Winter Mass Research Articles

Some results of glacier mass balance research on the glaciers of the Polar Urals

Abstract A complete series of mass balance observations made on the IGAN and Obruchev glaciers in the Polar Urals for the 1957/58–1980/81 balance years is presented. The values of the annual and winter mass balances were measured and the summer balance was obtained as their difference. The mean and extreme altitudes of the equilibrium line at the end of the balance year were identified. A satisfactory relationship was demonstrated between the annual balance and the equilibrium line altitude and the percentage share of the accumulation area, i.e., the ratio between the area of the accumulation zone and the total area of the glacier. Changes in winter, summer and annual mass balances with altitude were analyzed over the long term and for years with extreme mass balance values. The IGAN and Stor glaciers were compared in terms of annual, summer, and winter mass balance values. Integral‐differential curves of the type S Ax/a demonstrate opposing trends in the mass balance changes and the mass balance componen...

Tiller appearance and death ofLolium perennein mixed swards grazed by dairy cattle at two stocking rates

Abstract Ryegrass tiller appearance, death, and density were examined in perennial ryegrass — white clover pastures stocked with 2.77 (LSR) or 4.28 (HSR) dairy cows per hectare. Rates of tiller appearance and death were highest between November and January and were low and variable between February and October. Tillering in autumn was low and similar to that in winter (27.8 and 27.7 tillers/m2 per day, respectively). The rate of tiller death (but not appearance) was influenced by stocking rate, and was greater (P<0.01) in LSR than HSR swards during spring (29.5 and 21.2 tillers/m2 per day, respectively) and summer (61.3 and 39.9 tillers/m2 per day, respectively). Higher tiller death rates in LSR swards resulted in lower (P<0.05) tiller density during summer and autumn and reduced heterogeneity of tiller age population. Herbage mass in autumn was composed of more (P<0.05) new tillers in LSR than HSR swards (61.1 and 46.4%, respectively). Herbage mass in winter and spring consisted of a variety of tiller ag...

Gonadal and photoperiodic control of seasonal body weight changes in male voles.

After 15 wk in a short photoperiod (10 h of light/day), adult male voles weighed 25% less and consumed 33% less food than did voles in a long photoperiod (14 h light/day). Neither body weight nor food intake differed among long- and short-day castrated voles. After 19 wk, castrated long-day voles weighed less than did intact animals. Voles reduced their body weight during the first 15 wk in the short photoperiod and increased their body mass during the succeeding 15 wk. Body mass of short-day voles was positively correlated with combined testes weight. Voles in the short photoperiod collected less nesting material than did their long-day counterparts at week 31. Pelage characteristics at week 32 were not affected by castration or by photoperiod. We conclude that the decreased body mass of male voles during the late summer, fall, and early winter reflects a decrease in circulating levels of testicular hormones; gonadal recrudescence and increased circulating androgen levels are in part responsible for the subsequent seasonal increase in body weight. Part of the increased body mass in late winter in field populations or in laboratory voles after 15 wk in the short photoperiod is independent of the resumption of gonadal activity. Fluctuations in neural and endocrine processes, rather than availability of food, are the principal factors underlying seasonal changes in energy balance.

Notes on Theba pisana and quantitative determinations of lysosomal enzymes and transaminases from the head-foot of this gastropod

This study was carried out to ascertain whether any significant fluctuations in the levels of activity of acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, lysozyme, β-glucuronidase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, and glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase from head-foot tissues of the terrestrial gastropod Theba pisana from Israel could be correlated with the winter mass mortalities. It has been determined that there is an elevation in alkaline phosphatase activity during the colder seasons (spring, autumn, and winter) but this cannot be associated with mass mortality. Also, there is a steady rise in glutamic-pyruvic transaminase activity in the spring, terminating in winter prior to death. This is interpreted to reflect a conpensatory metabolic shift prior to death. It is now known that the head-foot tissues in T. pisana can contribute certain lysosomal enzymes to the serum via the open circulatory system.

Metabolic and respiratory responses of arctic mammals to ambient temprature during the summer

1. 1. Respiratory frequency ( f), tidal volume ( V t ) and minute volume ( V ̇ min ) of eight species and oxygen consumption ( V ̇ o 2 ) of six species of summer acclimatized Arctic mammals were similar to that of temperate zone mammals. 2. 2. In small mammals, V ̇ o 2 increases at low T a resulted in augmented V ̇ min through increased f and V t , while in large mammals f was relatively constant at low T a . 3. 3. Except in weasels, basal metabolism was similar in winter and summer. 4. 4. Mass-specific conductance exhibits similar slope on body mass in winter and summer acclimatized animals with a greater intercept for summer animals. 5. 5. Critical gradient ( T b — T c ) exhibits similar slopes on body mass for winter and summer animals with a greater intercept for winter animals. 6. 6. Both large and small Arctic mammals can operate at similar metabolic levels in winter and summer as a result of seasonal pelage changes.

