http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114001108

<正>About three decades after the establishment of the plate tectonics theory in the late 1960s,Maruyama(1994)proposed the"plume tectonics"theory based on whole-mantle seismic tomography image(Fukao,1992;Fukao et al.,1994).According to this theory,the earth's interior is divided into three regimes:the earth's surface region governed by lateral motions of tectonic plates,the mantle governed by vertical motions of"superplumes"(i.e.,large-     

The inner solar system cratering record and the evolution of impactor populations

We review previously published and newly obtained crater size-frequency distributions in the inner solar system. These data indicate that the Moon and the terrestrial planets have been bombarded by two populations of objects. Population 1,dominating at early times, had nearly the same size distribution as the present-day asteroid belt, and produced heavily cratered surfaces with a complex, multi-sloped crater size-frequency distribution. Population 2, dominating since about 3.8–3.7 Gyr,had the same size distribution as near-Earth objects(NEOs) and a much lower impact flux, and produced a crater size distribution characterized by a differential –3single-slope power law in the crater diameter range 0.02 km to 100 km. Taken together with the results from a large body of work on age-dating of lunar and meteorite samples and theoretical work in solar system dynamics, a plausible interpretation of these data is as follows. The NEO population is the source of Population 2 and it has been in near-steady state over the past ～ 3.7–3.8 Gyr; these objects are derived from the main asteroid belt by size-dependent non-gravitational effects that favor the ejection of smaller asteroids. However, Population 1 was composed of main belt asteroids ejected from their source region in a size-independent manner, possibly by means of gravitational resonance sweeping during orbit migration of giant planets;this caused the so-called Late Heavy Bombardment(LHB). The LHB began some time before ～3.9 Gyr, peaked and declined rapidly over the next ～ 100 to 300 Myr,and possibly more slowly from about 3.8–3.7 Gyr to ～2 Gyr. A third crater population(Population S) consisted of secondary impact craters that can dominate the cratering record at small diameters.     

Future projections of Indian Summer Monsoon under multiple RCPs using a high resolution global climate model multiforcing ensemble simulations

Climate Dynamics - Present-day simulations (1983–2003) of a global climate model of 60-km resolution with three deep convection schemes are analysed to find the best scheme for simulation of...     

Detection of large color variation in the potentially hazardousasteroid （297274） 1996 SK

Low-inclination near-earth asteroid(NEA)(297274) 1996 SK,which is also classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid,has a highly eccentric orbit.It was studied by multi-wavelength photometry within the framework of an NEA color survey at Lulin Observatory.Here,we report the finding of large color variation across the surface of(297274) 1996 SK within one asteroidal rotation period of4.656 ± 0.122 hours and classify it as an S-type asteroid according to its average colors of B- V = 0.767 ± 0.033,V- R = 0.482 ± 0.021,V- I = 0.801 ± 0.025and the corresponding relative reflectance spectrum.These results might be indicative of differential space weathering or compositional inhomogeneity in the surface materials.     

Exponential instability of collision orbit in the anisotropic Kepler problem

The straight-line collision solution in the anisotropic Kepler problem is extended to a periodic solution by means of Sundman's analytic continuation. It is shown that this collision periodic solution is always exponentially unstable.     

A note on Kowalevski exponents and the non-existence of an additional analytic integral

In Hamiltonian systems with a homogeneous rational potential and two degrees of freedom, the presence of imaginary Kowalevski exponents implies the non-existence of an additional analytic integral, i.e., non-integrability of the system.     

Microbial responses using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis to oil and chemical dispersant in enclosed ecosystems

Microbial responses to the addition of oil with or without a chemical dispersant were examined in mesocosm and microcosm experiments by using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of bacterial ribosomal DNA and direct cell counting. When a water-soluble fraction of oil was added to seawater, increases in cell density were observed in the first 24h, followed by a decrease in abundance and a change in bacterial species composition. After addition of an oil-dispersant mixture, increases in cell density and changes in community structure coincided, and the amount of bacteria remained high. These phenomena also occurred in response to addition of only dispersant. Our results suggest that the chemical dispersant may be used as a nutrient source by some bacterial groups and may directly or indirectly prevent the growth of other bacterial groups.     

