中国北方现代粟、黍及其野生近缘种的淀粉粒形态数据分析

对来自中国北方不同区域的9个粟（Setaria italica）样品及其野生祖本青狗尾草（Setaria viridis）的7个样品,9个黍（Panicum miliaceum）样品及其近缘野生种糠稷（Panicum bisulcatum）和野黍（Eriochloa villosa）样本各 1个,共27个样品进行了淀粉粒分析。针对每个样品,统计100～200颗淀粉粒粒径数据,100颗形态特征数据,在此基础上初步明确了5种植物淀粉粒如下判别特征: 1）5种淀粉粒中,除野黍淀粉粒为小粒径（X=4.8±0.8μm）的椭球形和球形外,其余4种淀粉粒都以多面体为主,球形或近球形为辅,脐点居中开放,黍、粟、青狗尾草和糠稷淀粉的平均粒径分别为X=7.3±1.4μm,X=9.9±2.3μm,X=7.7±1.4μm和X=6.9±1.2μm。2）粒径大于12μm的淀粉粒一般不是黍的淀粉粒。3）粒径大于14μm的淀粉粒99.9％来自粟。3）粒径小于11μm的淀粉粒,如果超过40％的淀粉粒表面无裂隙,极有可能为黍属的淀粉粒;  如果有超过30％的淀粉粒表面具有裂隙,则非常有可能来自狗尾草属。4）近乎45％的粟淀粉粒粒径处于11～14μm,而只有约4％的青狗尾草淀粉粒粒径位于这一区间。如果粒径在11～14μm的淀粉粒含量超过获得淀粉粒总量的4％,则其中很可能包含有粟的淀粉粒。以上标准在鉴定时还需要综合考虑。高粱（Sorghum bicolor）与薏米（Coix chinensis）在粒径和形态上与狗尾草属和黍属有部分重合,但大部分高粱的淀粉粒具有层纹,薏米则有30％的粒径大于14μm,与粟只有5％的淀粉粒位于这一粒径范围有很大的区别。通过研究发现,在现阶段,典型黍亚科（Panicoideae）种类淀粉形态在统计上的区别是明显的,但仅依靠少量颗粒特征进行区分是困难的,如何把现代淀粉特征准确应用到考古样品的鉴定中,还有待更多的淀粉埋藏学研究。目前,针对粟、黍及其野生近缘种的鉴别,植硅体分析的效果明显好于淀粉粒分析。     

Glauconitization of detrital silica substrates in the Barton Formation (upper Eocene) of the Hampshire Basin, southern England

Upper Eocene detrital silica grains (chert and quartz) of the Hampshire Basin display alteration and replacement fabrics by glauconite. Silica grains have etched surfaces due to glauconitization which appear green in reflected light and thin section. Quartz grains were glauconitized by surface nucleation and replacement, which spreads from the margin with progressive glauconitization, replacing the quartz grain interior. Chert grains were glauconitized by surface replacement and nucleation internally along cracks and in pores. Different forms of glauconite are associated with the two minerals; glauconite associated with quartz is generally highly-evolved whereas glauconite associated with chert is of the evolved variety. This is interpreted as being due to different surface-reaction control mechanisms associated with the two forms of silica. There is no evidence to suggest that glauconite evolved in stages from a nascent form. Two crystalline morphological forms of glauconite are found associated with both quartz and chert. Glauconite growing within a confined space has a laminated morphology whilst glauconite occurring on the surface has a rosette morphology.     

Restructuring and destruction of hydrocarbon dust in the interstellar medium

A model describing the main processes determining the evolution of hydrocarbon dust grains of arbitrary size under astrophysical conditions corresponding to regions of ionized hydrogen (HII regions) and supernova remnants is presented. The processes considered include aromatization and photodestruction, sputtering by electrons and ions, and shattering during collisions between grains. The model can be used to calculate the size distribution of the grains and the degree of aromatization during the evolution of HII regions and supernova remnants for a specified radiation field, relative velocity between the gas and dust, etc. The contribution of various processes to the evolution of hydrocarbon dust grains for parameters typical for the interstellar medium of our Galaxy is considered. Small grains (with fewer than 50 carbon atoms) should be fully aromatized in the interstellar medium. If larger grains initially have an aliphatic structure, this is preserved to a substantial extent. Variation in the size distribution of the grains due to collisions between grains depend appreciably on the adopted initial size distribution. With an initial distribution corresponding to that of Mathis et al. (1977), the mass fraction contributed by smaller grains tends to increase with time, while, with an initial distribution corresponding to that of Jones et al. (2013), in which the fraction of small grains is initially high, there is a general decrease in the number of grains of various sizes with time.     

