DMS and SO2 at Baring Head, New Zealand: Implications for the Yield of SO2 from DMS

Atmospheric dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) concentrations were measured at Baring Head, New Zealandduring February and March 2000. Anti-correlated DMS and SO₂ diurnalcycles, consistent with the photochemical production of SO₂ from DMS, were observed in clean southerly air off the ocean. The data is used to infer a yield of SO₂ from DMS oxidation. The estimated yields are highly dependent on assumptions about the DMS oxidation rate. Fitting the measured data in a photochemical box model using model-generated OH levels and the Hynes et al. (1986) DMS + OH rate constant suggests that theSO₂ yield is 50–100%, similar to current estimates for the tropical Pacific.However, the observed amplitude of the DMS diurnal cycle suggests that the oxidation rate is higher than that used by the model, and therefore, that theSO₂ yield is lower in the range of 20–40%.     

贵州关岭生物群中植物化石的发现及其意义

关岭生物群是近年来在我国贵州关岭地区瓦窑组中发现的一个十分重要的生物群 ,其中的植物化石经研究计有 Equisetites cf.arenaceus(Jaeger) Bronn.、Ctenozamitessarrani Zeiller。依据植物化石 C.sarrani常见于晚三叠世和 E.cf.arenaceus系似木贼属中较古老的类型 ,指出含植物化石的地层时代为晚三叠世卡尼期。瓦窑组系海相沉积 ,其中的植物化石无疑为异地埋藏 ,但从化石通常保存尚好来看 ,估计搬运的距离不会很远 ,它们可能是从距海岸不远的陆地被河流带到较平静的海湾或海槽而沉积下来的。此外 ,从该组植物茎干化石具清楚的年轮分析 ,推测卡尼期时 ,贵州关岭一带为非热带雨林地区 ,一年中气候不是四季如一 ,而是有明显的季节变化     

国际冰芯与气候环境研究新进展--关于国际"冰芯与气候"会议

2001年8月19～23日, 在格陵兰举行了规模空前的"冰芯与气候"国际盛会, 会议展示了冰芯与气候环境研究的最新进展. 文中介绍这次会议并概括了近年来的主要研究进展. 与南北极地区的冰芯研究相比, 中低纬度地区冰芯研究是近年来国际冰芯研究中发展最快的. 在这一研究中, 中国科学家做出了重要贡献并得到了国际同行的高度评价.     

运用层序不对称性分析海平面变化特征

目前研究海平面变化的方法尚不能精确确定海平面变化，对记录海平面变化的沉积体或层序物质组成及结构特点的研究尚显薄弱。在分析层序不对称性与海平面变化的关系基础，提出层序不对称系数S0，认为海平面的升降变化对浅水沉积区影响显著，其结果必然造成层序S0的增加；海平面的升降变化对沉水沉积区影响不大，层序S0较为恒定。对进行详细研究中扬子区S0分布特点，运用S0曲线计算了中扬子区海平面变化特点，并与其他方法进行对比，认为可以用S0判断水体相对深浅，分析海平面变化。     

地幔热柱及其成矿作用研究

成矿作用研究表明 ,在地球的演化历史中 ,成矿数量有从少到多 ,聚矿能力有由弱到强的演化趋势。中生代为全球规模的成矿大爆发阶段 ,究其原因可能与地球的发展演化密切相关。地球形成的早期 ,由于地球物质尚未充分分异 ,成矿强度不大。当然 ,有部分在地球演化早期形成的矿床 ,在后来的多次构造改造过程中被改造迁移 ,甚至消失。中生代地球进入了一个强烈的地幔热柱活动时期 ,聚集于D”层及外核的成矿物质可通过地幔热柱多级演化向上迁移 ,并在幔枝构造的有利构造扩容带中成矿 ,幔枝构造则成为中生代主要的成矿控矿构造类型     

Analysis of Post-Failure Slope Movements within the Framework of Hazard and Risk Analysis

The paper first recalls briefly a methodological framework to assess landslide hazard and risk analysis in terms of predisposition, triggering andrevealing factors. This framework, that reflects the mechanisms involved in the landslide, is based on the Geotechnical Characterisation of slope movements proposed by Vaunat et al. (1994) and Leroueil et al. (1996). The Geotechnical Characterisation can be schematized by a 3-D matrix having the following axes: types of movement; types ofmaterial; and the four stages of movement: pre-failure, failure, post-failure andreactivation. For each relevant element of this 3-D matrix, there is a characterisationsheet including: the controlling laws and parameters, the predisposition factors, thetriggering or aggravating factors, the revealing factors and the consequences of the movement. The paper focuses afterwards on the post-failure stage, which generallyis the most destructive, and on the mobility index. It is shown that this laterindex can be described as the product of sub-indices associated with failure, brittlenessof the material, ability of the soil to develop pore pressures, geometry of the moving soil mass and characteristics of the terrain. It is also shown how these aspectscan be incorporated into the Geotechnical characterisation of slope movements. This seems to provide a rational basis for examining slope movements at the post-failure stage and assessing associated risks.     

