A New Basal Sauropod Dinosaur from the Lufeng Basin,Yunnan Province, Southwestern China

<正>A new dinosaur Chuxiongosaurus lufengensis gen.et sp.nov.is erected based on a nearly complete skull.The taxon is characterized by the lacrimal perpendicular to the ventral margin of the upper jaw,which is similar to that of Thecodontosaurus;a depression present on the dorsal profile of the snout behind the naris;the rostral profile of the maxilla slopes continuously towards the rostral tip;and the presence of 25 dentary teeth.It also displays prosauropod characters such as a relatively long skull,the slope of the maxillary rostral profile,and teeth that do not have basically constricted crowns.The new specimen is more basal than Anchisaurus and represents the first basal sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of China.     

Multi‐proxy evidence for early to mid‐Holocene environmental and climatic changes in northeastern Poland

Lauterbach, S., Brauer, A., Andersen, N., Danielopol, D. L., Dulski, P., Hüls, M., Milecka, K., Namiotko, T., Plessen, B., von Grafenstein, U. & DecLakes participants 2010: Multi‐proxy evidence for early to mid‐Holocene environmental and climatic changes in northeastern Poland. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00159.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. We investigated the sedimentary record of Lake Hańcza (northeastern Poland) using a multi‐proxy approach, focusing on early to mid‐Holocene climatic and environmental changes. AMS ¹⁴C dating of terrestrial macrofossils and sedimentation rate estimates from occasional varve thickness measurements were used to establish a chronology. The onset of the Holocene at c. 11 600 cal. a BP is marked by the decline of Lateglacial shrub vegetation and a shift from clastic‐detrital deposition to an autochthonous sedimentation dominated by biochemical calcite precipitation. Between 10 000 and 9000 cal. a BP, a further environmental and climatic improvement is indicated by the spread of deciduous forests, an increase in lake organic matter and a 1.7‰ rise in the oxygen isotope ratios of both endogenic calcite and ostracod valves. Rising δ¹⁸O values were probably caused by a combination of hydrological and climatic factors. The persistence of relatively cold and dry climate conditions in northeastern Poland during the first one and a half millennia of the Holocene could be related to a regional eastern European atmospheric circulation pattern. Prevailing anticyclonic circulation linked to a high‐pressure cell above the retreating Scandinavian Ice Sheet might have blocked the influence of warm and moist Westerlies and attenuated the early Holocene climatic amelioration in the Lake Hańcza region until the final decay of the ice sheet.     

The accumulation and transfer of vanadium within the food chain

The accumulation and transfer of vanadium within the food chain has been investigated. Vanadium is taken up from the sea water in considerable quantity by phytoplankton which form the first step of the food chain and is transferred to the final consumer. Mammals (mice) fed on contaminated food (mussels) exhibited significant symptoms.     

Solar-Blind Diamond Detectors for Lyra, the Solar VUV Radiometer on Board Proba II

Fabrication, packaging and experimental results on the calibration of metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors made on diamond are reported. LYRA (Lyman- RAdiometer onboard PROBA-2) will use diamond detectors for the first time in space for a solar physics instrument. A set of measurement campaigns was designed to obtain the XUV-to-VIS responsivity of the devices and other characterizations. The measurements of responsivity in EUV and VUV spectral ranges (40–240 nm) have been carried out by the Physkalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany at the electron storage ring BESSY II. The longer wavelength range from 210 to 1127 nm was measured with monochromatic light by using a Xe-lamp at IMO-IMOMEC. The diamond detectors exhibit a photoresponse which lie in the 35–65 mA/W range at 200 nm (corresponding to an external quantum efficiency of 20–40%) and indicate a visible rejection ratio (200–500 nm) higher than four orders of magnitude.     

基于接收函数的华南及邻区地壳结构研究

利用华南地块及邻区2007~2012年609个地震台站记录的约900个5.7级以上远震事件,获得各台站的接收函数,通过分析接收函数的形态变化了解各台站下方的地壳结构特征,然后再利用H-κ叠加搜索技术获得各台站下方的地壳厚度和波速比。结果显示,研究区的地壳结构表现为从沿海向内陆逐渐复杂的变化,地壳厚度也表现出由沿海向内陆、自南向北逐渐增厚的趋势;研究区内的广东、福建、浙江、上海、江西、广西、安徽南部、湖北中东部、湖南中东部和云南东南部地区主要表现为标准型接收函数,地壳相对稳定,地壳厚度一般在35 km以下;研究区内的湖北西部、湖南西部、贵州、云南东部及中北部地区主要表现为过渡型接收函数,对应地壳增厚变形的区域,该区地壳厚度从约35 km逐渐增厚到约45 km;研究区内的重庆、四川、陕西南部、甘肃南部和云南北部主要表现为复杂型接收函数,对应地壳剧烈增厚的区域,地壳厚度从45 km增厚到60~70 km。     