Nonurban nonmethane low molecular weight hydrocarbon concentrations related to air mass identification

The natural or nonpolluted atmosphere contains a wide range of organic materials in addition to methane. Although presently available data on the detailed organic content of the atmosphere are quite limited, gas chromatographic data from three organizations are available that provide analyses from Point Barrow, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, California, and the Amazon jungle. These available data have been classified according to the meteorological air mass that was present in the sampling area. This procedure serves to relate the sample data to the recent meteorological history of the air sample. On a qualitative basis, tropical maritime air moving onshore from the Pacific in the summer has the lowest general concentration of organics of the hydrocarbons in the C2-C6 range. Maritime polar air masses in winter and arctic air masses show higher concentrations. The Amazonian equatorial air masses in both the wet and the dry season are shown by data of the National Center for Atmospheric Research to have very much higher concentrations, by two or more orders of magnitude, than were obtained in mid-latitude samples. In all samples, compounds that typically were identified included pentane, propane, butane, and acetone. The source of the atmospheric acetone concentrations is believed to be atmospheric reactions involving vegetation-generated terpenes. Sources of other compounds as well as atmospheric scavenging rates for these compounds are not well defined but undoubtedly are dependent on both atmospheric and biospheric processes.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF JAPANESE CLIMATES

Many attempts have been made to classify the climates of Japan by means of mean values of the official meteorological stations, as, for example, by the January mean temperature. In fact climatic pheno-mena are too small to be revealed by the above-mentioned method, since the stations average 100 kilometre' distance from each other. Besides, regional differences tend to disappear in a calculation of mean values.. Thus this method defines the climatic boundaries too vaguely. The author of this article, in an attempt to avoid these errors, has made daily precipitation charts (scale: 1/1, 500, 000) for a year using all the non-official meteorological stations whose average distance apart is only 15 kilometers. The weather differences were then analysed. The analysis reveals that the most characteristic difference is in air masss prevalence. In Summer the polar front reaches as far north as Hokkaido and moves to the south again in winter. Over North Hokkaido a warm tropical air mass cannot be expected to stay at all during the year. Thus, by means of this difference of air mass prevalence, the climate of Japan is divided into two primary zones. A second division is made by the regional difference of winter precipitation. A third division is created by the concentration of heavy rainfall in certain areas. A detailed study of the daily precipitation chart shows that there is no other important difference of climate in Japan. Using the method described above, the author classifies the climate of Japan into nine categories as below.PPIa PTIa PPIb PTIb — PTIIa PPIIb PTIIb — PTIIIa — PTIIIb PP=Polar air mass both in Summer and Winter. PT=Tropical air mass in Summer and polar air mass in Winter. I=Precipitation in Winter monsoon. II=Transition from I to III. III=No precipitation from the Winter monsoon. a=Heavy rain in cyclone. b=Normal rain in cyclone.

The size of atmospheric nuclei: Some deductions from measurements of the number of charged and uncharged nuclei at kew observatory

The first object of this paper is to set out formulae to be used in determining the size of condensation nuclei from observation of the concentration in the atmosphere of charged and uncharged nuclei and observation of the numbers of small ions of either sign. It is well known that ratios of the combination coefficients which specify the rates of combination of small ions with charged or uncharged nuclei can be deduced from such observations. In the present analysis the following additional principles are assumed. (1) The combination coefficients are related to w, the mobility of small ions by Whipple's hypothetical equation η12 - η10 = 4πew, and (2) combination between small ions and uncharged nuclei are produced solely by collisions due to the random Brownian movements of the small ions. On the assumption that a small ion is equal in mass to eleven molecules of water it is deduced from Scrase's observations at Kew Observatory that so long as the relative humidity is less than 80 per cent the radius of a nucleus is approximately 3 × 10-6 cm. With higher humidities the radii are larger, at 82 per cent 4.2 × 10-6 cm. and at 89 per cent 4.5 × 10-6 cm. In the last section of the paper Kohler's theory of the growth of nuclei in an atmosphere in which humidity increases is applied, and on the assumption that the hygroscopic nuclei at Kew are of diluted sulphuric acid, it is found that in summer the mass of the acid in a nucleus is about 18 × 10-17 g., the corresponding mass in winter being 12 × 10-17 g. If the predominant nuclei are of common salt or of nitrous acid these estimates must be halved to give the mass of salt or of the latter acid in a nucleus.