A tephra-based correlation of marine and terrestrial records of MIS 11c from Britain and the North Atlantic

Resolving marine and terrestrial records of glacial and interglacial stages has long been a challenge for Quaternary studies. We present a tephra-based correlation for MIS 11c of a North Atlantic marine core and a British terrestrial record (Marks Tey). A varved chronology is presented for the annually laminated lake sequence at Marks Tey and the proxy data from this site are plotted on an annual timescale for the first time. This record shows clear evidence for an abrupt cold event and corresponding ecological and landscape response. Varve counting shows that the abrupt event lasted for ca 185 a but the impact on the landscape persisted for ca 560 a. The co-occurrence of a single tephra layer in Marks Tey and ODP 980 allows these two records to be correlated. Furthermore, this synchronisation shows that the abrupt cold event in Marks Tey was coincident with a centennial-scale cold event in ODP 980, as evidenced by an increase in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s) percentage. In both ODP 980 and Marks Tey the age of this abrupt event was ca 414 500 a indicating that, at this point in MIS 11c, a widespread cold event occurred in the northeastern Atlantic and the British Isles.     

Asphalt mounds and associated biota on the Angolan margin

Release of hydrocarbons from sediments is important in increasing habitat heterogeneity on deep ocean margins. Heterogeneity arises from variation in abiotic and biotic conditions, including changes in substratum, geochemistry, fluid flow, biological communities and ecological interactions. The seepage of heavy hydrocarbons to the seafloor is less well studied than most other cold seep systems and may lead to the formation of asphalt mounds. These have been described from several regions, particularly the Gulf of Mexico. Here, we describe the structure, potential formation and biology of a large asphalt mound province in Block 31SE Angola. A total of 2254 distinct mound features was identified by side-scan sonar, covering a total area of 3.7 km² of seafloor. The asphalt mounds took a number of forms from small (<0.5 m diameter; 13% observations) mounds to large extensive (<50 m diameter) structures. Some of the observed mounds were associated with authigenic carbonate and active seepage (living chemosynthetic fauna present in addition to the asphalt). The asphalt mounds are seabed accumulations of heavy hydrocarbons formed from subsurface migration and fractionation of reservoir hydrocarbons primarily through a network of faults. In Angola these processes are controlled by subsurface movement of salt structures. The asphalt mounds were typically densely covered with epifauna (74.5% of mounds imaged had visible epifauna) although individual mounds varied considerably in epifaunal coverage. Of the 49 non-chemosynthetic megafaunal taxa observed, 19 taxa were only found on hard substrata (including asphalt mounds), 2 fish species inhabited the asphalt mounds preferentially and 27 taxa were apparently normal soft-sediment fauna. Antipatharians (3.6±2.3% s.e.) and poriferans (2.6±1.9% s.e.) accounted for the highest mean percentage of the observed cover, with actinarians (0.9±0.4% s.e.) and alcyonaceans (0.4±0.2% s.e.) covering smaller proportions of the area. Asphalt mounds represent a common and important habitat on several margin systems globally and should be recognised in future environmental assessment and management of these areas.     

VLBI and VLA observations of intraday polarization variability in 0917+624 and 0954+658

Total intensity and polarization λ =6 cm Very Large Array (VLA) and global very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) images of the quasar 0917+624 and the BL Lacertae object 0954+658 (both at epoch 1991.43) are analysed. Integrated measurements using the VLA during the VLBI observations indicated that, although there were no substantial total intensity variations, there were significant polarization variations for both sources during the 24-h VLBI experiment. The VLBI data were divided into 2–3 h segments in order to try to identify corresponding rapid variability in the VLBI structure. This analysis revealed intraday variability (IDV) in the VLBI core of 0917+624: both the polarized flux and the polarization position angle varied substantially on time-scales of ∼5–10 h. There is evidence that the VLA polarization variations for 0954+658 occurred in an inner VLBI jet component, where the polarized flux varied by ∼30–40 per cent on time-scales of ∼2 h. 0917+624 and 0954+658 were observed together with 0716+714, an object that also displayed IDV in the polarized flux density measured during our experiment (analysed in a separate paper). These three sources were targeted for the VLBI observations since they had been previously identified as intraday variables, but we had no way of knowing whether they would vary during our observations. The fact that all three exhibited IDV in polarization (but not in total intensity) during our experiment suggests that polarization IDV occurs frequently in at least some IDV sources.     

A Preliminary Study on the Phenomenon of Microseismic Fluctuations before Impending Strong Earthquake

Based on repeated comparison studies of broadband digital seismic records before the Wenchuan M_S8. 0,Yushu M_S7. 1 and Qingchuan M_S5. 4 earthquakes,the possible microseismic fluctuations before impending earthquakes were preliminarily identified. In order to verify and test this phenomenon,a real-time tracking technical system was established by using continuous waveform records of more than 200 wide-band digital seismic stations in regional networks such as Gansu,Qinghai,Sichuan,Yunnan and Tibet.Through real-time tracking and dynamic monitoring of 24 earthquakes with M≥5. 0 occurring in the Qinghai-Tibetan block during the period of 2012-2014 and the observations of stations in some non-seismic areas,the reproducibility and objectivity of the impending earthquake phenomenon were verified. The main characteristics of the microseismic fluctuation phenomena immediately preceding the strong earthquakes are as follows:(1)the spectrum range is wider,the dominant frequency is 11-16 Hz,and the spectrum shape is more regular;(2)it appears 6-24 days before the earthquake,averaging about 15 days;(3)it is possible to be recorded by the stations within the epicenter distance of 50 km,and the stations with the epicenter distance of more than 50 km generally cannot record it;(4)this phenomenon is directional,i. e. the direction in which the activity degree,N-value,varies significantly may be related to the location of the seismic source,the seismogenic fault and the distribution of aftershocks of the strong earthquake. The preliminary study shows that the impending-earthquakes microseismic phenomena may be related to the pre-activity,micro-vibration and micro-rupture in the source region in the imminent stage,or the microactivity and micro-rupture associated with the active tectonics.     

太平洋中部地磁台11年周期变化的研究

综合APIA、HONOLULU、PAMATAI 3个地磁台三分量的11年周期变化的形态后,可定性地提出该变化源于内场。如内源为核幔边界的电涡流,则其中心点应位于3台之间。     

北方盛夏台风暴雨的天气型及其年际变率

１９４９－１９９６年的４８个盛夏期间，我国北方地区共有１０次过程雨量最大值大于４００ｍｍ的台风暴雨实例。从台风与西风槽相互作用的观点对这１０例进行分类。根据实践经验可以把台风槽、可套西风槽、日本海渤海高压、上海地区８５０ｈＰａ东南风急流以及弱冷空气入侵台风等５因子作为分型的判据。结果指出，１０例中只有发生于１９５０、１９６３、１９７５、１９８４和１９９６年８月上旬的５例属于相互作用型，其他５例不是