Time-series analysis of remote-sensed chlorophyll and environmental factors in the Santa Monica–San Pedro Basin off Southern California

The time-series of remote-sensed surface chlorophyll concentration measured by SeaWiFS radiometer from September 1997 to December 2001 and the relevant hydrological and meteorological factors (remote-sensed sea surface temperature, atmospheric precipitation, air temperature and wind stress) in Santa Monica Bay and adjacent waters off southern California were analyzed using wavelet and cross-correlation statistical methods. All parameters exhibited evident seasonal patterns of variation. Wavelet analysis revealed salient long-term variations most evident in air temperature during El Niño 1997–1998 and in wind stress during La Niña 1998–1999. Short-period (<100 days) variations of remote-sensed chlorophyll biomass were mostly typical to spring seasons. Chlorophyll biomass was significantly correlated with air temperature and wind stress: an increase of chlorophyll biomass followed with 5–6-day time lag an increase of wind stress accompanied by a simultaneous decrease of air temperature. The mechanism of these variations was an intensification of phytoplankton growth resulting from the mixing of water column by wind stress and entrainment of nutrients into the euphotic layer.     

Observations of the Fawn Trough Current over the Kerguelen Plateau from instrumented elephant seals

Due to its great meridional extent and relatively shallow depths, the Kerguelen Plateau constitutes a major barrier to the eastward flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. While most of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current transport is deflected north of the Kerguelen Islands, the remainder ( 50 Sv, 1 Sv = 10⁶ m³ s^− 1) must pass south of the islands, most probably through the Fawn and Princess Elizabeth Troughs. However, the paucity of finely resolved quasi-synoptic hydrographic data in this remote and infrequently sampled area has limited the progress in our knowledge of the regional circulation. Since 2004, a new approach using elephant seals from the Kerguelen Islands as autonomous oceanographic profilers has provided new information on the hydrography over the Kerguelen Plateau, covering the entire Antarctic Zone between the Polar Front and Antarctica, with a mean along-track resolution of about 25 km. These finely resolved bio-logged data revealed details of a strong northeastward current found across the Fawn Trough (sill depth: 2600 m; 56°S, 78°E). This so-called Fawn Trough Current transports cold Antarctic waters found mostly south of the Elan Bank, between the Ice Limit (58°S) and the Antarctic Divergence (64°S) in the eastern Enderby Basin, toward the Australian–Antarctic Basin. Our analysis also demonstrates that the Deep Western Boundary Current, which carries cold Antarctic water along the eastern flank of the southern Kerguelen Plateau collides with Fawn Trough Current at the outlet of the Fawn Trough sill. In other words, the Fawn Trough constitutes a veritable bottleneck, channelling the quasi-totality of the Antarctic Circumpolar flow found south of the Polar Front. Thanks to the unprecedented fine resolution of seal-borne data, a branch of flow centered at the Winter Water isotherm of 1 °C is also revealed along the northern escarpment of the Elan Bank, and then along the southern edge of Heard Island. Further analysis of different supplementary data reveals a complex circulation pattern in the entire Enderby Basin, with several distinctive branches of flow being strongly controlled by prominent topographic features such as the Southwest Indian Ridge, Conrad Rise, Elan Bank, and Kerguelen Plateau. This newly emerged frontal structure refines considerably previous large-scale circulation schematics of the area.     

中国汽车产品出口非洲目标市场的确定──AHP模型在国际市场定位中的运用

本文运用层次分析法（ＡＨＰ）分析了影响中国汽车产品出口非洲市场竞争力的主要因素,确定了中国汽车产品出口非洲的目标市场,为我国汽车工业进一步开拓非洲汽车市场提供了科学决策的依据,对我国汽车出口企业和主管部门科学决策具有一定的参考意义和实际应用价值。     

An Economic Approach to Allocating River Water to Estuaries in South Africa

Estuaries are last in line as a recipient of river water and for this reason they are particularly vulnerable to negative environmental impacts due to water scarcity and pollution. They only receive the runoff that has not been abstracted or prevented from reaching rivers. When this runoff is substantially reduced their functionality is undermined and they often become less attractive for recreational use. This article explores some aspects entailed in efficiently managing the allocation of water to estuaries problem and some associated problems. It is shown that efficient management requires the marginal social costs of the inflows to be brought into equivalence with the marginal social values of the inflows, and these values may be estimated, but that there are the challenges in this estimation and in linking these estimates to the welfare of the people in whom the managers of river systems are (presumed to be) interested.     

Overview of public transport policy developments in South Africa

Public transport in South Africa is one of the most burning issues in the transport sector. The government is faced with huge public pressure to improve public transport systems in the face of rising fuel costs, the pending implementation of expensive urban toll road systems in the Gauteng province, and elsewhere in urban environments, public transport safety issues, public transport fleet renewal, especially the commuter rail services, as well as limited resources to fund public transport. As a developing country, the South African Government has pressing funding issues such as funds needed to improve housing for the poor to improve schooling and public health services. Government is also faced with a vocal minibus taxi industry that transports an estimated 65% of all commuters in the country that is also insisting on subsidies for its services.     

