Long-term and inter-annual mass changes of Patagonia Ice Field from GRACE

Using more than 14 years of GRACE(Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite gravimetry observations, we estimate the ice loss rate for the Patagonia Ice Field(PIF) of South America. After correcting the effects of glacier isostatic adjustment(GIA) and hydrological variations, the ice loss rate is -23.5 ± 8.1 Giga ton per year(Gt/yr) during the period April 2002 through December 2016, equivalent to an average ice thickness change of-1.3 m/yr if evenly distributed over PIF. The PIF ice mass change series also show obvious inter-annual variations during the entire period. For the time spans April 2002 to December 2007, January 2008 to December 2012 and January 2013 to December 2016, the ice loss rates are -26.4,-9.0 and -25.0 Gt/yr, respectively, indicating that the ice melting experienced significant slowing down and accelerating again in the past decade. Comparison with time series from temperature and precipitation data over PIF suggests that the inter-annual ice losses might not be directly correlated with the temperature changes and precipitation anomalies, and thus their interrelation is intricate. However, the dramatic ice loss acceleration in 2016(with more than 100 Gt within the first half of the year) appears closely related with the evident temperature increase and severe precipitation shortage over 2016, which are likely correlated with the strong E1 Nino event around 2016. Moreover, we compare the GRACE spherical harmonic(SH) and mass concentration(Mascon) solutions in estimating the PIF ice loss rate, and find that the Mascon result has larger uncertainty in leakage error correction,while the SH solutions can better correct leakage errors based on a constrained forward modeling iterative method. Thus the GRACE SH solutions with constrained forward modeling recovery are recommended to evaluating the ice mass change of PIF or other glacier regions with relatively smaller spatial scales.

Secular Changes on the Distribution of Body Mass Index among Chinese Children and Adolescents, 1985-2010

Objective To analyze the change in Body Mass Index （BMI） distribution among Chinese children and adolescents for the development of more effective intervention for childhood obesity. Methods Data on the national students＇ constitution and health survey between 1985 and 2010 was used for this study. Subjects were students aged 7-18 randomly selected from 30 provinces in China. BMI for-age curves were developed by LMS method, and the trend of BMI distribution was determined by comparing the upper BMI percentiles and analyzing the skew shift of distribution between 2985 and 2010. Results An overall positive swift trend of BMI between 1985 and 2010 was observed among the Chinese school-age children and adolescents. The average median of the BMI increased from 16.8 and 17.0 ks/m2 to 18.2 and 17.9 kg/m2 in 25 years, with increments 0.56 and 0.36 kg/m2 per decade for males and females, respectively. The more obvious increments were found at the high BMI. The total increments of BMI in this period were 4.03 and 2.20 kg/m2 at the 85th, 6.24 and 3.57 kg/m2 at the 95th, and 6.99 and 4.27 kg/m2 at the 97th percentiles, for males and females, respectively. Conclusion Obvious increments were observed at high BMI of the Chinese children and adolescents. More effective interventions should be taken for control and prevention of obesity and its health consequence for these subgroups. It is necessary to establish a risk-complex system consisting of the identification of BMI scope, the screen of the disease risk factors and the assessment of excessive adiposity.

Surface seasonal mass changes and vertical crustal deformation in North China from GPS and GRACE measurements

The Earth is an elastic body,and the surface mass loading changes will lead to elastic loading deformation on the surface of the Earth.In this study,we investigated the surface seasonal mass changes and vertical crustal deformation in North China using the data obtained by the techniques of the Global Positioning System(GPS),Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE)and Surface Loading Models(SLMs).The seasonal annual signal and semi-annual signal obtained by the three techniques show strong correlations.The average value of the weighted root-mean-square(WRMS)of the all 30 sites is 58%after deducting the GRACE-obtained vertical deformation from the GPS-derived vertical deformation.However,the consistency of results between GPS and SLMs is not so good,with a 31%mean WRMS reduction,due to the fact that the global SLMs perform not well in North China.The GRACEmeasured long-term trend is deducted from the GPS-obtained vertical rates to reveal the crustal displacement caused by the underground factors such as tectonic movement and groundwater in North China.The results show that the rates of stations HECX and TJBH are very large,more than 10 mm/yr,which suggests that the surface subsidence is caused by excessive exploitation of groundwater.

