Temperate Belt Research Articles

West Siberian Plain as a late glacial desert

The paper presents results of morphoscopic studies of quartz grains recovered from sands underlying surficial peat over the West Siberian Plain. The field materials were collected in the course of the Russian–American expedition in 1999–2001. The data obtained proved the existence of a vast area in West Siberia similar to cold deserts in appearance at the late glacial time (and probably even as early as the Last Glacial Maximum – 18–20 ka BP). The desert was confined to the arctic and temperate belts, the southernmost part of the plain being an area of loess accumulation.

Studies on the Joint Impact of Mulberry Cultivation and Sericulture Enterprise as a Scheme for Border Area Development Programme in Kashmir, India

With the Development of New Technologies in Silkworm Rearing though Sericulture Has now Emerged as a Main Profession and a Major Cash Crop for the Rural People of the India in Tropical Areas but in Temperate Belt Like Kashmir the Constraints Faced by the Sericulture Farmers/silkworm Rearers Are More and these Are Responsible for Yield Gaps which Have to Be Considered Seriously and Accordingly the Extension Services Need to Be Modulated and Implemented. Exploitable Yield Gaps in Border Areas Are Often Caused by Various Factors Including Physical, Biological, Socio-Economic and Institutional Constraints which Can Be Effectively Improved through Participatory and Holistic Approaches. Kashmir Is a Univoltine Area where for Generations only one Crop in Spring Season Is Taken between May and June. Spring (May – June, 2009) Data of Kandi Kupwara J&K India (Border Area) Revealed Varying Cocoon Yields from 7 to 13 Kgs Dry Cocoons per 100 DFLS with Cocoon Price Varying from Rs. 172-430 per Kg. these Facts and Figures Prove that these Silkworm Rearers by Realizing the Potential of Sericulture (a New Culture in a Border Area) Increased their Income Substantially from Rs. 720 to Rs.5590/100DFLS. it Was Also Found that Sericulture Productivity Can Be Further Increased by Planting Improved Varieties of Mulberry as it Has Been Observed that where, Very Good Quality Mulberry Leaf and Inputs Are Available, the Sericulture Productivity Is Reasonably Good. the Present Communication, Therefore, Discusses the Extension Strategies and New Technologies to Improve the Essential Knowledge and Skills to the Sericulture Farmers to Improve the Yield and Profitability of Sericulture.

Morphology and phylogeny of Dicellophilus, a centipede genus with a highly disjunct distribution (Chilopoda: Mecistocephalidae)

The centipede genus Dicellophilus Cook, 1896 (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Mecistocephalidae) has been revised by means of a comparative examination of representative specimens of all the species: morphological variation has been documented by means of both light and scanning electronic microscopy, the geographical distribution has been reassessed and updated based on published and new records, and the phyletic relations between the species have been analysed based on morphological evidence. Dicellophilus is confirmed as a highly distinct lineage, supported by synapomorphies in the labrum and in the pattern of coxal organs. Four species are morphologically recognized, each of them occurring in one of three limited, highly disjunct areas in a restricted boreal temperate belt: Dicellophilus carniolensis (C.L. Koch, 1847) is limited to central Europe (central–eastern Alps, Dinarids, Carpathians, and Dobrogea), Dicellophilus pulcher (Kishida, 1928) occurs in Japan (Honshu), and Dicellophilus anomalus (Chamberlin, 1904) and Dicellophilus limatus (Wood, 1862) both occur in the south-western part of North America (California and Oregon). High support has been found for the following phyletic relationships: (D. carniolensis (D. pulcher (D. anomalus + D. limatus))). Dicellophilus carniolensis is strongly distinct in some autapomorphic traits, including enlarged clypeus and fewer mandibular lamellae, whereas the sister species D. anomalus and D. limatus share some derived features, including an elongated head and associated appendages, longer antennal setae, and stronger forcipular tubercles. The peculiar geographical distribution of Dicellophilus and the historical scenario suggested by the phylogeny are very unusual in respect to the biogeographical patterns known in all other major groups of terrestrial animals. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 158, 501–532.

