Recently Ratified and Proposed Cambrian Global Standard Stratotype-section and Points

This paper briefly summarizes an officially ratified Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) and a proposed GSSP for global stages of the Cambrian System. The Luoyixi section near Luoyixi town, Guzhang, northwestern Hunan is ratified as the boundary stratotype for the base of the global Guzhangian Stage, which is the upmost stage of an unnamed series termed provisionally as Cambrian Series 3. The GSSP position lies 121.3 m above the base of the Huaqiao Formation in the section, coinciding with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite Lejopyge leavigata. The Duibian B section at Duibian village, Jiangshan, western Zhejiang, is proposed as the boundary stratotype for the base of the proposed global Jiangshanian Stage that is the second stage of the Furongian Series. The proposed GSSP position lies 108.12 m above the base of the Huayansi Formation in the section, coinciding with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite Agnostotes orientalius. This horizon is also with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan polymerid trilobite Irvingella angustilimbata.     

Northern Eurasia earth science partnership initiative (NEESPI), science plan overview

Northern Eurasia Earth System Partnership Initiative, NEESPI, was established to address the global change processes associated with and/or originated within Northern Eurasia as well as to study the major socially-important processes within the region. NEESPI began as a US–Russian initiative but has quickly broadened into a fully international program. Scientists from 11 countries participated in preparing the NEESPI Science Plan. Current version of the Science Plan was released for public review on the World Wide Web in summer 2004 and finalized in December 2004. This paper provides an Overview of the Plan and is based, mainly, on its Executive Summary. The Overview describes the Plan's science themes and key science questions, provides a justification of the urgency studying Northern Eurasia from the global change prospective, and outlines research strategy and tools to address NEESPI science questions, as well as projected deliverables of the Initiative.     

营口—宽甸地区重力场特征及地质解释

营口—宽甸地区重力场自北而南有逐渐增高的总趋势。中部区重力低与重力高呈带状相间出现。结合该区已知的地质构造特征综合分析,重力负值带是早元古宙拗拉槽边界深断裂和构造—岩浆岩带的反映。隐伏、半隐伏花岗岩体的解释和推断,为逃一步寻找金、硼、铅锌等矿产提供了信息。     

Remote sensing of mesospheric winds with the high-resolution doppler imager

Observations of the winds in the upper atmosphere obtained with the High-Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) are discussed. This instrument is a very stable high-resolution triple-etalon Fabry-Perot interferometer, which is used to observe the slight Doppler shifts of absorption and emission lines in the O₂ Atmospheric bands induced by atmospheric motions. Preliminary observations indicate that the winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere are a mixture of migrating and non-migrating tides, and planetary-scale waves. The mean meridional winds are dominated by the 1,1 diurnal tide which is easily extracted from the daily zonal means of the satellite observations. The daily mean zonal winds are a mixture of the diurnal tide and a zonal flow which is consistent with theoretical expectations.     

青海德尔尼硫化物矿床成因的新认识

通过对青海德尔尼硫化物矿床的产出部位、成矿环境、矿石矿物的组合、主要化学元素的成份及同位素测试数据等分析研究,认为该矿床具有裂谷成矿机制的特征,成因类型应属裂谷型层控矿床。     

滩间山金矿矿床成因初步探讨

本文通过对滩间山矿区地层、构造及岩浆岩与成矿关系的研究,认为中元古界万洞沟群是金的矿源层;成矿构造具有多期次、多阶段活动的特点,矿体受单一及复合型式的构造控制;华力西期侵入体对成矿作用仅体现于为矿床的形成与再造提供热源。矿质在弱酸—中偏碱性溶液中,主要呈硫络合物的形式搬运、并在还原条件下成矿。特别指出,含磷质物地层是区内重要的岩金找矿标志之一。     

