Weathering process at the natural fission reactor of Bangombé

 The uranium deposits in the basin of Franceville (Gabon) host the only natural fission reactors known in the world. Unique geological conditions favoured a natural fission reaction 2 Ga ago. This was detected by anomalous isotopic compositions of uranium and rare earth elements (REE), which are produced by the fission reaction. In total, 16 reactor zones were found. Most of them are mined out. The reactor zone of Bangombé, is only 10–11 m below the surface. This site has been influenced by surface weathering processes. Six drill cores have been sampled at the site of the reactor zone of Bangombé during the course of the study and only one drill core (BAX 08) hit the core of the reactor. From these data and previous drilling campaigns, the reactor size is estimated to be 10 cm thick, 2–3 m wide and 4–6 m long. The migration of fission products can be traced by the anomalous isotope ratios of REE because of the fission process. The ¹⁴⁹Sm/¹⁴⁷Sm ratio close to the reactor zone is only 0.28 (normal: 0.92) because of the intense neutron capture of ¹⁴⁹Sm and subsequent transmutation, whereas ¹⁴⁷Sm is enriched by the fission reaction. Similar changes in isotopic patterns are detectable on other REE. The isotope ratios of Sm and Nd of whole rock and fracture samples surrounding the reactor indicate that fission-genic REE migrated only a few decimetres above and mainly below the reactor zone. Organic matter (bitumen) seems to act as a trap for fission-genic REE. Additional REE-patterns show less intense weathering with increasing depth in the log profile and support a simple weathering model. Received: 26 November 1999 · Accepted: 2 May 2000     

The Statistical Analysis of Migration of Strong Earthquakes-Taking the North China Region as an Example

The migration of strong earthquakes is an important research topic because the migration phenomena reflect partly the seismic mechanism and involve the prediction of tendency of seismic activity. Research on migration of strong earthquakes has mostly focused on finding the phenomena. Some attempts on getting regularity were comparatively subjective. This paper suggests that there should be indices of migration in earthquake dataset and the indexes should have statistical meaning if there is regularity in the migration of strong earthquakes. In this study, three derivative attributes of migration, i.e., migration orientation, migration distance and migration time interval, were statistically analyzed. Results in the North China region show that the migration of strong earthquakes has statistical meaning. There is a dominant migration orientation (W by S to E by N), a dominant distance (≤100km and on the confines of 300～700km), and a dominant time interval (≤1a and on the confines of 3～4a). The results also show that the migration will differ slightly with different magnitude range or earthquake activity phase.     

Internal colonisation, hegemony and coercion: Investigating migration to Southern Lazio, Italy, in the 1930s

This paper investigates the Italian fascist regime’s use of internal colonisation as part of a wider ruralisation policy aimed at promoting population growth, curbing rural-urban migration, staunching emigration, and halting the spread of industrial urbanisation. By focusing on the case study of the Pontine Marshes, the paper demonstrates how, through targeted selection procedures aimed at displacing defined social and political undesirables, migrants were chosen and effectively coerced into migrating to the “fascist” landscape of the marshes. The area, reclaimed and developed in the 1930s, was celebrated as a sign of the regime’s engineering and social success. The paper utilises Antonio Gramsci’s thought on hegemony, and argues that the overt use of coercion hints at the fact that fascism, although ideologically totalitarian and hegemonic, was contested. Although statisticians, demographers and state bureaucrats were organised and institutionalised in the construction of hegemony based on consent, fascism based itself more in coercion than in passive consent in the case of internal colonisation.     

黄河三角洲沿岸及邻近海区细粒沉积物中的碳酸盐

本文用X-射线衍射法直接计算了来自黄河三角洲沿岸及邻近海区80个沉积样的细粒组分(<2μm)中的碳酸盐含量。计算结果与全样的容量法分析结果基本一致。研究结果表明,本区细粒沉积物中碳酸盐含量变化受沉积物来源、海区水动力作用、海底地貌特征和碳酸盐的地球化学行为等因素所影响。     

In situ and satellite observations of the eastward migration of the Western Alboran Sea Gyre

During October 2003 an intensive oceanographic survey (BIOMEGA) was carried out in the Alboran Sea, coinciding with a migration event of the Western Alboran Sea Gyre (WAG). The observations gathered during that cruise constitute the first field evidence of a migrated stage of the WAG. In this work we present the main differences between the 3D hydrodynamic fields observed during BIOMEGA and those corresponding to a WAG located at its usual position. The migration of the gyre was followed by satellite (altimetry and sea surface temperature) imagery. The causes of the gyre migration are explored in terms of the quasi-geostrophic tendency equation, in particular of the dynamics governing scales larger than the Rossby radius of deformation. It is shown that the steady state gyre must be almost equivalent barotropic and that the key process to break down the stationarity would be a density advection at gyre scale. The mechanisms to explain the migration of the WAG proposed by previous authors are discussed in light of the explanation proposed in this work.     