Evolution of the cloud field and wind structure of Jupiter's highest speed jet during a huge disturbance

Aims. Despite the banded visual aspect of cloud patterns in Jupiter, high resolution images indicate that these regions are markedly turbulent. One region of particular interest is the north temperate belt (NTB) at 21 ◦ N planetocentric latitude, where the most intense Jovian jet resides with eastward peak speeds of 160−180 m s −1 . Almost every 15 years, the NTB is known to experience an eruption or disturbance that dramatically changes its appearance, a phenomenon known as NTB disturbance (NTBD). In this work, we characterize the morphology of the disturbed cloud field in the wake of the plumes that caused the perturbation, and check for changes in the velocity or shape of the jet. Methods. The 2007 disturbance was witnessed with unprecedented resolution by the Hubble Space Telescope and by a long-term survey based on the “International Outer Planet Watch” (IOPW) network. Our analysis is based on the brightness spectral distribution to characterize both the typical spatial frequency of the perturbation and its turbulent and wavy nature. We also compare our characterization with non-linear dynamical simulations of the disturbance using the EPIC dynamical model. Finally, we obtain a renewed wind profile for the region of interest by cloud tracking. Results. We detect a change in the power spectral slope of the cloud brightness following the disturbance that is related to a change in the typical size of the observed structures. We model the initial disturbance as a Rossby wave. A comparison of the jet profile in the NTB just after the disturbance ended (June 2007) with one observed a year later (July 2008), illustrates a net change occurred in the westward jet at 16 ◦ N with a speed change of 25 m s −1 . As implied by the power spectra analysis, the disturbance and its related Rossby wave dissipate. We propose that this dissipation produced a momentum transfer to the anticyclonic side of the NTB jet increasing the speed of the westward jet at 16 ◦ N as also supported by numerical simulations.

Freshwater fishes and water status in México: A country-wide appraisal.

México is the southernmost country in North America, and extends into Central America, south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The northern half of México is located on the Temperate belt and is arid in character (Nearctic), while the rest is within the Tropical belt (Neotropical). Climate varies from extremely temperate desert in the north, to tropical humid in the south. México has more than 500 freshwater fish species, about 271 of them country endemics, and approximately 48 endemics from binational basins. There are still some 30–40 fish species not yet described. There are 563 fish species colonizing coastal flood plain species. In addition to the numbers of colonizing fishes, the burden of introduced exotics has also been growing. In 1904, only 4 species were recognized as exotics; by 1997 the number had increased to 94, and by 2008 to 115. The main fish collections in Mexico are at IPN, UNAM, and UANL and are the most representative, being national in scope, although concentrated in the tropics, central region, and general in coverage, respectively. The decline of the native fish fauna has been in focus in recent years, usually as trend-in-time comparisons, where the loss of native forms and increase of exotics and/or colonizer species is evident in many basins, mainly in Río Balsas, Río Grande, and Río Lerma-Santiago. As a result, the numbers of species reported at some degree of risk have been increasing also, from 17 in 1963 to 192 in 2005. The trends in colonizers, exotics, and species at risk among Mexican fishes are parallel. The Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), in either its geographical, or historical form (IBIh), has been applied to the Rio Grande/Río Bravo basin, USA and México. IBIh values go between 0–91 (average 31). Alien species are regarded as detrimental. Overall, the IBI trends have been similar in all regions, starting from 70–95% in upper reaches, decreasing to less than 0–35% in the lower reaches of West central basins, and then down to 15% or less near the Lower Rio Grande delta. Several alien species of plecos have been recognized in the rivers Balsas, Grijalva-Río Usumacinta complex, and, also, one in the Rio Grande. Mexican rivers are notoriously dewatered in the northern half of the country. Until 1962, the Rio Grande had an average runoff of 12,000+ millions of cubic meters/year; however by 2002 it was less than 2% of that value. The river went nearly dry along the Big Bend region and was dry for months in the delta region, both in 2002 and 2004. The Rio Grande is mostly dry north of the Río Conchos junction, its main Mexican tributary, and other tributaries provide now between 1% (Río San Juan) and 20% (Río Conchos) of pre-1960 runoff. A modified Index of Biological Integrity for Rio Grande resulted in grades from 70 to 95% of the baseline in upper reaches, less than 35% in lower reaches, to less than 15% near the coast. The Texan version of the IBI was not representative as it suppresses data on euryhaline fishes. The reports of total toxics were masked, since the sum should have included both organics and heavy metals exceeding USA regulations to the total count, but only one of the two was included.

