Middle Stone Age starch acquisition in the Niassa Rift, Mozambique

The quest for direct lines of evidence for Paleolithic plant consumption during the African Middle Stone Age has led scientists to study residues and use-wear on flaked stone tools. Past work has established lithic function through multiple lines of evidence and the spatial breakdown of use-wear and microscopic traces on tool surfaces. This paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of starch assemblages and the botanical identification of grains from flake and core tools to learn about human ecology of carbohydrate use around the Niassa woodlands, in the Mozambican Rift. The processing of starchy plant parts is deduced from the occurrence of starch assemblages that presumably got attached to stone tool surfaces by actions associated with extractive or culinary activities. Specifically, we investigate starch grains from stone tools recently excavated in northern Mozambique at the site of Mikuyu; which presumably spans the middle to late Pleistocene and represents similar sites found along the Malawi/Niassa corridor that links East, Southern, and Central Africa. Starch was extracted and processed with a diverse tool kit consisting of scrapers, cores, points, flakes, and other kinds of tools. The microbotanical data suggests consumption of seeds, legumes, caryopses, piths, underground storage organs, nuts, and mesocarps from more than a dozen families. Our data suggest a great antiquity for starch use in Africa as well as an expanded diet and intensification.     

四川盆地白垩纪沙漠石英沙颗粒表面特征

石英具有较大的硬度和较高的化学稳定性，因而其颗粒表面特征能很好地反映沉积环境。而通过扫描电镜研究石英颗粒表面微细特征是分析沉积环境行之有效的方法。虽然多数人认为四川盆地白垩纪地层存在沙漠沉积(打儿凼组和夹关组)，但仍有人对沙漠沉积的存在持怀疑态度，并认为是河流成三角洲沉积。过去关于其沉积环境的判别主要是根据沉积结构和构造，并未对其石英沙颗粒表面特征进行过系统分析。笔者对采自四川盆地白垩系不同层位地层的样品进行了石英沙颗粒表面特征系统分析。结果表明，石英沙颗粒表面特征分析可以成功地将石英沙区分为风成和水成沉积。因此，本文从石英沙颗粒表面特征方面进一步肯定了四川盆地白垩纪古沙漠的存在。     

程海断裂带断层泥中石英碎砾表面SEM特征及断层活动状态的分析

根据断层泥中石英碎砾表面SEM特征的鉴定研究，可将程海断裂中、北段断层泥中石英碎砾表面SEM形貌特征分为6类，这表明该段断裂经历了长期多期次活动，强烈活动时间在中晚更新世；5件样品中均未见破裂类(Io)的石英颗粒，表明程海断裂全新世以来强烈活动的频度相对较低。石英碎砾表面机械作用特征的分类统计研究显示：程海断裂中、北段晚更新世以来，断层所经历的活动方式以粘滑活动为主。     

蒋家沟泥石流堆积物的时代及成因

据石英ESR和~14C测年结果,蒋家沟泥石流堆积可分为晚更新世形成的古泥石流堆积和近代泥石流堆积两类。古泥石流堆积再分为早、中、晚三期。扫描镜下观察蒋家沟古泥石流堆积中的石英砂表面机械结构特征和现代泥石流十分相同,例如两者的颗粒都呈尖锐棱角状,粒面上均发育很好的贝壳状断裂结构、解理面、凹坑、擦痕(或擦沟)等,这表明二者的形成环境是相同的。     

江西相山碎斑熔岩成因和钾长石亚显微结构

相山碎斑熔岩含铁铝榴石(1340g/T)、红柱石等岩浆结晶副矿物,具S型火山岩地球化学和Nd、Sr、O同位素组成的特征。据光学测定和X光粉晶衍射测定,斑晶钾长石主要是高正长石或低透长石,有序参数δ′=-0.32—-0.01。在透射电镜下,出溶的细钠长石页片由共格拐点分解形成,成分波长约50—100nm;出溶的宽钠长石页片由无应力离溶作用形成,页片宽50—200nm。结果表明,碎斑熔岩是在火山环境下形成,而不是在深成环境下形成。     

山西义兴寨金矿床金矿物颗粒的产出及其成矿动力学意义

山西义兴寨金矿床的金主要呈包体金和裂隙金两种产出状态.文章根据成矿地球化学动力学理论,论证了金元素在含矿断裂发生脆性破裂和脆-韧性扩张活动中析出的化学反应类型,以及受反应动力学条件的制约,形成矿石中金不同产出状态的规律.指出热液矿床中普遍存在的包体金为热液成矿早期阶段断裂发生脆性破裂和成矿流体沸腾,导致快速反应结晶的产物;而裂隙金和晶隙金为成矿晚期金等矿质在流体中残余富集,同时成矿断裂再次发生脉动破裂,即成矿热力学演化与有利的构造动力学因素耦合作用的结果.得出金矿物颗粒的产出状态具有成矿动力学意义的结论.     

Chronology of an oyster reef on the coast of Bohai Bay, China: Constraints from optical dating using different luminescence signals from fine quartz and polymineral fine grains of coastal sediments

Fossil oyster reefs are indicators of past sea levels, and their formation is usually dated by means of radiocarbon. However, radiocarbon dating of the shells from coastal areas may be complicated by the varying sources of carbon. Here we applied optical dating methods to date the samples from above and below a fossil oyster bed in a section on the coast of Bohai Bay, China. The optical ages of the sediments were used to constrain the oyster bed. Single-aliquot regenerative-dose procedures using the OSL signal from fine grain quartz, the IRSL and post-IR OSL signals from polymineral fine grains were employed to determine equivalent dose (D_e). The behaviors of the different luminescence signals from quartz and polymineral grains during D_e measurements were examined. The results showed that the quartz OSL signal is more reliable than the polymineral IRSL and post-IR OSL signals with respect to dating for these coastal samples. The optical ages indicated that the oyster reef formed between ca. 6.2 and 5.0 ka.     

Infrared Observations of Comet Hale–Bopp (C/1995 O1) from Gurushikhar Observatory

During the recent apparition of comet Hale—Bopp (1995 O1) near infrared photometric observations were carried out in the J, H, K filter bands and also in the 3.0—3.4 μm region at the 1.2 m telescope at Gurushikkar, India. The effective temperature of the comet was substantially higher than the equilibrium blackbody temperature. A mean superheat value of 1.83 was derived in the post-perihelion phase which implies that a large fraction of the grain population are made up of small and hot grains with radii <0.5 μm. High albedo values of ∼0.4 were also derived in the scattering angle range 135° to 160° which could explain the unusual brightness of comet Hale—Bopp. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

天体物理环境中的硅酸盐尘粒

硅酸盐尘粒是宇宙尘埃的主要成分之一,它广泛存在于许多天体物理环境中,其特性随环境而变化。由于近年来观测数据的不断增加和红外光谱质量的逐步提高,宇宙空间中的硅酸盐尘粒正受到越来越多的关注．该文详细地介绍了在各种天体环境(星际空间、演化晚期恒星的星周尘埃包层、绕年轻恒星和主序星的星周尘埃盘、彗星的彗发和行星际空间)中的硅酸盐尘粒的观测特征,并分别对其物理和化学性质进行了综合比较．观测已经证实在星际尘埃演化的前身(演化晚期恒星的星周尘埃包层)和其遗迹(彗星)均有可观数量的结晶硅酸盐存在。但是至今还没有在其中间态(弥散星际介质)找到结晶硅酸盐存在的证据。这一尚未解决的难题突出了结晶态硅酸盐在天体物理研究中的重要意义。