滇西思茅盆地景谷地区曼岗组石英颗粒表面特征及其指示意义

石英具有硬度大和化学稳定性高的特点,其颗粒表面特征能很好的反映沉积环境,通过扫描电镜观察石英表面微细特征是判别沉积环境行之有效的方法。思茅盆地白垩系曾一度被认为是陆相水成沉积,笔者通过野外识别及室内基础研究发现,景谷地区下白垩统曼岗组具有风成沉积特征,需对该套地层开展石英颗粒表面特征的系统研究来进一步确定其沉积相,研究结果表明:研究区曼岗组石英颗粒表面具有明显的风成特征,磨圆度高,普遍发育典型的蝶形撞击坑、新月形撞击坑、毛玻璃化表面,存在沙漠漆,极易与水成特征相区别;而其较强的溶蚀作用与沉淀作用则显示了当时干旱炎热的气候条件。在风成沉积确定的基础上,笔者再结合典型沉积构造,粒度分析、岩性特征等沉积特征进行综合分析,认为研究区曼岗组应属沙漠沉积。     

Pits, outgrowths, and inclusions as coated grain kinetic instabilities

The development of outgrowths or pits of various shapes on coated grains is explained via a quantitative model of grain growth/dissolution kinetics coupled to evolving grain geometry (morphological dynamics). Grain-coating thinning or fracturing occurring due to nonplanar growth (and consequent grain surface area increase) is shown to underlie an instability to the formation of bumps, or in the case of undersaturated systems, to pitting. Examples of diagenetic outgrowth phenomena on clay-coated quartz are presented. A quantitative model of coupled quartz growth and coating dynamics is shown to imply many features observed in natural systems. Crystal growth anisotropy is shown to strongly influence the morphology of the outgrowths. The creation of inclusions is shown to be closely related to the present morphological instability. These morphological instability phenomena are interesting examples of geochemical self-organization.A steady-state model of the diffusion of solutes across the grain coating is shown to yield a novel nonlinear equation to be solved for the rate of growth of coated grains. This equation leads to a complex dependence of the growth/dissolution rate on saturation (or more generally on the composition of the fluid) in the medium surrounding the coated grain. The feedback between the dynamics of the coating thickness and morphology changes makes the phenomenon of interest here distinct from that arising from the coupling of grain growth and diffusion in the surrounding medium. This makes pits and needles possible even in a well-stirred surrounding medium, a fact of interest in interpreting the geologic record. For example, the present model can explain the development of spike, mushroom, and other outgrowths on clay-coated quartz grains in a sedimentary rock, whereas the classic Mullins and Sekerke diffusion model cannot, i.e., the time scale for eliminating concentration gradients in a pore is much shorter than that for grain growth. Predictions of the model are consistent with observations on quartz when typical values of diffusion, growth rate coefficients, and other parameters are used. In this paper, we emphasize that pitting can be closely related to outgrowth instabilities. If this be the case, then pitted dissolution of feldspars is a likely example. As feldspars dissolve, they commonly surround themselves with a clay coating, often leaving only a ghost remnant of the original growth.     

Morphology and Chemistry of Placer Gold from Attappadi Valley, Southern India

We report the morphological, textural and chemical characteristics of gold grains in stream gravels from the Siruvani River in Attappadi Valley, southern India. The placer gold deposits contain both primary grains with jagged grain contours and secondary grains with smooth grain margins. The primary and secondary gold grains are also distinguished by marked contrast in microtextures with the latter displaying a range of corrosion textures including striations, etch pits and chemical corrosion cavities that coalesce to form honey-comb patterns. Some of these cavities are filled with fine clay derived from lateritic weathering front. While the primary grains are characterized by high silver content (up to 35.77 wt.%) with marginal overgrowths of high purity gold, the secondary grains show exceedingly high fineness (1000 Au/Au+Ag) levels (up to 984) with no marked compositional variation indicating selective extraction of Ag and/or reprecipitation of Au. From morphological and chemical characteristics, we propose that the high purity gold grains were not derived directly from primary sources, but underwent chemical refinement in the weathering front before they were transferred to the fluvial systems. Our findings have important implications for gold exploration in the Attappadi Valley.     