10.1007/s11720-008-1008-6

The morphological structure of mountains forming under conditions of extensive continental and mountain glaciation is described. They are characterized by a general hummocky profile with alternating dome-shaped summits, steps, valley-shaped depressions, and microrelief represented by roche moutonees, greywethers, and nunataks with isolated peaks in the form of high cones and prisms. The under-ice mountains are represented by a step morphological landscape with glacial steps and leveling surfaces. The step pattern of their morphological landscape is assumed to be related to successive layering of ice according to its movement velocity and the formation of a jet current against the background of general dominant displacements of ice masses. This makes under-ice mountains morphologically similar to medium-height and low mountainous relief of the temperate humid belt in the Northern Hemisphere with dominant landslides on their slopes.

Biogeographical outline of epiphytic lichens in a Mediterranean area: Calabria (S Italy)

This paper aims to provide a biogeographical analysis of the epiphytic lichen flora of S Calabria by means of chorograms (i.e. distributional maps showing the joint distribution of multiple taxa). Two datasets on both local and Italian distribution were used. Local distribution is described by records of 135 epiphytic species in 14 sampling sites (5 trees per site, boles sampled from the ground to 2 m) representing the main vegetation belts of the survey area. A cluster analysis of the species, based on their commonness-rarity in the 9 main bioclimatic areas and in the 20 administrative regions of Italy, was applied. For each of the 7 clusters of species (chorotypes), a chorogram was produced. The matrix of species and sites was also submitted to numerical classification, and 5 clusters of sites were obtained, corresponding to the main altitudinal belts and tree species. For each group of sites, the frequencies of chorotypes were calculated. The results show a clear relationship between local distribution, mainly related to ecological conditions, and the Italian one. The truly Mediterranean forests of the survey area have the highest incidence of the Tyrrhenian element. Beech forests of the montane belt, dominated by broad-ranging lichens, are the most diverse biogeographically. The pine forests lying above the temperate belt do not host a peculiar lichen flora, being dominated by broad-ranging circumboreal species.

Renewed acceleration of the 24° N jet on Jupiter

Jupiter's eastward jet at 24° N, which formerly had the fastest winds on the planet, has maintained a less extreme speed of ∼135 m/s since 1991, carrying a series of long-lived vortices at 125 m/s. In 2002–2003, as the albedo of the adjacent North Temperate Belt increased, the tracks of the vortices accelerated slightly, and they had disappeared by 2005. In 2005, small tracers had a mean speed of 146.4 (±0.9) m/s, significantly faster than the previous mean speed of the jet, suggesting that the jet peak itself has accelerated at cloud-top level, and that the jet is beginning to return to the super-fast state. These changes may resemble the even greater transformations occurring in the equatorial jet of Saturn.

The Permian antitropical fusulinoidean genus Monodiexodina: Distribution, taxonomy, paleobiogeography and paleoecology