Far field effects of Alpine plate tectonism in the Iberian microplate recorded by fault-related denudation in the Spanish Central System

Apatite fission track analysis was performed on 56 samples from central Spain to unravel the far field effects of the Alpine plate tectonic history of Iberia. The modelled thermal histories reveal complex cooling in the Cenozoic, indicative of intermittent denudation. Accelerated cooling events occurred across the Spanish Central System (SCS) from the Middle Eocene to Recent. These accelerated cooling events resulted in up to 2.8±0.9 km of denudation in the western Sierra de Gredos and 3.6±1.0 km in the central and eastern Gredos (assuming a paleogeothermal gradient of 28±5 °C and a surface temperature of 10 °C). The greatest amount of denudation (5.0±1.6 km) occurred in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Accompanying rock uplift was 4.7±1.0 and 5.9±1.6 km in the eastern Gredos and Guadarrama, respectively. Most denudation in the Gredos occurred from the Middle Eocene to the Early Miocene and can be related to the N–S stress field, induced by the Pyrenean compression. In the Guadarrama, the greatest denudation was Pliocene to Recent of age and seems related to the ongoing NW–SE Betic compression. The fact that the formation of the E–W trending Gredos coincides with the N–S Pyrenean compression and the creation of the present day morphology of the NE–SW trending Guadarrama with the younger NW–SE Betic compression, indicates that they record the far field effects of Alpine plate tectonics on Iberia. The trend of pre-existing lineaments was of major importance in influencing the style and magnitude of these of far field effects.     

Sludge weathering and mobility of contaminants in soil affected by the Aznalcollar tailing dam spill (SW Spain)

As a result of the collapse of the Aznalcollar mine tailings dam, a large extension of the Guadiamar valley in SW Spain was covered with a layer of pyrite sludge. Although most of the sludge was removed, a small amount remains in the soil, constituting a potential source of water pollution. A column experiment was carried out in order to determine the rate of sludge oxidation in the soil, and the existence of metal retention processes. The column was filled with a mixture of sludge and a sandy soil common in the region. At different time intervals, the column was leached with water and the resulting solution analysed.

The pH of the water dropped to values around 2 after 260 days and then remained constant due to the buffering role of silicate dissolution. The concentration of Zn, Cd and Co in the leachates matched the expected values from flow-through experiments at atmospheric oxygen pressure. This indicates that oxygen diffusion in the pores was complete. Moreover, no efficient processes existed for retaining Zn, Cd and Co, which formed soluble salts and were entirely incorporated into the infiltrating water. During the first 2 months of the experiment, when pH was higher than 4.5, the concentrations of Fe and Al were very low. Saturation indices showed that the solution was in equilibrium with amorphous Fe(OH)₃ and Al(OH)₃. Subsequently, at lower pH values, jarosite [(Na,K)Fe₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆] formed. This solid phase was identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Jarosite was also responsible for the depletion of As, Pb, Sb and probably Tl in the water resulting from infiltration.     

Where the buffalo roam: Boundaries and the politics of scale in the yellowstone region

For more than twenty years, the state of Montana has pursued a controversial policy of lethal control to manage winter migrations of bison from Yellowstone National Park. In the late 1990s, as the state and a number of federal agencies attempted to cooperatively outline a more palatable scenario for bison management, local environmental groups became active participants in the debate. This paper examines the strategies pursued by these organizations in the course of their attempt to construct a new, ecosystem-level territorial space and jurisdictional scale for bison, and places their struggle within the context of existing work in geography on the politics of scale. Ultimately, the failure of their efforts illustrates some of the important constraints faced by social groups that attempt to create new territorial regimes and new scales of resistance in the interstices of existing political structures.     

Fitness-for-Purpose of Reference Material Reference Values in Relation to Traceability of Measurement, as Illustrated by USGS BCR-1, NIST SRM 610 and IAEA NBS28

As in all fields of sample analysis, reference materials play a large role in supporting measurements in the geosciences. While a rather large number of materials are in distribution (> 380), not all are equally effective or fit-for-purpose in supporting laboratory data quality and thereby assuring the desired comparability of measurements between laboratories. Equally important, reference values that are not fit-for-purpose cannot be used effectively to establish traceability links between laboratory measurements and national and international standards. The needed fitness-for-purpose is not achieved for reference values either when more than one reference value has been proposed and a consensus does not exist among users as to which should be used by all, or when reference value uncertainties are too large in comparison to those of routine laboratory measurements. The focus of this review will be, first to outline the current reality, and second to suggest ways in which certifications of RMs can be improved to provide reference values that are universally accepted and more fit-for-purpose in general laboratory use. The discussion will be illustrated largely by current uses of USGS BCR-1, NIST SRM 610 and IAEA NBS28, as these three materials are those for which the largest body of newly published data exists, according to recent bibliographies of the geoanalytical literature published annually in Geostandards Newsletter: The Journal of Geostandards and Geoanalysis.