Feasibility Research of Using Phase Change Materials to Reduce the Inner Temperature Rise of Mass Concrete

In order to evaluate the feasibility of using phase change materials to reduce the inner temperature rise of mass concrete, the interior temperature of normal concrete specimen under semi-adiabatic curing condition was measured. The effect of embedding phase change material(PCM) and replacing water with suspension of phase change material(SPCM) as cooling fluid were compared in the experiment. The cooling effect and the affecting factors were analyzed and calculated. The research results showed that the peak of inner temperature could be decreased obviously by the method of pre-embeding PCM in concrete, however, this method is only effective in the initial stage of cement hydration process. Besides, the volume of PCM is rather big and the PCM can not be used circularly, which means that this method can only be used under special condition and the feasibility is low. When SPCM was used as cooling fluid, the interior temperature rise of mass concrete was reduced more effectively, and the temperature grads peak around the cooling pipe was also reduced. Besides, both the SPCM consumption amount and the circulation time were decreased, and most important is that the SPCM is recyclable. The technical and economical feasibility of using SPCM to reduce the inner temperature rise of mass concrete is high.

GRACE RL05-based ice mass changes in the typical regions of antarctica from 2004 to 2012

The Antarctic ice sheet is the largest block of ice on Earth, a tiny change of its ice sheet will have a significant impact on sea level change, so it plays an important role in global climate change. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment （GRACE） mission, launched in 2002, provides an alternative method to monitor the Antarctic ice mass variation. The latest Release Level 05 （ RL05 ） version of GRACE time-variable gravity （TVG） data, derived from GRACE observations with improved quality and time-span over 10 years, were released by three GRACE data centers （CSR, JPL and GFZ） in April 2012, which gives us a chance to re-estimate the ice mass change over Antarctic more accurately. In this paper, we examine ice mass changes in regional scale, including Antarctic Peninsula （AP, West Antarctica）, Amundsen Sea Embayment （ASE, West Antarctica）, Lambert-Amery System （LAS, East Antarctica） and 27 drainage basins based on three data sets. The AP mass change rates are -12.03±0.74 Gt/a （CSR, 2004-2012）, -13.92±2.33 Gt/a （JPL, 2004 -2012） , -12.28±0.76 Gt/a （GFZ, 2005-2012） , with an acceleration of -1.50±0.25 Gt/a^2, -1.54±0.26 Gt/a^2, -0. 46±0.28 Gt/a^2 respectively, the ASE mass change rates are -89.22±1.93 Gt/a, -86.28± 2.20 Gt/a, -83.67±1.76 Gt/a with an acceleration of -10. 03±0. 65 Gt/a^2, -8.74±0. 74 Gt/a^2 and -5.69 ±0.68 Gt/a^2, and the LAS mass ehange rates are -4.31±1.95 Gt/a, -7.29±2. 84 Gt/a, 1.20±1.35 Gt/a with an acceleration of -0. 18±0.62 Gt/a^2, 3.55±0.95 Gt/a^2 and 0.97±0.49 Gt/a^2. The mass change rates derived from the three RL05 data are very close to each other both in AP and ASE with the uncertainties much smaller than the change rates, and mass losses are significantly accelerated since 2007 in AP and 2006 in ASE, respectively. However, the mass change rates are significantly different in LAS, negative rate from CSR and JPL data, but positive rate from GFZ data, the uncertainties are even larger than the correspondent change rates. With regard to the 27 drainage basins, seven basins （basin 3-9） located in the east Antarctica show positive mass change rates, and the rest twenty basins are characterized by negative mass change rates during the time span of the three RL05 data.

