Continental climate

In certain plant habitats or niches, access to resources depends crucially upon rapid growth under conditions of climatic stress. Examples of this phenomenon are particularly obvious on shallow soils in continental climates where the growth window between winter cold and summer desiccation may be extremely short. In deciduous woodlands in the cool temperate zone an essentially similar niche arises in the period between snow melt and closure of the tree canopy. Both circumstances provide opportunities for high rates of photosynthesis and mineral nutrient capture in the late spring but depend upon rapid expansion of roots and shoots in the low-temperature conditions of the late winter and early spring. 

The storage of ambient winter air temperature is, however, particularly suited to continental climates characterized by long cold winters with brief hot... 

This is an area of strong continental climate with dry and hot summer and severe winter with strong winds that transport dust at short and long distance, for instance yellow sand phenomenon in northwest China. During air transport these soil particles absorb numerous pollutants-carcinogens, like benzo(a)pyrene and heavy metals (Ni, Cd, Co, Zn, Pb, As) both from industrial emissions into the atmosphere and waste landfill sites. 

Fricke, H. C., Clyde, W. C., and O Neil, J. R. (1998). Intra-tooth variations in 5lsO (P04) of mammalian tooth enamel as a record of seasonal variations in continental climate variables. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62 1839-1850. 

Mountain chains such as the European Alps constitute an important factor in atmospheric circulation [1]. They trigger a variety of climatic and meteorological effects and cover a wide range of the spatial scale [2]. For example, they are manifested in the modification of the inner-continental climate zones or in the small-scale distribution of precipitation. Both can be important for the hydrology of alpine catchments. 

Another application of stable isotopes in clastic rocks is the analysis of weathering profiles, which can potentially provide insight into the continental climate during... 

Greenwood DR, Wing SL (1995) Eocene continental climates and latitudinal temperature gradients. Geology 23 1044-1048... 

When the soil selenium decrease from the coast to the inland was proved, it was easy to understand that muscle degeneration in domestic animals due to selenium deficiency (Mikkelsen and Hansen, 1967, 1968) was concentrated in the valleys with low precipitation in the eastern part of Norway. Our neighbour country Finland, with a mostly typical continental climate, has from an early stage taken up the problem by adding selenium to the cattle fodder. In Finland, and in other Scandinavian countries as well, there is now a discussion on the possibilities of adding a selenium compound to commercial fertilizers to increase the selenium content in the plants. 

Williams, D.F., Peck, J., Karabanov, E.B., Prolopenko, A.A., Kravinsky, V., King, J. and Kuzmin, M.I., 1997, Lake Baikal record of continental climate response to orbital insolation during the past 5 million years. Science, 278, 1114-1117. 

FIGURE 5.17 Pearson correlation coefficient (R) between the WIBIX and 360° zonally averaged winter anomalies (JFM) in the air temperature derived from (WCP, 1987) for slices of five degrees between 15°N and 85°N during of the last continental climate mode (1951-1986) vertical hues mark the 95% confidence level (/-distribution) while the box indicates the averaged belt of the planetary frontal zone with imbedded westerlies note the increasing poleward correlation due to the increasing effect of the AO. 

Bay of Bothnia and the Quark Ice conditions in the Bay of Bothnia are very unfavorable because of its northern location and the largely continental climate. The Bay of Bothnia freezes over regularly each winter, and ice may be present during 7 months of the year. 

Despite the current popularity of the polyphenol theory, a completely satisfactory scheme for the occurrence of humic and fulvic acids in diverse geologic environments has yet to be established. In practice, all pathways may be operative, but not to the same extent in all environments or in the same order of importance. A lignin pathway may-predominate in wet sediments, such as peats and swamps. The drastic conditions existing in soils under a harsh continental climate (e.g., some Mollisols) may favor humus synthesis by sugar-amine condensation. The disappearance of amino acids from buried sediments has been attributed to the formation of brown nitrogenous polyelectrolytes by reaction with reducing sugars (Stevenson, 1974). 

Mean daily temperature of the study region (Fig. IB) ranges from —15°C in January to +18°C in July. Potential evapotranspiration of 530mm/yr. greatly exceeds the mean annual precipitation of 373 mm/yr. These data are from a compilation of hydrogeologic data for the area by Hackbarth (1975). The area therefore has a cold semi-arid continental climate. 

The main characteristic features of these ecosystems are related to the continental climate and low precipitation, precipitationipotential (and actual) evapotranspiration (PTE). P PE ranges between 0.6-0.3. In accordance with the given climatic conditions, the soils of steppe ecosystems (Chernozems, Kastanozems, Solonetzes) are characterized by the presence of a few buffer layers, such as humus, carbonate, and gypsum that makes them insensitive to actual and potential loads of pollutants. 

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