All the documented occurrences with illustration of specimens of the Permian fusulinoidean genus Monodiexodina from a total of 33 areas in 11 regions are reviewed and their taxonomic positions are reexamined in this paper. Among 17 species (including two subspecies) of Monodiexodina in the current taxonomy, the following 10 species are recognized as valid: M. kattaensis, M. wanneri, M. caracorumensis, M. sutchanica, M. shiptoni, M. kumensis, M. wanganensis, M. neimongolensis, M. delicata, and M. rhaphidoformis. In addition, species once referred to Monodiexodina but now should be excluded from the genus are also investigated in terms of their generic positions. In reconstructed mid-Permian paleomap, Monodiexodina-bearing areas can be restored to either northern or southern middle latitudes between high latitudinal cool/cold-water climatic realm and paleo-tropical warm-water realm. These two middle latitudinal areas, each corresponding to the Northern and Southern Transitional Zones, respectively, can be best interpreted climatologically as mesothermal, warm temperate belts in both hemispheres, thus suggesting the genus to be a paleobiogeographically typical antitropical fusulinoidean taxon. Moreover, the genus is generally found in a monotypic, crowded manner in sandy sediments with their shells being often aligned uni-directionally. This mode of occurrence of Monodiexodina strongly suggests that it was adapted to shallow-marine, high-energy environments, which would probably be essentially maintained by the acquisition of highly elongated fusiform/subcylindrical shells with well-developed polar torsion. This morphological feature is adapted to increase septal pores per unit area in polar regions, thus increasing possibility to develop more pseudopodia on both sides of test. It probably has a functional significance for not only locomotion but also anchoring their tests on the surface of bottom sediments in agitated water conditions. The genus itself is considered to be a rather long-ranging taxon from the late Yakhtashian (=Artinskian) to the early Midian (=Capitanian). It is, therefore, concluded that Monodiexodina had an opportunistic character, occurring repeatedly only when favorable, high-energy conditions, such as sand shoal, appeared in warm temperate climatic belts in both hemispheres. Monodiexodina originated in the Southern Transitional Zone from an elongated Eoparafusulina stock at late Early Permian (around late Artinskian) time. It flourished in southern middle latitudinal areas in latest Early and early Middle Permian time. The genus then migrated to the northern hemisphere (Northern Transitional Zone) by some dispersion mechanism at around the early Middle Permian, and prevailed there during the remaining period of the Middle Permian.

Long series relationships between global interannual CO 2 increment and climate: Evidence for stability and change in role of the tropical and boreal-temperate zones

Interannual variability in global CO 2 increment (averaged from the Mauna Loa and South Pole Stations) shows certain strong spatial relationships to both tropical and temperate temperatures. There is a fairly strong positive year-round correlation between tropical mean annual temperatures (leading by 4 months) and annual CO 2 throughout the time series since 1960, agreeing with the generally held view that the tropics play a major role in determining inter-annual variability in CO 2 increment, with a major CO 2 pulse following a warm year in the tropics. This ‘almost no lag’ climatic response is very strong during winter and relatively stable in time. However, the correlation with tropical temperature appears to have weakened in the first years of the 1990s in correspondence of the Pinatubo eruption and the positive phase of the AO/NAO. A secondary concurrent temperature signal is linked to summer variations of north temperate belt. Northern summer temperatures in the region 30–60 °N—and especially in the land area corresponding to the central east USA—have become relatively more closely correlated with CO 2 increment. This trend has become increasingly stronger in recent years, suggesting an increasing role for growing season processes in the northern midlatitudes in affecting global CO 2 increment. Once non-lagged annual tropical temperature variations are accounted for, terrestrial ecosystems, especially the temperate-boreal biomes, also show a coherent large scale lagged response. This involves an inverse response to annual temperature of preceding years centered at around 2 years before. This lagged response is most likely linked to internal biogeochemical cycles, in particular N cycling. During the study period north boreal ecosystems show a strengthening of the lagged correlation with temperature in recent years, while the lagged correlation with areas of tropical ecosystems has weakened. Residuals from a multiple correlations based on these climatic signals are directly correlated with SO, confirming an additional important role of upwelling in interannual variability of CO 2 increment. Cooler summers following the Pinatubo eruption and the possible influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO/AO) are discussed as factors responsible for the shift in the relative importance of different regions over time during the series of data.