Experimental study of the mass transfer behavior of carbon dioxide absorption into ternary phase change solution in a packed tower

Phase change absorbents for CO_(2)are of great interest because they are expected to greatly reduce the heat energy consumption during the regeneration process.Compared with other phase change absorbents,monoethanolamine(MEA)-sulfolane-water is inexpensive and has a fast absorption rate.It is one of the most promising solvents for large-scale industrial applications.Therefore,this study investigates the mass transfer performance of this phase change system in the process of CO_(2)absorption in a packed tower.By comparing the phase change absorbent and the ordinary absorbent,it is concluded that the use of MEA/sulfolane phase change absorbent has significantly improved mass transfer efficiency compared to a single MEA absorbent at the same concentration.In the 4 mol·L^(-1)MEA/5 mol·L^(-1)sulfolane system,the CO_(2)loading of the upper liquid phase after phase separation is almost zero,while the volume of the lower liquid phase sent to the desorption operation is about half of the total volume of the absorbent,which greatly reduces the energy consumption.This study also investigates the influence of operating parameters such as lean CO_(2)loading,gas and liquid flow rates,CO_(2)partial pressure,and temperature on the volumetric mass transfer coefficient(K_(G)α_(V)).The research shows that K_(G)α_(V) increases with increasing liquid flow rate and decreases with the increase of lean CO_(2)loading and CO_(2)partial pressure,while the inert gas flow rate and temperature have little effect on K_(G)α_(V).In addition,based on the principle of phase change absorption,a predictive equation for the K_(G)α_(V) of MEA-sulfolane in the packed tower was established.The K_(G)α_(V) obtained from the experiment is consistent with the model prediction,and the absolute average deviation(AAD)is 7.8%.

Mass change of the Antarctic ice sheet inferred from ICESat and CryoSat-2

This study examined the mass change of the Antarctic ice sheet(AIS) based on ICESat and CryoSat-2 observations. We estimated the AIS exhibited mass losses of-101±15 Gt·aduring the ICESat period(Sept–Nov 2003 to Sept–Oct 2009) and-186±55 Gt·aduring the CryoSat-2 period(Jan 2011 to Dec 2015). Mass losses occurred mainly in the sectors of the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas. Benefitting from the 30-d subcycle of CryoSat-2, we obtained monthly estimates of mass evolution. Considerable annual variations were observed in the mass evolution sequences and the climatological monthly mass evolution. Seasonal mass evolutions in the sectors of the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas were found most representative of the annual variation. The geographical distribution characteristics of interannual AIS mass evolution were revealed by the annual average mass evolution sequences. During Jan 2011 to Dec 2015, the ice sheets in the sectors of the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas, and the Totten Glacier, experienced increasingly rapid areal mass loss. An area of mass gain with a moderate rate of increase was found between Dronning Maud Land and Enderby Land. Rapid mass accumulation has occurred in a limited area of the Kamb Ice Stream.

Mass and chemical changes of immobile elements in Yamaghan Occurrence, Zanjan Province, Iran

Using mass and chemical changes, behavior of some elements have been evaluated in the study area, Yamaghan Occurrence. The techniques using immobile elements can precisely identify altered volcanic rock precursors and measure material changes. The rocks of the study area were affected by hydrothermal alteration. Testing of some compatible incompatible and compatible compatible immobile pairs indicates that Al 2O 3 is the most immobile component in the study area. It means that during the three main stages of hydrothermal alteration (phyllic, intermediate argillic and propylitic) aluminum was the most immobile and titanium was slightly immobile. Increases in mass mostly result from mineralization, silicification or carbonatization as voids and other open space fillings and may have replaced the part of glassy matrix. Mass addition has diluted the immobile elements at constant rates. Mass loss is commonly due to leaching of Si, Ca and Na 2O during chloritization and sericitization. The mass loss is recognized by increased proportions of inert minerals such as chlorite and sericite. Mineralographic studies in the study area shows the existence of a supergene zone. Calcocite and covellite are considered enriched minerals. Considering this evidence and mass change results, the enrichment of copper in the circulating fluid is suspected with occasional sulfide precipitation.

