming circula- tion （MOC） and meridional heat transport （MHT） estimated from the Rapid Climate Change/Meridional Circu- lation and Heat Flux Array （RAPID/MOCHA） at 26.5°N are used to evaluate the volume and heat transport in the eddy-resolving model LASG/IAP Climate system Ocean Model （LICOM）. The authors find that the Florida Cur- rent transport and upper mid-ocean transport of the model are underestimated against the observations. The simulated variability of MOC and MHT show a high correlation with the observations, exceeding 0.6. Both the simulated and observed MOC and MHT show a significant seasonal variability. According to the power spectrum analysis, LICOM can represent the mesoscale eddy characteristic of the MOC similar to the observation. The model shows a high correlation of 0.58 for the internal upper mid-ocean transport （MO） and a density difference between the western and eastern boundaries, as noted in previous studies.

Change in Spring Meridional Circulation and Its Relation to Summer Typhoon Activities

This study documents the decadal changes of the spring meridional circulation （SMC） over 110°E- 165°E and the relationship between the SMC and summer （June-July-August-September） typhoon activity over the Western North Pacific （WNP） during 1948-2010. The authors found that the SMC was changed after 1969. Before its change, the SMC had no clear relation with the summer typhoon number over the WNP （TNWNP）, but after the change, it has become positively correlated with the TNWNP, with a correlation coefficient of 0.57 be- tween them （above the 99% confidence level）. It was ob- served that after the SMC was changed, the positive tropical sea surface temperature anomaly associated with the SMC was shifted from the Equatorial Eastern Pacific （El Nifio） to the equatorial middle Pacific （El Nifio Mo- doki）; at the same time, the Pacific decadal oscillation （PDO） pattern over the North Pacific, which is associated with the SMC, was enhanced. The SMC and the TNWNP are both modulated by the E1 Nifio Modoki after 1969, so the relationship between them becomes significant.

Effect of meridional wind on gap-leaping western boundary current

Using a 1.5-layer reduced-gravity nonlinear shallow-water equation model, we studied the effect of the meridional wind on the western boundary currents (WBC) at critical states with hysteresis courses. The results of the simulation indicate that the WBC is prone to penetrating into the gap under northerly winds, and its path is more difficult to alter due to the larger interval between the two critical transition curves (C1P and C1L). For southerly winds, the WBC is prone to leaping across the gap, and its path is easier to alter due to the smaller interval between the two critical transition curves. The simulation results also indicate that the meridional winds over the southern region of the gap are the dominant factor determining the formation of the WBC. The dynamic mechanism influencing the transport of WBC near the gap is both Ekman transport and the blocking of Ekman transport. Ekman transport induced by northerly winds may reduce the transport of the WBC, causing the β-effect to dominate the meridional advection (promoting the penetration). Southerly winds, however, may enhance the transport of the WBC, causing the meridional advection to dominate the β-effect (promoting the leaping state). These results explain some structural features of the Kuroshio at the Luzon Strait.

Analysis of the variations in the strength and position of stratospheric sudden warming in the past three decades

The authors investigate the statistical features of variations in the strength and position of stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) in the Northern Hemisphere based on ERA-Interim data from 1979 to 2016. It is found that there are 55 SSW events in the past 38 years (average: 1.4 times per year), including 33 major SSW events and 22 minor SSW events. The events mainly occur in February. The variations of the maximum meridional gradient of the zonal mean temperature of the SSW events show increasing trends from 1979 to 1983 and from 1998 to 2011, and decreasing trends from 1984 to 1997 and from 2012 to 2016. However, the linear trend of the variations in the past three decades shows a negative trend. Meanwhile, the strength and duration of major SSW events show similar features. Some SSW events occur at nearly the same time at different levels from 100 hPa to 10 hPa, while others first occur at 10 hPa and then the signal propagates downwards to lower levels. A very interesting phenomenon is that the maximum temperature centers of these 55 SSW events are mainly located over the Eurasian continent between 30°E and 120°E. This may be related to a polar vortex shifting to the Eurasian continent in the past three decades.

Asymmetrical response of summer rainfall in East Asia to CO_(2)forcing

Understanding the regional hydrological response to varying CO_(2)concentration is critical for cost-benefit analysis of mitigation and adaptation polices in the near future. To characterize summer monsoon rainfall change in East Asia in a changing CO_(2)pathway, we used the Community Earth System Model(CESM) with28 ensemble members in which the CO_(2)concentration increases at a rate of 1% per year until its quadrupling peak, i.e., 1468 ppm(ramp-up period), followed by a decrease of 1% per year until the present-day climate conditions, i.e., 367 ppm(ramp-down period). Although the CO_(2)concentration change is symmetric in time, the amount of summer rainfall anomaly in East Asia is increased 42% during a rampdown period than that during a ramp-up period when the two periods of the same CO_(2)concentration are compared. This asymmetrical rainfall response is mainly due to an enhanced El Ni?o-like warming pattern as well as its associated increase in the sea surface temperature in the western North Pacific during a ramp-down period. These sea surface temperature patterns enhance the atmospheric teleconnections and the local meridional circulations around East Asia, resulting in more rainfall over East Asia during a ramp-down period. This result implies that the removal of CO_(2)does not guarantee the return of regional rainfall to the previous climate state with the same CO_(2)concentration.