Is the Response of Estuarine Nekton to Freshwater Flow in the San Francisco Estuary Explained by Variation in Habitat Volume?

Abundance of estuarine biota can vary with freshwater inflow through several mechanisms. One proposed mechanism is that the extent of physical habitat for an estuarine species increases with flow. We estimated the contribution of variation in habitat volume to the responses of eight species of estuarine nekton to changes in freshwater flow in the San Francisco Estuary. Resource selection functions for salinity and depth were developed for each species (and for five additional species) using five monitoring data sets. The TRIM3D hydrodynamic model was run for five steady flow scenarios to determine volume by salinity and depth, and resource selection functions were used as a weighting factor to calculate an index of total habitat for each species at each flow. The slopes of these habitat indices vs. flow were consistent with slopes of abundance vs. flow for only two of the species examined. Therefore, other mechanisms must underlie responses of abundance to flow for most species.     

“Source to Sink”: A Review of Tectonics-Erosion-Sedimentation Interactions in the Analogue Experiments of Accretionary WedgeEI北大核心CSCD

It is believed that the tectonics-erosion-sedimentation interaction in the analogue experiments was essentially improved by the theory of “from source to sink”. In particular, the widespread uplift and exhumation in the western China occurred in Cenozoic can be considered to be a typical natural laboratory in the world. Here we review our current understanding from tectonic sandbox models of tectonics-erosion-sedimentation and their interactions, as well as from natural laboratory. As we known, there are widespread erosion occurred predominantly at hinterland of the accretionary wedge, in contrast to the sedimentation occurred widely at foreland of the wedge. Therefore, fold-and-thrust belts with low syntectonic sedimentation and erosion would evolve in a self-similar fashion to produce a narrow accretionary wedge, while high syntectonic sedimentation and erosion would produce accretionary wedge with very active hinterland thrusts, and a large width. Furthermore, the critically tapered wedge model suggests that the crust-scale thrust-and-fold belts under a horizontal compressive force would come into a self-similar growth of a forward-tapering wedge when it reaches a critical taper angle of the combined angles of the base dip and the wedge slope. Such a process has important influence on the tectonics-erosion- sedimentation and their interactions both in accretionary wedges and their analogue experiments. Although there is a significant similarity between the analogue experiments and natural accretionary wedges in the surface processes of tectonics- erosion-sedimentation and their interactions, it is difficult to get more universal parameters between them. It should be noted that sandbox models of the accretionary wedges in the natural laboratory would improve significantly our understanding of the theory of the tectonics-erosion-sedimentation interactions and “from source to sink”. © 2018, Science Press. All right reserved.     

The Geochemistry of the Arabian Lithospheric Mantle--a Source for Intraplate Volcanism?