Conflicting drainage patterns in the Matera Horst Area, southern Italy

The Matera Horst (“ Murgia materana ”) is included in the Apulian plateau, basically formed by Mesozoic shallow-water carbonates. The zone is located in a present-day temperate belt and form a flat-topped morphostructural large element inside the foreland area of the southern Apennines. This horst is bordered by high-angle faults and surrounded by downthrown blocks covered by Plio-Quaternary marine and alluvial sediments. The structural high experienced several morphological cycles from Miocene to Quaternary. In particular, three evolutionary stages can be recognized at least. The first stage is currently represented by relics of a flat erosional landscape at the top of the relieves. The second one is testified by gentle slopes with wide glacis at the foothills, locally covered by coarse waste deposits. During the third stage a series of marine terraces formed and a drainage system developed creating both bland valleys and well-defined channels and gorges. The latter streams deeply carve the Cretaceous limestone of the Matera Horst for they represent the morphological response to the tectonic uplift of the area and clearly post-date the former features. Since the fluvial net took place on Pleistocene covers, later widely eroded, it is possible to conclude that the major part of the Matera Horst drainage system represents a good example of superimposition. However, low order streams and segments of major rivers appear to be structurally controlled, as suggested by comparison with the fracture system. Further, also open synclines and gently steeped flexures may locally exert a driving control on minor streams. These apparently conflicting genetic hypotheses can be explained by the role of exhumation of inherited structures of the bedrock in add to a constant interplay between tectonics, erosion and drainage evolution during Quaternary times.

Conflicting drainage patterns in the Matera Horst Area, southern Italy

The Matera Horst (“ Murgia materana”) is included in the Apulian plateau, basically formed by Mesozoic shallow-water carbonates. The zone is located in a present-day temperate belt and form a flat-topped morphostructural large element inside the foreland area of the southern Apennines. This horst is bordered by high-angle faults and surrounded by downthrown blocks covered by Plio-Quaternary marine and alluvial sediments. The structural high experienced several morphological cycles from Miocene to Quaternary. In particular, three evolutionary stages can be recognized at least. The first stage is currently represented by relics of a flat erosional landscape at the top of the relieves. The second one is testified by gentle slopes with wide glacis at the foothills, locally covered by coarse waste deposits. During the third stage a series of marine terraces formed and a drainage system developed creating both bland valleys and well-defined channels and gorges. The latter streams deeply carve the Cretaceous limestone of the Matera Horst for they represent the morphological response to the tectonic uplift of the area and clearly post-date the former features. Since the fluvial net took place on Pleistocene covers, later widely eroded, it is possible to conclude that the major part of the Matera Horst drainage system represents a good example of superimposition. However, low order streams and segments of major rivers appear to be structurally controlled, as suggested by comparison with the fracture system. Further, also open synclines and gently steeped flexures may locally exert a driving control on minor streams. These apparently conflicting genetic hypotheses can be explained by the role of exhumation of inherited structures of the bedrock in add to a constant interplay between tectonics, erosion and drainage evolution during Quaternary times.

Species and distribution of mountain bamboos in Shennongjia, Central China

Inventory recorded 4 genera and 11 species of mountain bamboos in Shennongjia, Central China. Of these, 4 species (Phyllostachys nigra var.henonis, Ph. heteroclada, Ph. nidularia andPh. bambusoides) belong to the monopodial bamboo, 4 species (Indocalamus latifolius, I. longiauritus, I. wilsoni andI. tessellatus) to the amphipodial bamboo, and 3 species (Fargesia spathacea, F. murielae andYushania confusa) to the sympodial bamboo. Monopodial bamboos grow on the gentle slopes below 1800 m asl, occurring from the subtropical belt to the temperate belt in the vertical climatic spectrum of the mountain; Sympodial bamboos occur in higher elevations, ranging from the warm temperate (1200 m), across the mediate temperate and cold temperate, to the mountaintops of the frigid temperate belt (3100 m). Amphipodial bamboos occur in all climate types except the frigid temperate belt. Three dominant species,F. spathacea, F. murielae andY. confusa, currently cover 12%, 9% and 3% of the mountain ranges in Shennongjia, respectively.