The distribution and inter-annual variation of water masses on the Bering Sea shelf in summer

On the basis of the CTD data obtained within the Bering Sea shelf by the Second to Sixth Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition in the summers of 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, the classification and interannual variation of water masses on the central Bering Sea shelf and the northern Bering Sea shelf are analyzed. The results indicate that there are both connection and difference between two regions in hydrological features. On the central Bering Sea shelf, there are mainly four types of water masses distribute orderly from the slope to the coast of Alaska： Bering Slope Current Water（BSCW）, MW（Mixed Water）, Bering Shelf Water（BSW） and Alaska Coastal Water（ACW）. In summer, BSW can be divided into Bering Shelf Surface Water（BSW_S） and Bering Shelf Cold Water（BSW_C）. On the northern Bering Sea shelf near the Bering Strait,it contains Anadyr Water（AW）, BSW and ACW from west to east. But the spatial-temporal features are also remarkable in each region. On the central shelf, the BSCW is saltiest and occupies the west of 177°W, which has the highest salinity in 2014. The BSW_C is the coldest water mass and warmest in 2014; the ACW is freshest and mainly occupies the east of 170°W, which has the highest temperature and salinity in 2012. On the northern Bering Sea shelf near the Bering Strait, the AW is saltiest with temperature decreasing sharply compared with BSCW on the central shelf. In the process of moving northward to the Bering Strait, the AW demonstrates a trend of eastward expansion. The ACW is freshest but saltier than the ACW on the central shelf,which is usually located above the BSW and is saltiest in 2014. The BSW distributes between the AW and the ACW and coldest in 2012, but the cold water of the BSW_C on the central shelf, whose temperature less than 0°C, does not exist on the northern shelf. Although there are so many changes, the respond to a climate change is synchronized in the both regions, which can be divided into the warm years（2003 and 2014） and cold years（2008, 2010 and 2012）. The year of 2014 may be a new beginning of warm period.

Long Term Sea Level Change and Water Mass Balance in the South China Sea

Sea level anomalies observed by altimeter during the 1993–2006 period, thermosteric sea level anomalies estimated by using subsurface temperature data produced by Ishii and SODA reanalysis data, tide gauge records and HOAPS freshwater flux data were analyzed to investigate the long term sea level change and the water mass balance in the South China Sea. The altimeter-observed sea level showed a rising rate of (3.5±0.9) mm yr-1 during the period 1993–2006, but this figure was considered to have been highly distorted by the relatively short time interval and the large inter-decadal variability, which apparently exists in both the thermosteric sea level and the observed sea level. Long term thermosteric sea level from 1945 to 2004 gave a rising rate of 0.15±0.06 mm yr-1. Tide gauge data revealed this discrepancy and the regional distributions of the sea-level trends. Both the ‘real’ and the thermosteric sea level showed a good correspondence to ENSO: decreasing during El Nio years and increasing during La Nia years. Amplitude and phase differences between the ‘real’ sea level and the thermosteic sea level were substantially revealed on both seasonal and interannual time scales. As one of the possible factors, the freshwater flux might play an important role in balancing the water mass.

Climate， mass balance and glacial changes on small dome of Collins Ice Cap， King George Island， Antarctica

During 1991/1992 Chinese Antarctic Expedition, a full-year glacial investigations on the small dome of Coffins Ice Cap were carried out, the data from investigations showed that vertical temperature gradients on small dome were about 0. 79℃/100m and 0. 66℃/100m in the summer and in the winter separately. LOwer summer temperature in this area is one Of most important conditions for glacial development. In 1991/1992 the small dome was a weak positive balance year with a mass balance difference of 163 mm, annual ELA was 140m, mass balance gradient was 8.4mm/m and mass balance level was 928mm. Mass balance fluctuations on small dome in 1971-1992 were calculated by a new method, the results revealed that the small dome of Coffins Ice Cap was relatively stable over 21 years.

Direct incorporation of paraffin wax as phase change material into mass concrete for temperature control: mechanical and thermal properties

Taking advantage of heat absorbing and releasing capability of phase change material(PCM),Paraffin wax-based concrete was prepared to assess its automatic temperature control performance.The mechanical properties of PCM concrete with eight different Paraffin wax contents were tested by the cube compression test and four-point bending test.The more Paraffin wax incorporated,the greater loss of the compressive strength and bending strength.Based on the mechanical results,four contents of Paraffin wax were chosen for studying PCM concrete's thermal properties,including thermal conductivity,thermal diffusivity,specific heat capacity,thermal expansion coefficient and adiabatic temperature rise.When the Paraffin wax content increases from 10%to 20%,the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity decrease from 7.31 kJ/(m·h·°C)to 7.10 kJ/(m·h·°C)and from 3.03×10−3 m2/h to 2.44×10−3 m2/h,respectively.Meanwhile the specific heat capacity and thermal expansion coefficient rise from 5.38×10−1 kJ/(kg·°C)to 5.76×10−1 kJ/(kg·°C)and from 9.63×10−6/°C to 14.02×10−6/°C,respectively.The adiabatic temperature rise is found to decrease with an increasing Paraffin wax content.Considering both the mechanical and thermal properties,15%of Paraffin wax was elected for the mass concrete model test,and the model test results confirm the effect of Paraffin wax in automatic mass concrete temperature control.