植硅体研究及其应用的讨论

植硅体是填充于高等植物细胞组织中的非晶质含水二氧化硅颗粒，记录了它所起源的植物细胞的特征，可以在土层或沉积物中很好地保存下来。通过植硅体的形态鉴定和确定组合带，可以恢复古植被、讨论植物群落演替，推断第四纪古气候环境及其变迁，指导地层划分对比。结合数学方法可以进一步计算出各种古环境气候的参数值，从而用以研究气候波动和发现气候事件，进行全球对比研究。在考古学、土壤学、农学和医学等领域，植硅体也得到了广泛的应用。     

Effects of grain morphology on critical state: a computational analysis

We introduce a new DEM scheme (LS-DEM) that takes advantage of level sets to enable the inclusion of real grain shapes into a classical discrete element method. Then, LS-DEM is validated and calibrated with respect to real experimental results. Finally, we exploit part of LS-DEM potentiality by using it to study the dependency of critical state (CS) parameters such as critical state line (CSL) slope \(\lambda \), CSL intercept \(\varGamma \), and CS friction angle \(\varPhi _{\mathrm{CS}}\) on the grain’s morphology, i.e., sphericity, roundness, and regularity. This study is carried out in three steps. First, LS-DEM is used to capture and simulate the shape of five different two-dimensional cross sections of real grains, which have been previously classified according to the aforementioned morphological features. Second, the same LS-DEM simulations are carried out for idealized/simplified grains, which are morphologically equivalent to their real counterparts. Third, the results of real and idealized grains are compared, so the effect of “imperfections” on real particles is isolated. Finally, trends for the CS parameters (CSP) dependency on sphericity, roundness, and regularity are obtained as well as analyzed. The main observations and remarks connecting particle’s morphology, particle’s idealization, and CSP are summarized in a table that is attempted to help in keeping a general picture of the analysis, results, and corresponding implications.     

Quaternary volcanic ash zones on the Iceland Plateau,southern Norwegian Sea

Four Quaternary volcanic ash zones in the southern Norwegian Sea have been investigated in core P57-7 from the Iceland Plateau. Both the geochemical composition and morphological variation of each ash layer have been studied. The four volcanic ash zones appear in the light oxygen isotope stages 1, 5, 7 and 11. The ash zones are composed of transparent platy grains, light brown transparent grains, brown blocky and black blocky grains and white/transparent pumice, and each zone shows a distinct stratigraphic evolution. The geochemical results show a mixture of basaltic and silicic grains in each ash zone, and that each zone contains grains from more than one eruption. The geochemical investigations strongly suggest that all the ashes are derived from Iceland. The youngest ash zone includes two layers, which based on their geochemical composition and stratigraphic position are correlated with the ¹⁴C-dated Vedde Ash (10 600 yr BP) and Saksunarvatn Ash (9 100 yr BP). Possible sources on Iceland for these layers are discussed.     

CAMAM: A Miniature Laser Ablation Ionisation Mass Spectrometer and Microscope‐Camera System for In Situ Investigation of the Composition and Morphology of Extraterrestrial Materials