Coralline algal assemblages in upper Neogene reef and temperate carbonates in Southern Spain

Reef and temperate carbonate units alternate in the upper Miocene–Pliocene stratigraphic record of Betic basins palaeogeographically connected to the Mediterranean. Shallow-water coralline algal assemblages in temperate units differ in taxonomic composition from those in reef carbonate units. The difference attains the subfamily level since the temperate lithofacies are characterised by assemblages dominated by lithophylloids ( Lithophyllum), whereas mastophoroids ( Spongites and Neogoniolithon) predominate in the reef units. The proportion of lithophylloids, however, can be high in samples from shallow-reef palaeoenvironments. The distinction is less marked in deeper platform deposits since melobesioids ( Lithothamnion, Mesophyllum and Phymatolithon) are the major elements in the assemblages from both reef and temperate units. Sporolithon, the only representative of the family Sporolithaceae, is frequent in reef-slope deposits but very rare in temperate lithofacies. The change in coralline algal assemblages from temperate to subtropical/tropical units is probably the result of the palaeophytogeography of the coralline red algae during the Late Neogene along climatic belts. Shallow-water floras were dominated by lithophylloids in cooler periods, during which the western Mediterranean was within the temperate belt, as in the present-day situation. In warmer episodes, subtropical/tropical conditions enveloped the region and the tropical coralline floras, in which mastophoroids predominate, together with reef corals and green algae inhabited the Betic basins. Similar, less pronounced, phytogeographic patterns can be roughly recognised in modern oceans. Fossil coralline algal assemblages can, therefore help to identify the palaeoclimatic context of sedimentation of the rocks in which they are recorded. They constitute a palaeontological tool supplemental to lithofacies and other fossil indicators for characterising such contexts in Cenozoic platform deposits.

Long-Lived Vortices and Profile Changes in the 23.7°N High-Speed Jovian Jet

This paper addresses the question of up to what extent there are changes in the jovian jets as seen at cloud level and how they relate to the cloud morphology changes. We focus on the particularly interesting region at 24°N where the most intense jovian jet as observed at visual wavelengths resides. The studied period goes from 1991 to 1998, and the analysis is based on CCD images obtained with ground-based telescopes, complemented with a set from the HST imagery archive in the spectral range from ∼300 to 890 nm. The morphology of the North Temperate Belt (NTB) was characterized by the presence of a series of long-lived spots with lifetimes >4 years that formed in the anticyclonic flank of the jet at planetographic latitude 23.3 N following the development of the 1990 large-scale disturbance that changed the albedo of this belt (Sanchez-Lavega et al. 1991). They are rapidly moving mid-scale ovals (zonal velocity 123.9 ms −1, mean size ∼6500 km east–west times 3200 km north–south) with weak anticyclonic vorticity. The detailed structure of the zonal wind velocity profile of the 23.7°N jet between 1994 and 1998 was also measured using both cloud tracking and a correlation technique based on zonal reflectivity profiles. The jet peak speed during the 1994–1998 period appeared to be about 50 ms −1 slower and its shape broader in latitude when compared to that measured with the Voyager's in 1979. It seems that the differences in the profile between 1979 and the 1990s are related to the observed different cloud morphology in the region.

New Data on the Morphology and Distribution of Mesobates forcipatus Thor, 1901, and Observations on the Systematics of Atractides-like Water Mites (Acari, Actinedida, Hygrobatidae)

The first record from Southern Europe, and a redescription are given of Mesobates forcipatus, a rare water mite species so far believed to be restricted to Scandinavia and Northern Russia. The differences between this species and M. longipes from the Ussuri region in Eastern Russia are outlined. M. churchillensis from Canada is most probably a synonym of M. forcipatus. The phylogenetic significance of some character states in Atractides-like genera of the family Hygrobatidae is discussed. A monophyletic origin and early radiation of this group of genera in the Southern hemisphere is hypothesized, with Mesobates and Atractides as two representatives that successively reached the temperate and cold climatic belts of the Northern hemisphere.

