Preliminary study on the erratic exposure ages of Grove Mountains, East Antarctica

The first study of erratic boulder exposure ages in the Grove Mountains,interior Antarctica,indicates the two erratic boulders(060131-1 and 060131-2,collected from a typical nunataks,Zakharoff Ridge in the Grove Mountains) have 10Be minimum exposure ages of 1.24±0.11 Ma,1.37±0.12 Ma,and 26Al ages of 0.90±0.12 Ma,0.44±0.04 Ma,respectively.Meanwhile,another erratic boulder sample 060131-4,coming from vicinal ice surface,has 10Be and 26Al minimum exposure ages of 0.47±0.3 Ma and 0.44±0.04 Ma,respectively.The e...     

Petrology of ureilites from Grove Mountains, Antarctica：Constraints on the origins

Ureilites are a common group of achondrites with a high abundance of carbon. They probably have a genetic relationship with chondrites, hence provide an insight into origin and evolution of terrestrial planets. A new meteorite-rich region, Grove Mountains (GRV), was found by the Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition, with discovery of 9834 meteorites. Of 2433 meteorites classified, 9 ureilites have been identified. In this paper, we report petrography of 6 of these ureilites. Four ureilites contain graphite and exhibit triangle conjunction and common reduced margins of olivine. GRV 052382 probably experienced heavy shock metamorphism followed by fast cooling, as indicated by mosaic texture or fine-grained granular texture of olivine. GRV 022931 was highly reduced of these ureilites, with olivine as isolated grains in abundant carbonaceous matrix. All 9 ureilites are monomict, and are classified into subtype II (with medium FeO content, Fa15-18) and subtype I (with high FeO content, Fa>18) based on compositions of the cores of olivine. The diverse mineral compositions and petrography of these ureilites suggest that they are not paired and reveal a multi-event history of the parent body. Partial melting of the parent body produced carbon-rich magma, followed by crystallization of graphite and silicates. Later, graphite was partially inverted to diamond by shock events. Reburial of the shocked debris experienced various degree of thermal metamorphism. Finally, these rocks were excavated from the parent asteroid and ejected into Earth-cross orbit by another impact event.     

The establishment of GPS network in Grove Mountains, East Antarctica

1 Introduction The Grove Mountains is located at Princess Elizabeth land in East Antarctica, about 400 km from Zhongshan station and 160 km east of the Mawson Escarpment, consists of a scattered group of mountains and nunataks. The range extends73°-76°E…     

Evidence for warmer event from quartz grains in the soil of Grove Mountains, East Antarctica

The cold desert soll has been discovered at first time in southern ridge of Mount Harding, Grove Mountains of interior East Antarctica Ice Sheet. Based on the micro structural observation, dominant characteristics of quartz grains include： distinct surface stria and fractures, and clean features of frost action at both of crystal margins and micro crannies of quartz grains. These features show a pedogenesis environment of few water, short transportation and frost action, revealing a warmer climatic event existed in this re, on.     

GPR Surveying in the kernel area of Grove Mountains,Antarctica

The Grove Mountains, located between the Zhongshan Station and Dome A, are a very important area in inland Antarctic research. China has organized five investigations of the Grove Mountains, encompassing the geological structure, ancient climate, meteorites, ice-movement monitoring, basic mapping, meteorological observations, and other multi-disciplinary observational studies. During the 26th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition in 2010, the Grove Mountains investigation team applied specialized ground-penetrating radar(GPR) to survey subglacial topography in the eastern kernel area of the Grove Mountains. In this paper, we processed GPS and GPR data gathered in the field and drew, for the first time, two subglacial topographic maps of the Grove Mountains kernel area using professional graphics software. The preliminary results reveal the mystery of the nunatak landform of this area, give an exploratory sense of the real bedrock landforms, and indicate a possible sedimentary basin under the Pliocene epoch fossil ice in the Grove Mountains area. Additionally, it has been proven from cross-sectional analysis between Mount Harding and the Zakharoff ridge that the box-valley shape between two nunataks has already matured. ′     

Long-term changes in sedimentary diatom assemblages and their environmental implications in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River estuary,China

Long-term data on diatom assemblages in a sediment core （60 cm） obtained from the Changjiang （Yangtze） River estuary were analyzed in order to assess the environmental changes that took place in the approximately 38 years （as determined by 210pb measurements）, i.e., between 1974 and 2012, of sediment accumulation. From the sediment core, 62 diatom taxa and genera were identified. The diatom biomass in the core generally increased beginning in the mid-1990s （core depth： 35 cm）, accompanied by a shift in the dominant species from Podosira stelliger and two species of Cyclotella （C. stylorum and C. striata） to Paralia sulcata, three species of Thalassiosira （ T. eccentria, I＂. oestrupii, and T. excentrica）, Actinoptychus undulates, and Thalassionema nitzschioides. The changes in both species diversity and abundance suggested that since the 1980s the estuary has undergone extensive eutrophication. This conclusion was supported by the increased proportion of planktonic species, another indicator of high nutrients inputs, in the Changjiang River estuary.     

The study on the depositional styles of major ions and the climatic effect of nssSO2-4 in Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica

Snow samples collected from a 50 m firn core and two snow pits along the route of the 1996/1997 Chinese First Antarctic Inland Traverse Expedition in Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica, have been analyzed for chemical composition and oxygen isotope ratio. Analyzing the relationship between the concentration and flux of major ions and accumulation rate can draw the following conclusions. 1 ) The concentrations of major ions in the atmosphere in the study region is big enough so that the concentrations of the ions do not vary with snow accumulation rate, that is to say, the concentrations of major chemical species are independent of snow accumulation rate. 2) The results of analyzing the depositional styles of major chemical species suggest that wet deposition dominates the major ions flux. In addition, there is no apparent correlation between nssSO2-4 fluctuations and isotope profile. This would indicate the short-term climatic effect of volcanism is not evident in the region.     

Study on the distribution,abundance and growth condition of Antarctic Krill(Euphausia superba)in the Prydz Bay region,Antarctica during the Austral summer of 1999/2000

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) were collected from the Prydz Bay region during the austral summer of 1999/2000. The sample - collection was made at 15 sites in 3 longitudinal transects. Although krill were encountered at 14 sites, the abundance was comparatively low in general. The main component of the krill population was of post -larval stages. The mean numerical and weight density of krill integrated for all sampling stations in the survey area were 16. 17 ind. 1000 m -3and 12.02 g 1000 m -3 , respectively. In the survey area, stations with larger krill density are mainly located in the slope zone, except that the largest sample was collected in the open sea zone. No krill occurred in the only station of the shelf zone during our investigation. Krill collected from the slope zone were under better growth condition than those from the open sea zone, but when the survey area is considered as a whole, the growth condition is normal. The results of the comprehensive analysis of the environmental fa