Abstract. Glacier melt is an essential source of freshwater for the arid regions surrounding the Tian Shan. However, the knowledge about glacier volume and mass changes over the last decades is limited. In the present study, glacier area, glacier dynamics and mass changes are investigated for the period ~1975–2007 for Southern Inylchek Glacier (SIG) and Northern Inylchek Glacier (NIG), the largest glacier system in Central Tian Shan separated by the regularly draining Lake Merzbacher. The area of NIG increased by 2.0 ± 0.1 km2 (~1.3%) in the period ~1975–2007. In contrast, SIG has shrunk continuously in all investigated periods since ~1975. Velocities of SIG in the central part of the ablation region reached ~100–120 m a−1 in 2002/2003, which was slightly higher than the average velocity in 2010/2011. The central part of SIG flows mainly towards Lake Merzbacher rather than towards its terminus. The measured velocities at the distal part of the terminus downstream of Lake Merzbacher were below the uncertainty, indicating very low flow with even stagnant parts. Geodetic glacier mass balances have been calculated using multi-temporal digital elevation models from KH-9 Hexagon (representing the year 1975), SRTM3 (1999), ALOS PRISM (2006) and SPOT-5 high-resolution geometrical (HRG) data (2007). In general, a continuous mass loss for both SIG and NIG could be observed between ~1975 and 2007. SIG lost mass at a rate of 0.43 ± 0.10 m w.e. a−1 and NIG at a rate of 0.25 ± 0.10 m w.e. a−1 within the period ~1975–1999. For the period 1999–2007, the highest mass loss of 0.57 ± 0.46 m w.e. a−1 was found for NIG, whilst SIG showed a potential moderate mass loss of 0.28 ± 0.46 m w.e. a−1. Both glaciers showed a small retreat during this period. Between ~1975 and 1999, we identified a thickening at the front of NIG with a maximum surface elevation increase of about 150 m as a consequence of a surge event. In contrast significant thinning (>0.5 m a−1) and comparatively high velocities close to the dam of Lake Merzbacher were observed for SIG, indicating that Lake Merzbacher enhances glacier mass loss.

The genetic variation, phylogeny and biogeography of catostomid fishes were investigated based on mitochondrial cytochrome b and nuclear 18S-ITS1-5.8S DNA sequences. The pair-wise genetic distance of cytochrome b for 17 catostomids varied considerably, from 1Á00% (Chasmistes brevirostris and Deltistes luxatus) to 23Á3% (Cycleptus elongatus and Moxostoma anisurum). The size of the 18S-ITS1-5.8S sequence ranged from 315 bp (Moxostoma robustum) to 575 bp (Ictiobus cyprinellus). The 18S-5.8S region was conservative and the length of ITS1 regions was found to vary considerably among the seven catostomids. It is interesting that the primitive I. cyprinellus and Myxocyprinus asiaticus had longer ITS1 regions than suckers from the Catostominae. Based on the nucleotide substitution model, the nuclear 18S-5.8S gene had a faster evolution rate than the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. In a phylogenetic analysis, 17 catostomids from 14 genera representing three subfamilies were not distinctly divergent. Nevertheless, three major genetically divergent clades were identified. Clade I (95% bootstrap) included general Catostomus, Thoburnia, Xyrauchen, Chasmistes and Deltistes. Clade II (94% bootstrap) included Hypentelium, Moxostoma and Scartomyzon. Clade III (77% bootstrap) was a monophyletic Ictiobinae containing I. cyprinellus and Carpiodes carpio. The biogeography of old world catostomids followed a disperse event, and the speciation of the extant catostomids was a vicariance event. The earliest catostomid evolved in Asia from one branch of ostariophysans in the early Tertiary. Before the Eocene, catostomids belonging to the genus Amyzon had a wide, trans-Pacific distribution over Asia and North America. Later, oceanic ingression and the Tertiary glacial event forced catostomids to evolve on both mainlands, respectively. The present disjunct distribution pattern of catostomids was presumably due to competitive pressure from cyprinids, geographical events, their Late Cenozoic radiation in North America and glacial events. The divergence time based on the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences suggests that catostomids began to diverge in the early or mid-Miocene, which agrees with the fossil evidence.

A dual-band shared aperture antenna array for phased array system operated in Ku/Ka-bands is proposed in this paper. By judiciously designing the geometrical structure and parameters, compact and integrated antenna elements are proposed to achieve the maximum scanning angle without the grating lobes phenomenon. The patch-dipole antenna elements operating in Ku-band and microstrip patch antenna elements operating in Ka-band are designed and fabricated utilizing a four-layer lamination substrate. Metal shielding vias are introduced to suppress the coupling between the antenna elements operating in different bands, meanwhile, defected ground structure is introduced to eliminate the scan blindness effect and improve the beam scanning range effectively. The proposed antenna array has 208 Ku-band elements and 832 Ka-band elements distributed in the shared aperture with a diameter of 200 mm. Measured results show that the proposed antenna array has a broad impedance bandwidth of 10.7% in Ku-band and 9.1% in Ka-band, meanwhile it has a relatively wide scanning angle ranging from −45 • to +45 • with low gain decrease and side lobe level. The proposed phased array antenna has potential application in a radar system, mobile communication system, and so on.

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