Modeling of the long-term tropospheric trends of hydroxyl radical for the Northern Hemisphere

The MGO 2D (altitude–longitude) channel photochemical transport model has been applied to elucidate the spatial and temporal behavior of the hydroxyl radical in the troposphere of the northern temperate belt for the pre-industrial (1850) period and the last few decades (1960 and 1995). The relation between the tropospheric OH content and the carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen oxides emissions during 1850–1995 is studied. The distribution of the carbon monoxide concentration is calculated and validated using the observational data collected in the different locations because of the geographical non-homogeneity of its emissions. The response of the hydroxyl radical concentrations to the non-homogeneity of the CO and other atmospheric species distribution is estimated. The carbon monoxide and methane contributions to the hydroxyl photochemical sink are also evaluated. Because the changes of OH in the troposphere alternate the intensity of methane and carbon monoxide oxidation, the CO, CH 4 and OH lifetime evolution due to the increase of anthropogenic pollution intensity is analyzed and discussed.

Modeling of the tropospheric carbon monoxide distribution in the northern temperate latitudinal belt

The spatial and temporal behavior of carbon monoxide in the troposphere of the northern temperate belt due to the geographical inhomogenity of its emission is studied by a two-dimensional channel altitude–longitude photochemical transport model. The annual total carbon monoxide source is assumed to be equal to 2420 Tg (including 183.5 Tg of the oceanic source). The largest source intensities occur in Eastern Asia and over West and East coasts of North America. The CO mixing ratio distribution over the mainland and oceanic surface for winter and summer is compared with observed data and its features are analyzed. The response of OH concentration to the inhomogenity of the carbon monoxide content is computed. The CO contribution to the hydroxyl radical photochemical sink is estimated and also, its contribution integrated over the belt considered is equal to about 70 and 55% for January and July, respectively. The significant difference between winter and summer model results is noted and discussed.

Vegetation and climate in Garhwal Himalaya during Early Holocene: Deoria Tal

Pollen analysis of 1.5 m deep profile from the western flank of Deoria Tal (Profile-II), situated in temperate belt of Garhwal Himalaya has unravelled the vegetation and climate of Early Holocene. The vegetation, traced back to about 6000 years and 14C dated 2710±150 years at 55-65 cm depth, comprised chiefly the Oak dominated forests associated with other broad-leaved taxa such as Betula, Alnus, Rhododendron, Carpinus, Ulmus, etc. Such an arboreal forest composition reflects the warm-temperate humid climate prevalent in the region. A change to cooler climatic conditions is registered between 3500-3600 years B.P., as evidenced by the decline in Oak - the chief component, as well as in other associated broad-leaved elements with a corresponding rise in grasses and sedges. Anthropogenic activities are also recorded during this period, inferred by the first appearance of Cerealia-type pollen and encountered culture pollen. Subsequently, around 1,700 years B.P., the restoration process of Oak forests commenced, thus indicating the amelioration in climatic conditions.

Initial Development of Eddies in High-Speed Zonal Flow: One Interpretation for NTB Activity of Jupiter

The initial development of an anticyclonic eddy in a high-speed jet flow has been examined using a two-layer rigid-lid model for incompressible fluid governed by the shallow water equations. In the case of large Rossby deformation radius an inertia-gravity wave can propagate in all directions, but in the small deformation radius case the gravity wave propagates only in the upstream direction. In the latter case, the phase speed of the internal gravity wave is less than the zonal flow speed, and latitudinal propagation of the wave seems to be prevented by the strong shear region both north and south of the eddy.This behavior of the internal wave seems to have some common features with the dark spots of the North Temperate Belt of Jupiter, which is the latitude of the fastest eastward zonal flow in Jupiter. These spots appear only west (upstream side) of the white spot, and move westward relative to the spot.If our hypothesis that the dark spots are due to an inertia-gravity wave is valid, it suggests small values of the Rossby deformation radius.