Retardation capacity of altered granitic rock distributed along fractured and faulted zones in the orogenic belt of Japan

There are wide areas of granitic rocks in the Japanese orogenic belt. These granitic bodies inevitably contain fracture and fault systems associated with alteration zones. However, relatively little attention has been given to the possible influence of such widely distributed alteration zones on the migration of radionuclides from any radioactive waste repository that might in future be sited within granitic rock. In particular, the influences of alteration products and micro-fractures, due to chemical sorption and/or physical retardation require further consideration. In order to understand the retardation capacity of the altered deep granitic rocks, detailed geometrical characterization of pores, geochemical analysis, and batch sorption and flow-through experiments have been carried out. Those results show that the altered granite has a large volume of accessible pores, particularly in potassium-feldspar grains, which would influence nuclide retardation more than the accessible porosity in other minerals present, such as biotite. The distribution coefficients, Kd estimated from batch sorption tests and flow-through experiments suggest that altered granite has a high capability to retard the migration of nuclides. The retardation would probably be due to sorption on altered minerals such as sericite and iron hydroxides formed along grain boundaries and in pores created by dissolution, in addition to sorption on primary sorptive minerals. These results provide confidence that even altered and fractured parts of any granitic rock that might be encountered in a site for the disposal of high level radioactive waste may still retard radionuclide migration and thereby help the geosphere to function as a barrier.     

Biogeochemistry of nitrous oxide in groundwater in a forested ecosystem elucidated by nitrous oxide isotopomer measurements

The biological and physical controls on microbial processes that produce and consume N₂O in soils are highly complex. Isotopomer ratios of N₂O, with abundance of ¹⁴N¹⁵N¹⁶O, ¹⁵N¹⁴N¹⁶O, and ¹⁴N¹⁴N¹⁸O relative to ¹⁴N¹⁴N¹⁶O, are promising for elucidation of N₂O biogeochemistry in an intact ecosystem. Site preference, the nitrogen isotope ratio of the central nitrogen atom minus that of the terminal nitrogen atom, is useful to distinguish between N₂O via hydroxylamine oxidation and N₂O via nitrite reduction.We applied this isotopomer analysis to a groundwater system in a temperate coniferous-forested ecosystem. Results of a previous study at this location showed that the N₂O concentration in groundwater varied greatly according to groundwater chemistry, i.e. NO₃⁻, DOC, and DO, although apportionment of N₂O production to nitrification or denitrification was ambiguous. Our isotopic analysis (δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O) of NO₃⁻ and N₂O implies that denitrification is the dominant production process of N₂O, but definitive information is not derived from δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O analysis because of large variations in isotopic fractionations during production and consumption of N₂O. However, the N₂O site preference and the difference in δ¹⁵N between NO₃⁻ and N₂O indicate that nitrification contributes to total N₂O production and that most measured N₂O has been subjected to further N₂O reduction to N₂. The implications of N₂O biogeochemistry derived from isotope and isotopomer data differ entirely from those derived from conventional concentration data of DO, NO₃⁻, and N₂O. That difference underscores the need to reconsider our understanding of the N cycle in the oxic-anoxic interface.     

Multiple sulfur isotope chemostratigraphy across the Permian–Triassic boundary at Chaotian,China: Implications for a shoaling model of toxic deep-waters

Previous studies on multiple sulfur isotopes (³²S, ³³S, and ³⁴S) in sedimentary pyrite at the end-Permian suggested a shoaling of anoxic/sulfidic deep-water contributing to the extinction. This scenario is based on an assumption that the sedimentary sulfur cycle was largely controlled by benthos activity, though a stratigraphic correlation between the sulfur records and ichnofabrics of the sediments at the end-Permian has not yet been examined. We report the multiple sulfur isotopic composition of pyrite in the Permian–Triassic boundary interval at Chaotian, South China. Our data can be generally explained by a mixing of sulfur in sulfide from two different sources: one produced via sulfate reduction in an open system with respect to sulfate and the other produced in a closed system. In particular, the former with the substantially low δ³⁴S (<−40 ‰) and high ∆³³S (up to +0.100 ‰) values was likely produced via water-mass sulfate reduction or via sulfate reduction in oxic sediments with common burrows. The frequent occurrence of small pyrite framboids (mostly <5 μm in diameter) in the Lopingian (Late Permian) Dalong Formation of deep-water facies supports the enhanced water-mass sulfate reduction in an anoxic deep-water mass. The negative ∆³³S values are observed only in the oxic limestones, and no substantial ∆³³S change is observed across the extinction horizon despite of the disappearance of bioturbation. Our results are apparently inconsistent with the previous shoaling model. We expand the model and infer that, when the deep-water was sulfidic and its shoaling rate was high, a substantial amount of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) was supplied onto the shelf via the shoaling; that resulted in the positive ∆³³S value of the bulk sediments. The observed ∆³³S variation on a global scale suggests a substantial variation in H₂S concentration and/or in upwelling rate of shoaling deep-waters during the Permian–Triassic transition.