Performance studies of a microscope‐camera system (MCS) and a laser ablation/ionisation mass spectrometer (LIMS) instrument (referred to here as a laser mass spectrometer or LMS) are presented. These two instruments were designed independently for in situ analysis of solids on planetary surfaces and will be combined to a single miniature instrument suite for in situ chemical and morphological analysis of surface materials on planetary bodies. LMS can perform sensitive chemical (elemental, isotope and molecular) analyses with spatial resolution close to micrometre‐sized grains. It allows for studies with mass resolution (M/ΔM) up to 800 in ablation mode (elemental composition) and up to 1500 in desorption mode (molecular analysis). With an effective dynamic range of at least eight orders of magnitude, sensitive and quantitative measurements can be conducted of almost all elements and isotopes with a concentration larger than a few ppb atoms. Hence, in addition to the major element composition, which is important for the determination of mineralogical constituents of surface materials, trace elements can also be measured to provide information on mineral formation processes. Highly accurate isotope ratio measurements can be used to determine in situ geochronology of sample material and for investigations of various isotope fractionation processes. MCS can conduct optical imagery of mm‐sized objects at several wavelengths with micrometre spatial resolution for the characterisation of morphological surface details and to provide insight into surface mineralogy. Furthermore, MCS can help in the selection of sample surface areas for further mass spectrometric analysis of the chemical composition. Surface auto‐fluorescence measurements and images in polarised light are additional capabilities of the MCS, to identify either fluorescing minerals or organic materials, if present on the analysed surface, for further investigation by LMS. The results obtained by investigations of NIST reference materials, amino acid films and a natural graphite sample embedded in silicate rock are presented to illustrate the performance of the instruments and their potential to deliver chemical information for mineral and organic phases in their geological context.     

The use of the fractal dimension to quantify the morphology of irregular-shaped particles

For several decades, sedimentologists have had difficulty in obtaining an efficient index of particle form that can be used to specify adequately irregular morphology of sedimentary particles. Mandelbrot has suggested the use of the fractal dimension as a single value estimate of form, in order to characterize morphologically closed loops of an irregular nature. The concept of fractal dimension derives from Richardson's unpublished suggestion that a stable linear relationship appears when the logarithm of the perimeter estimate of an irregular outline is plotted against the logarithm of the unit of measurement (step length). Decreases in step length result in an increase in perimeter by a constant weight (b) for particles whose morphological variations are the same at all measurement scales (self-similarity). The fractal dimension (D) equals 1.0-(b), where b is the slope coefficient of the best-fitting linear regression of the plot. The value of D lies between 1.0 and 2.0, with increasing values of D correlating with increasing irregularity of the outline. In practice, particle outline morphology is not always self-similar, such that two or possibly more fractal elements can occur for many outlines. Two fractal elements reflect the morphological difference between micro-scale edge textural effects (D₁) and macro-scale particle structural effects (D₂) generated by the presence of crenellate-edge morphology (re-entrants). Fractal calibration on a range of regular/irregular particle outline morphologies, plus examination of carbonate beach, pyroclastic and weathered quartz particles indicates that this type of analysis is best suited for morphological characterization of irregular and crenellate particles. In this respect, fractal analysis appears as the complementary analytical technique to harmonic form analysis in order to achieve an adequate specification of all types of particles on a continuum of irregular to regular morphology.     

Improved method of sedimentological studies of the Riasi Tillite,India

A partly modified planimetric/square graph paper method of mechanical analysis was developed for analyzing the Riasi Tillite which is of quartzitic composition and whose mineral or rock components cannot be separated from each other without much loss of their size by any reported chemical or mechanical techniques so far used. The method works under the principal of model analysis (Chayes, 1956), but here any size of specimen which contains grains having different shades of color can be used. The rock specimen to be analysed by these methods is polished very fine from all possible sides and then with the help of a planimeter/square graph paper the area of the various polished surfaces and the grains on them is calculated and the percent frequency of each size range determined. Based on such calculations, many samples of the Riasi Tillite were analysed and their histograms and cumulative curves have been drawn. The character of these curves confirms that the socalled “brecciated quartzitic grit” (Middlemiss, 1928) is nothing but tillite (Riasi Tillite by Wakhaloo and Sharma, 1970).     

Silver and mercury in single gold grains from the Witwatersrand and Barberton,South Africa

The contents of silver and mercury in 323 spots on gold grains from seven localities of the Witwatersrand palaeo-placer and Archaean vein deposits from Barberton were measured using an electron microprobe. The objective was to obtain information on the extent of gold alteration during fluvial transport and post-depositional geological processes. The results, however, show that Ag and Hg are distributed homogeneously in the gold grains studied. No indications were found that the gold was transported in solution nor that leaching took place in an oxidizing fluvial environment. This strongly suggests that the Ag and Hg contents in Witwatersrand gold grains represent geochemical ‘fingerprints’ inherited from their eroded primary sources. Combined analysis for Ag and Hg in Witwatersrand gold grains by electron microprobe can therefore be a valuable tool in establishing the types of primary sources for the gold.     