On‐line Solid Phase Extraction of Copper in Water Samples with Flow Injection Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

An on‐line solid phase extraction method for the preconcentration and determination of Cu(II) by flame atomic absorption spectrometry has been described. The procedure is based on the retention of Cu(II) ions at pH 6.0 on a minicolumn packed with Amberlite XAD‐1180 resin impregnated with chrome azurol S. After preconcentration, Cu(II) ions adsorbed on the impregnated resin were eluted by 1 mol L^?1 HNO₃ solution. Several parameters, such as pH, type of eluent, flow rates of sample and eluent solutions, amount of resin were evaluated. At optimized conditions, for 3.5 min of preconcentration time, the system achieved a detection limit of 1.0 µg L^?1, and a relative standard deviation of 1.2% at 0.2 µg mL^?1 copper. An enrichment factor of 56‐fold was obtained with respect to the copper determination. The proposed method was successfully validated by the analysis of standard reference material (TMDA 54.4 lake water) and recovery studies. The method was applied to the preconcentration of Cu(II) in natural water samples.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene cool‐water carbonates of the Western Mediterranean Sea

Post‐glacial, neritic cool‐water carbonates of the Western Mediterranean Sea were examined by means of hydroacoustic data, sediment surface sampling and vibrocoring to unravel geometries and to reconstruct sedimentary evolution in response to the last sea‐level rise. The analysed areas, located on the Alboran Ridge, in the Bay of Oran, and at the southern shelf of the island of Mallorca, are microtidal and bathed by oligotrophic to weakly mesotrophic waters. Seasonal water temperature varies between 13 °C and 27 °C. Echosounder profiles show that the Bay of Oran and the southern shelf of Mallorca are distally steepened ramps, while the Alboran Ridge forms a steep‐flanked rugged plateau around the Alboran Island. In the three areas, an up to 10 m thick post‐glacial sediment cover overlies an unconformity. In Oran and Mallorca, stacked lowstand wedges occur in water depths of 120 to 130 m. On the Alboran Ridge and in the Bay of Oran, highstand wedges occur at 35 to 40 m. Up to 5 m long cores of upper Pleistocene to Holocene successions were recovered in water depths between 40 and 81 m. Deposits contain more than 80% carbonate, with mixed carbonate‐volcaniclastics in the lower part of some cores in Alboran. The carbonates consist of up to 53% of aragonite and up to 83% of high magnesium calcite. Radiocarbon dating of bivalve shells, coralline algae and serpulid tubes indicates that deposits are as old as 12 400 cal yr bp . The carbonate factories in the three areas are dominated mostly by red algae, but some intervals in the cores are richer in bivalves. A facies rich in the gastropod Turritella, reflecting elevated surface productivity, is restricted to the Mallorca Shelf. Rhodoliths occur at the sediment surface in most areas at water depths shallower than 70 m; they form a 10 to 20 cm thick veneer overlying rhodolith‐poor bioclastic sediments which, nonetheless, contain abundant red algal debris. This rhodolith layer has been developing for the past 800 to 1000 years. Similar layers at different positions in the cores are interpreted as reflecting in situ growth of rhodoliths at times of reduced net sedimentation. Sedimentary successions in the cores record the post‐glacial sea‐level rise and the degree of sediment exposure to bottom currents. Deepening‐upward trends in the successions are either reflected by shallow to deep facies transitions or by a corresponding change of depth‐indicative red algae. There are only weak downcore variations of carbonate mineralogy, which indicate that no dissolution or high magnesium to low magnesium calcite neomorphism occurs in the shallow subsurface. These new data support the approach of using the Recent facies distribution for interpretation of past cool‐water, low‐energy, microtidal carbonate depositional systems. Hydroacoustic data show that previous Pleistocene transgressive and highstand inner ramp deposits and wedges were removed during sea‐level lowstands and accumulated downslope as stacked lowstand wedges; this suggests that, under conditions of high‐amplitude sea‐level fluctuations, the stratigraphic record of similar cool‐water carbonates may be biased.     

HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT: ACHIEVEMENTS, BENEFITS AND FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES FROM A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

The past achievements, benefits and future opportunities of human spaceflight are discussed from a European perspective. Earlier work performed on the Skylab, Salyut, Shuttle, Spacelab, and Mir orbital facilities is reviewed, together with the prospects for new research on the International Space Station (ISS). Major scientific benefits are expected from the ISS in the areas of life science research (including human physiology and medicine) physical sciences, and fundamental physics.