Engaging the paratransit sector in Cape Town on public transport reform: Progress,process and risks

The South African government in 2006 initiated an urban public transport reform programme reliant on the introduction of new bus rapid transit (BRT) systems. Affected paratransit operators can opt to be incorporated in these systems by forming new operating companies, but must withdraw their existing services from proposed routes. Cape Town's first phase of BRT operations came online in 2011, and operator engagement has focussed on this phase. The attitudes within this city's paratransit sector in relation to future phases, and to the broader reform policy, remain largely untested. In view of this sector's past resistance to government-led proposals, and the current phase avoiding areas with the highest concentrations of operators, the current engagement process's outcomes may not be adequate indicators of future prospects.     

西非海域外输系统中输油管的疲劳分析

外输系统在深水油田开发中得到了广泛应用,而其中输油管的疲劳问题是外输系统设计分析的关键。针对西非深水海域外输系统中的输油管展开疲劳特性分析,基于典型西非海况下外输系统整体时域耦合分析结果,对输油管时域应力曲线采用雨流计数法进行分析,然后根据合适的S-N曲线和Miner线性准则对输油管进行疲劳损伤计算。分析内容包括西非海域不同的环境条件对输油管疲劳的作用,穿梭油轮系泊情况下输油管的疲劳特性并考虑了横向升力对于输油管疲劳损伤的影响等。通过分析得出与输油管疲劳特性相关的环境参数及造成输油管疲劳损伤的主要因素,为输油管的设计与分析提供参照。     

非洲地区公路项目设计模式研究

研究目的:结合刚果(布)国家1号公路总承包项目的设计模式,探讨非洲公路项目设计管理体制的特点、设计标准的采用以及公路项目中设计的角色定位,并与国内设计模式作比较,为我国的设计工作者进行海外公路项目设计提供有益的借鉴.研究结论:(1) 非洲公路项目大多采用设计、施工一体化总承包的建设管理体制;(2) 非洲公路设计一般采用欧洲标准体系,相应的设计阶段更为详细;(3) 非洲公路设计模式与施工现场结合更加紧密,设计内容比国内标准要更多、更细一些,设计流程也更繁琐;(4) 设计施工一体化模式下设计更要充分考虑施工条件、施工方案等各方面因素,在效益最大化过程中起到举足轻重的作用.     

Recent sedimentary study of the shelf of the Basque country

The Northern Iberian margin of the Spanish Basque country (provinces of Gipuzkoa and Viscaia) is characterized by a narrow continental platform, which receives inputs of riverine particulate matter from the numerous riverine systems located within the Basque country. This particulate matter is subsequently deposited within the Bay of Biscay, and Gouf de Capbreton [Frouin, R., Fiuza, A.F.G., Ambar, I., Boyd, T.J., 1990. Observations of a poleward surface current off the coasts of Portugal and Spain during winter. Journal of Geophysical Research 95 (C1), 679–691]. The main goal of this study is to establish a map of the surface sediment distribution of the Basque continental shelf and more specifically to map the muddy patch located at the eastern side of that continental shelf.Three oceanographic cruises were conducted in 2003 and 2004. From these campaigns 340 surface samples, 12 short cores and 3 gravity cores have been collected over the mid and outer shelf from depths ranging between 50 m and 150 m deep. 3 seismic profiles were obtained across the shelf mud patch using a Sparker device.Sediment grain-size analyses were performed by the classical physical method of sieving and use of settling columns. The POC (Particular Organic Carbon) amounts in sediment and water samples were determined using the Strickland and Parsons' method [Strickland, J.D.H., Parsons, T.R., 1972. Determination of particulate carbon. In : A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Fisheries ResearchBoard of Canada, Ottawa, pp. 207−211] as adapted by Etcheber [Etcheber, H., 1981. Comparaison des diverses méthodes d'évaluation des teneurs en matières en suspension et en carbone organique particulaire des eaux marines du plateau continental aquitain. Journal de Recherche Océanographique VI (2), 37−42]. Radioisotopic measurements (²¹⁰Pb_exc) were made using a semi-planar germanium detector coupled to a multichannel analyser. Radiographical analysis was performed with an X-ray equipment (SCOPIX®) coupled with a radioscopy instrumentation and processing unit.Firstly, a detailed sedimentological map of this shelf has been produced and secondly, geophysical surveys have precisely mapped the geometry of the main mud patch on the continental shelf. In the mud patch itself the rates of sedimentation are between 0.13 and 0.50 cm yr^− 1. The maximum rate of sedimentation is located in the central mud patch, whereas the minimum rate of deposition occurs close to the rocky outcrops. These results seem to be in agreement with the estimation of the total thickness of the mud patch revealed by seismic profiles. The central part corresponds to the maximum thickness of 7 m.Interpretations of the associated oceanic current forcing factors (current direction, wave fetch and wind directional modes) relating to the identified sediment depositional zones are also undertaken.     

《玻璃动物园》中“表演”的南方淑女

田纳西·威廉斯成名作《玻璃动物团》中母亲阿曼达和女儿劳拉属于典型的南方淑女，其言行举止很好地体现了南方淑女在建构过程中的表演性。但是，由于现代工业文明的入侵，芙好的旧南方已不复存在，南方淑女曾经拥有的舞台也化为云烟，优雅的南方淑女失去了往日的观众，其“表演”出现悲剧性的断裂。她们却不愿轻易地退出历史，执意要在重新意指的过程中继续“表演”，建构新的文化身份，只是现在她们的生活已成为一种艺术，她们本身也变成艺术品。威廉斯在思考南方淑女遭遇现代悲剧性命运的同时，也在探讨艺术与生活之间的关系。