The impact of climate changes on mass events in China

There is an increasing number of "mass events" in China's Mainland.My study extends the current studies to the context of China and tries to examine the potential impacts of climate changes on human conflias in China.The results suggest a strong linkage between the deviation of monthly mean temperature from the historical mean and the number of mass events in a province.If the current trend of warming persists,in the next 6-8 decades,the number of mass events in China will increase by over 8.8%.

The Effects of Mass Media on Chinese Cultural Change in Global Con⁃ text: Taking Festival Culture as Example

With advanced technologies and globalization,there are more and more forms of mass media to transmit information.Different theories have been developed to study the effects of mass media on people and culture.This paper focuses on introducing the concept and functions of mass media and taking festival culture as example to explore how to use media correctly to carry forward cultural inheritance.

Sea level change under IPCC-A2 scenario in Bohai, Yellow, and East China Seas

Because of the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of anthropogenic sea level rise （SLR）, it is very important to understand the processes leading to past and present SLRs towards more reliable future SLR projections. A regional ocean general circulation model （ROGCM）, with a grid refinement in the Bohai, Yellow, and East China Seas （BYECSs）, was set up to project SLR induced by the ocean dynamic change in the 21st century. The model does not consider the contributions from ice sheets and glacier melting. Data of all forcing terms required in the model came from the simulation of the Community Climate System Model version 3.0 （CCSM3） under the International Panel on Climate Change （IPCC）-A2 scenario. Simulation results show that at the end of the 21st century, the sea level in the BYECSs will rise about 0.12 to 0.20 m. The SLR in the BYECSs during the 21st century is mainly caused by the ocean mass redistribution due to the ocean dynamic change of the Pacific Ocean, which means that water in the Pacific Ocean tends to move to the continental shelves of the BYECSs, although the local steric sea level change is another factor.

Glacier Changes during the Past 40 Years in the West Kunlun Shan

Recent studies on glaciers in the West Kunlun Shan, northwest Tibetan Plateau, have shown that they may be stable or retreating slightly. Here, we assess changes in the mass of the glaciers in the West Kunlun Shan(WKS) in an attempt to understand the processes that control their behavior. Glaciers over the recent 40 years(1970-2010) have shrunk 3.4±3.1%in area, based on a comparison between two Chinese glacier inventories. Variations of surface elevations, derived from ICESat-GLAS(Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) elevation products(GLA14 data) using the robust linear-fit method, indicate that the glaciers have been gaining mass at a rate of 0.23±0.24 m w.e./a since 2003. The annual mass budget for the whole WKS range from 2003 to 2009 is estimated to be 0.71±0.62 Gt/a. This gain trend is confirmed by MOD10A1 albedo for the WKS region which shows a descent of the mean snowline altitude from 2003 to 2009.

Glacier changes since the early 1960s, eastern Pamir, China

Glaciers in the eastern Pamir are important for water resources and the social and economic development of the region.In the last 50 years,these glaciers have shrunk and lost ice mass due to climate change.In order to understand recent glacier dynamics in the region,a new inventory was compiled from Landsat TM/ETM+ images acquired in2009,free of clouds and with minimal snow cover on the glacierized mountains.The first glacier inventory of the area was also updated by digitizing glacier outlines from topographical maps that had been modified and verified using aerial photographs.Total glacier area decreased by 10.8%±1.1%,mainly attributed to an increase in air temperature,although precipitation,glacier size and topographic features also combined to affect the general shrinkage of the glaciers.The 19.3–21.4 km^3 estimated glacier mass loss has contributed to an increase in river runoff and water resources.