Origin of Oils in “Subtle pools” in the Dongying Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, China

Subtle traps or oil pools have become an important exploration play in the Dongying Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, east China. Despite recent successes in exploration, the formation mechanisms of subtle traps are still not well understood. The majority of subtle oil pools in the Dongying Depression are developed in the middle interval of the Es3 Member of the Paleogene Shahejie Formation with the subtle traps being primarily of lenticular basin-floor turbidite sands encompassed in mudstones. Oil in the subtle traps was previously thought to have migrated directly from the surrounding source rocks of the same formation （Es3）. Detailed geochemical investigation of 41 oils and 41 rock samples from the depression now indicates that the oils from the subtle traps cannot be correlated well with the surrounding Es3 source rocks, which are characterized by high Pr/ Ph （〉1）, low Gammacerane/C30hopane, representing a freshwater lacustrine setting. In contrast the oils features low Pr/Ph （〈1） and relatively high Gammacerane content, showing a genetic affinity with the underlying Es4 source rocks, which also have the same qualities, indicating a brackish lacustrine setting. Oils in the Es3 subtle traps are probably derived from mixed sources with the contribution from the upper Es4 source rocks predominating. Therefore unconventional oil migration and accumulation mechanisms need to be invoked to explain the pooling of oils from the ES4 source rocks, which probably came through a thick low interval of the Es3 source rocks with no apparent structural or stratigraphic pathways. We suggest that the subtle oil migration pathway probably plays an important role here. This finding may have significant implications for future exploration and the remaining resource evaluation in the Dongying Depression.     

The Glarus thrust: excursion guide and report of a field trip of the Swiss Tectonic Studies Group (Swiss Geological Society, 14.–16. 09. 2006)

This excursion guide results form a field trip to the Glarus nappe complex organized by the Swiss Tectonic Studies Group in 2006. The aim of the excursion was to discuss old and recent concepts related to the evolution of the Glarus thrust. The major aspects were (i) the interplay between deformation, fluid flow and geochemical alteration, (ii) episodic versus continuous deformation and fluid flow, and (iii) the link between large-scale structures, microstructures, and geochemical aspects. Despite 150 years of research in the Glarus nappe complex and the new results discussed during the excursion, there exist controversies that still are unsolved.     

Quantification of the risk associated with high levels of mercury pollution at Temirtau, Kazakhstan

This research aims to establish the risks of hurnan exposure to modeling approach. The study site was located on the River Nura 1990s, an acetaldehyde production plant located in the industrial high environmental mercury levels, based on a quantitative risk in central Kazakhstan. From the 1950s until its closure in the mid city of Temirtau released mercury-containing wastewater into the river. River sediments are highly contaminated with mercury up to a distance of 25 km and beyond. In addition, a local power station released an estimated 6 million tonnes of fly-ash into the water and the mercury has become quite tightly associated with the ash deposits. River water, fish and agricultural land in the floodplain are also contaminated with mercury, yet the risks posed to the local population have not been evaluated to date. In June and July 2005, we took samples of soil, interior and exterior dust, drinking water, and food from individual households, communal areas and markets. Additionally, water and sediment samples and fish were taken from the river. Interviews were conducted with householders to establish their age and body weight, general living conditions and sources of irrigation and drinking water. A food frequency questionnaire （FFQ） was designed to investigate the frequencies of consumption of several common regional food items, including fish from the fiver and/or local market. Human hair samples were also collected to estimate the mercury bioburden and to enable the validity of the modeling approach to be established. The paper expands on the main pathways of contamination and looks at linkages between exposure pathways and mercury concentrations found in human hair. Uncertainties inherent in risk analysis as well as their influence on the relative importance of different exposure routes are also discussed.     

Nurturing Relationships: the gardens of Greek and Vietnamese migrants in Marrickville,Sydney

First- and second-generation migrants represent about 40 per cent of the Australian population. With such a large and also diverse immigrant population, urban landscapes are significantly shaped by the gardens created by migrants. Two groups of Vietnamese and Greek migrants, in the inner suburb of Marrickville South in Sydney, were interviewed to examine the relationship between migration history and garden-making practices. Garden composition was influenced by migrants’ relationship with their homeland, in terms of length of time since migration, previous garden ownership, reason for migration and desire for cultural continuity, and by the size of the garden. Gardens also varied according to country of migration. The actual garden produce and type of environment created by the garden helped to emphasise and maintain cultural relationships, provide a space of nostalgia, and give a sense of ownership and control.