东秦岭金堆城花岗斑岩体的锆石U-Pb年龄、物质来源及成矿机制

通过LA-ICP-MS方法测得金堆城和老牛山花岗岩体中锆石U-Pb年龄分别为143.7±3 Ma和144.5±4.4 Ma,与金堆城钼矿床中辉钼矿的Re-Os年龄139±3.0 Ma在误差范围内一致,界定了金堆城成岩成矿时代为侏罗纪末-白垩纪初,2个岩体为同期岩浆事件的产物,与燕山运动有关.金堆城岩体较老牛山岩体富SiO₂、K₂O,岩石地球化学数据显示2个岩体都具有一致的高硅、富碱、过铝质系列和钙碱性岩石系列特征;高的ε_Sr(t)、低的ε_Nd(t)及Pb同位素图解证明2个岩体主要来自下地壳物质部分熔融,可能有少量地幔物质加入.年代学与岩石地球化学数据证实老牛山岩体和金堆城岩体的岩浆源区与岩石成因相同,推测老牛山岩体在深部发生分异演化,为金堆城小岩体提供了大量的热液和矿物质,从而出现了金堆城小岩体成大矿现象.      

Emplacement of the youngest flood lava on Mars: A short, turbulent story

Recently acquired data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), Context (CTX) imager, and Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft were used to investigate the emplacement of the youngest flood-lava flow on Mars. Careful mapping finds that the Athabasca Valles flood lava is the product of a single eruption, and it covers 250,000 km² of western Elysium Planitia with an estimated 5000-7500 km³ of mafic or ultramafic lava. Calculations utilizing topographic data enhanced with MRO observations to refine the dimensions of the channel system show that this flood lava was emplaced turbulently over a period of only a few to several weeks. This is the first well-documented example of a turbulently emplaced flood lava anywhere in the Solar System. However, MRO data suggest that this same process may have operated in a number of martian channel systems. The magnitude and dynamics of these lava floods are similar to the aqueous floods that are generally believed to have eroded the channels, raising the intriguing possibility that mechanical erosion by lava could have played a role in their incision.     

Radar-bright channels on Titan

During Cassini’s T44 flyby of Titan (May 28, 2008), the Cassini SAR (synthetic aperture radar) revealed sinuous channels in the Southwest of Xanadu. These channels feature very large radar cross-sections, up to 5 dB, whereas the angle of incidence was relatively high, ∼20°. This backscatter is larger than allowed by the coherent backscatter model considered to explain the unusual reflective and polarization properties of the icy satellites and only a few radar scattering mechanisms can be responsible for such high radar returns. The presence of rounded (icy) pebbles with size larger than the radar wavelength (2.18 cm) is proposed to explain the large radar cross-sections measured in these units. The radar-bright channels are thus interpreted as riverbeds, where debris, likely shaped and transported by fluvial activity, have been deposited. Similar debris were observed in the landing site of the Huygens probe. This work may point the way to an explanation for the enhanced brightness of other fluvial regions of Titan.     

Dust aerosols above the south polar cap of Mars as seen by OMEGA

The time evolution of atmospheric dust at high southern latitudes on Mars has been determined using observations of the south seasonal cap acquired in the near infrared (1-2.65 μm) by OMEGA/Mars Express in 2005. Observations at different solar zenith angles and one EPF sequence demonstrate that the reflectance in the 2.64 μm saturated absorption band of the surface CO₂ ice is mainly due to the light scattered by aerosols above most places of the seasonal cap. We have mapped the total optical depth of dust aerosols in the near-IR above the south seasonal cap of Mars from mid-spring to early summer with a time resolution ranging from one day to one week and a spatial resolution of a few kilometers. The optical depth above the south perennial cap is determined on a longer time range covering southern spring and summer. A constant set of optical properties of dust aerosols is consistent with OMEGA observations during the analyzed period. Strong variations of the optical depth are observed over small horizontal and temporal scales, corresponding in part to moving dust clouds. The late summer peak in dust opacity observed by Opportunity in 2005 propagated to the south pole contrarily to that observed in mid spring. This may be linked to evidence for dust scavenging by water ice-rich clouds circulating at high southern latitudes at this season.