De glauconiarum origine

The glauconitic facies is widespread on present-day continental shelves from 50° S to 65° N and at water depths between 50 and 500 m, and is in particularly great abundance on the upper slope and outer shelf between 200 and 300 m. It is also common in many ancient rocks of post-late Precambrian age. It occurs as sand- to pebble-sized, essentially green particles (granular facies) but also as a surface coating on particles and hardgrounds and as a diffuse impregnation (film and diffuse facies). We suggest the replacement of the term ‘glauconite’, which has been interchangeably used to designate a morphological form and a specific mineral, by glaucony (facies) and glauconitic smectite and glauconitic mica as end members of the glauconitic mineral family. The widely accepted model of Burst and Hower for glauconitization requires a degraded, micaceous (2: 1 layer lattice structure) parent clay mineral. However, detailed analysis of numerous samples of Recent glaucony reveals that such a parent substrate is exceptional. The model therefore requires modification. Generally the parent material is carbonate particles, argillaceous (kaolinitic) faecal pellets, infillings of foraminiferal tests, various mineral grains and rock fragments, that pass gradually into the commonly occurring green grains. We show that the process of glauconitization is achieved by de novo authigenic growth of automorphous crystallites in the pores of the substrate, accompanied by progressive alteration and replacement of the substrate. It is this two-fold evolution that causes the ‘verdissement’of granular substrates, macrofossils and hardgrounds. The authigenic mineral is an iron-rich and potassium-poor glauconitic smectite. While new smectites are growing into the remaining pore space the earlier smectites are modified by incorporation of potassium, producing decreasingly expandable minerals with a non-expandable glauconitic mica as the end member. This mineralogical diversity of the glauconitic mineral family explains the highly variable physical and chemical properties of glaucony. Four categories, nascent, little-evolved, evolved and highly-evolved glaucony are distinguished. Glauconitization appears to be controlled by a delicate balance between degree of physical confinement of a particle and the amount of ionic exchange between the micro-environment and ambient open marine sea water. The optimum conditions for glauconitization are those of semi-confinement. As a result the interior of a grain is more glauconitized than its less confined periphery. Similarly, for identical substrate types, large grains (500μm) provide more favourable substrates for glauconitization than lesser confined small grains. On a larger scale the formation of glaucony is governed by the availability of iron and potassium and the balance between detrital influx and winnowing. Low accumulation rates expose grains to the open marine environment for sufficiently long times (10⁵-10⁶ years for highly-evolved glaucony).     

Compositional variations and morphological evolution in platinum beach placers, southern New Zealand

Morphologies of placer platinum group minerals (PGM) are more variable and resistant to modification during transport than placer gold grains. This study documents morphological evolution of PGM placer grains during up to 120 km of transport in beach placers after river transport from inferred sources up to 200 km inland. PGM morphological changes are calibrated with changes in morphology of associated placer gold. Most of the PGM are Pt-Fe alloy and have been fed into the beach placer system from a large river at the western end of the beaches on the south coast of New Zealand. The incoming fluvial PGM suite includes Os, Ir and Ru alloys which may have been derived from distal ophiolitic sources. More proximal sources have Ural-Alaskan affinities and these contributed cooperite and braggite, or sperrylite, locally, as well as Pt-Fe alloy grains. Some PGM may have been recycled through Cretaceous-Quaternary fluvial sediments before entering the modern placer system. Recycled placer PGM grains have also been derived from elevated Quaternary beaches near the coastline. PGM grains entering beach placers have rough surfaces, with remnants of crystal faces, and these evolve to smooth flakes with progressive long-shore transport. PGM flakes have slightly thickened rims caused by impacts by saltating sand on windy beaches, and the most distal beach placers contain flakes with incipient toroidal shapes. These PGM incipient toroids are poorly developed compared to accompanying well-formed toroidal gold that has developed in nearly all beach placers, including those on elevated Quaternary beaches. Typical PGM and gold placer grain size decreases with increasing distance of transport, from fluvial grain size of 400–1,000 to ～200 microns on the most distal beaches, accompanied by eastward loss of equant PGM grains and associated increase in proportion of flakes. Although net transport distance is ～120 km in the beach placer complex, frequent aeolian transport of grains from beach to dunes and subsequent recycling by storm surges substantially increased total transport distance in a dynamic windy tectonic environment.