Trends in gravity changes from 2009 to 2013 derived from ground-based gravimetry and GRACE data in North China

North China is a key region for studying geophysical progress. In this study, ground-based and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment（GRACE） gravity data from 2009 to 2013 are used to calculate the gravity change rate（GCR） using the polynomial fitting method. In general, the study area was divided into the Shanxi rift, Jing-Jin-Ji（Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Province）, and Bohai Bay Basin（BBB） regions. Results of the distribution of the GCR determined from ground-based gravimetry show that the GCR appears to be ＂negativepositive-negative＂ from west to east, which indicates that different geophysical mechanisms are involved in the tectonic activities of these regions. However, GRACE solutions are conducted over a larger spatial scale and are able to show a difference between southern and northern areas and a mass redistribution of land water storage.

Glacier Area Change over Past 50 Years to Stable Phase in Drass Valley, Ladakh Himalaya (India)

Glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of constantly exchanging mass with parts of global hydrological system, process by which glaciers gain or lose snow and ice and establish a link between climate, glacier mass and glacier fluvial dynamics related directly to the behaviour of climate. Here, we report on glacier status over the past 50 years (1962-2013) on remotely-sensed volumetric changes of glaciers in Drass glacier basin, Ladakh Mountain, North-West Himalaya. Drass basin houses 150 glaciers of different dimensions predominantly (nearly 75%) by small sized glaciers. The glaciers monitored on multi-temporal satellite images of the year’s 2001, 2013 for short-term basis, and, Survey of India topographic sheets of 1965 (surveyed in 1963) on long-term basis. Machoi glacier has been selected for detailed study to assess health and fluctuation record on which observation has been made since the year 1875. The long-term monitoring (1965-2001) of 81 glaciers shows that 12.5% of glaciers have gained the area whereas 14% of large glaciers lost area 5% to 15%, and remaining 73% glaciers lost area marginally (<5%). The short-term monitoring shows that 80% glaciers do not show any change in area;even large glaciers vacated 0.64% - 2.6% area and small glaciers 1.68% - 9% glacier area. The trends in annual, seasonal and monthly maximum/minimum temperature and precipitation (snowfall and rainfall) of Drass for period 1987-2013 show that two different patterns of weather conditions: 1988-2001, cold moist winters with dry summers, and 2002-2013, a period of long winters and cool and moist summers, corroborate with transitional phase of glacier behaviour. This phenomenon has resulted in incorporating no change in area of 80% of glacier (120 glaciers) and remaining 20 percentage of glaciers show marginal loss in area. The positive balance mass for last four years (2011-2014) in benchmark Machoi glacier with cumulative specific balance +0.16 m w.e/km2/yr further indicates about the stability phase of the glaciers.

The World Physical Triad: Matter, Antimatter and “Dark Energy” in the Processes of Climatic Changes on the Earth

The opening and many years of research of magnetic spinor particles (real magnetic charges) in atoms and substance have enabled the author to formulate the conception of the Physical Triad, according which the real World consists of three fundamental phases: Matter, Antimatter and Energo-phase (Energo-medium). Particles of Matter are called spinors and particles of Antimatter are called antispinors. Energo-medium is a gasiform phase of high density that fills by himself all the infinite space of the real World. It consists of spinless and massless particles-energions. Spinor fields can be both flows energions (fields of Matter), so and anti-flow energions (fields of Antimatter). Atomic-shaped structures consisting of electric and magnetic spinor particles represent a Physical Mass (atoms, nucleons, etc.). The main characteristic of all varieties of Mass is its ability radiate gravitational field, which is a vortex electromagnetic field. All spinor particles are massless so as individually generate a gravitational field they can’t. All primary forces in the real World are implemented by means of Energo-medium, i.e. contact pressure its particles—energions. The spinor fields, including the gravitational field, myself the real of the power significance, have not. They are only intermediaries, inducing in Energo-medium its active (power) education, which is called “Dark Energy”. “Dark Energy” can be both positive, so and negative. Namely, a positive “Dark Energy”, which is associated with the technical activity of man, is responsible for stable climatic changes on Earth. Greenhouse gases are not the main “culprit” of climatic changes on our planet. However, these gases are the simplest indicator of the overall level of irreversible physical processes that stimulate the growth of the positive “Dark Energy” and are responsible for the negative thermal scenario on Earth.