We present trace element and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopecompositions for clinopyroxenes from anhydrous spinel peridotiteand garnet ± spinel pyroxenite xenoliths of Pan-Africanlithospheric mantle from Jordan, including the first high-precisiondouble-spike Pb isotope measurements of mantle clinopyroxene.Clinopyroxenes from the peridotites are variably Th–U–LILE–LREEenriched and display prominent negative Nb, Zr and Ti anomalies.MREE–HREE abundances can generally be modelled as partialmelting residues of spinel lherzolite with primitive-mantle-likecomposition after extraction of 5–10% melt, whereas theenrichments in Th–U–LILE–LREE require a Pan-Africanor later metasomatic event. The large range of Nd, Sr, Pb andHf isotope ratios in both peridotites and pyroxenites (e.g.Nd 1·4–17·5; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb 17·2–20·4;Hf 0·6–164·6) encompasses compositionsmore radiogenic than mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), and Pb isotopescover almost the entire range of oceanic basalt values. Hf valuesare some of the highest ever recorded in mantle samples andare decoupled from Nd in the same samples. Marked correlationsbetween Sr–Nd–Pb isotopes, LILE–LREE enrichmentsand HFSE depletion suggest that the metasomatizing agent wasa carbonatitic-rich melt and isotopic data suggest that metasomatismmay have been related to Pan-African subduction. The metasomaticmelt permeated depleted upper mantle (<16 kbar) during Pan-Africansubduction at 600–900 Ma, and the variably metasomatizedmaterial was then incorporated into the Arabian lithosphericmantle. There is no evidence for recent metasomatism (<30Ma) related to the Afar plume like that postulated to have affectedsouthern Arabian lithospheric mantle. Hf isotopes in the mantleclinopyroxenes are unaffected by metasomatism, and even somestrongly overprinted lithologies record ancient (>1·2Ga) pre-metasomatic Lu–Hf signatures of the depleted uppermantle that was the protolith of the Arabian lithospheric mantle.The ‘resistance’ of the Lu–Hf isotopic systemto later metasomatic events resulted in the development of extremelyheterogeneous Hf isotopic signatures over time that are decoupledfrom other isotopic systems. No mantle sample in this studyexactly matches the chemical and isotopic signature of the sourceof Jordanian intraplate basalts. However, the xenolith compositionsare broadly similar to those of the source of Arabian intraplatebasalts, suggesting that the numerous Cenozoic intraplate volcanicfields throughout Arabia may be the product of melting uppermantle wedge material fertilized during Pan-African subductionand incorporated into the Arabian lithospheric mantle. We proposea model whereby the proto-Arabian lithospheric mantle underwenta major melting event in early Proterozoic–late Archeantimes (at the earliest at 1·2 Ga). Island-arc volcanismand major crust formation occurred during the Pan-African orogeny,which liberated fluids and possibly small-degree melts thatmigrated through the mantle creating zones of enrichment forcertain elements depending upon their compatibility. Immobileelements, such as Nb, were concentrated near the base of themantle wedge providing the source of the Nb-rich Jordanian volcanicrocks. More mobile elements, such as LILE and LREE, were transportedup through the mantle and fertilized the shallow mantle sourceof the Jordanian xenoliths. Following subduction, the mantlewedge became fossilized and preserved distinct enriched anddepleted zones. Lithospheric rifting in the Miocene triggeredpartial melting of spinel-facies mantle in the lower lithosphere,which mixed with deeper asthenospheric garnet-facies melts asrifting evolved. These melts entrained segments of variablycarbonatite-metasomatized shallow lithospheric mantle en routeto the surface. KEY WORDS: Arabian lithospheric mantle; Jordan; mantle xenoliths; Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopes     

What have natural and human changes wrought on the foraminifera of San Francisco Bay late Quaternary estuaries?

In this study we compare the foraminifera of modern South San Francisco Bay with fossils from sediments of a previous estuary at 125 ka to provide a basis for interpreting the impact of natural and human change on the benthic ecosystem. All the species found in the Pleistocene sediments of this study are estuarine and/or shallow-water species occurring commonly in San Francisco Bay today, except for the introduced foraminifer Trochammina hadai, a native of Japan that was not found in samples taken in San Francisco Bay before 1983. The biodiversity and species composition of the fossil and modern assemblages before the introduction of T. hadai are nearly identical, suggesting that the environmental and physical changes in the 125,000-year-old and modern estuaries have not had a significant effect on the meiofauna of the Bay. In contrast, modern anthropogenic change in the form of species introductions has impacted the modern foraminiferal assemblage: T. hadai began to dominate the modern assemblage a decade after its introduction. Similar to the recorded impacts of introductions of marine metazoan invertebrate species, the dominance of T. hadai changed species proportions in the post-1980s foraminiferal assemblage, however no known extinctions in the native foraminiferal fauna occurred.     

The Last Global Transgression of the World Ocean: Glacio-Eustasy or Tectonics?

Geotectonics - The article substantiates the conclusion about the tectonic nature of the last global transgression of the World Ocean. It is based on the results of marine studies in which complete...     

The future of failure: stress or strain?

Strains in rocks can be observed but ancient stresses can only be inferred. We should re-examine the potential of strain geometry as the key to understanding and interpreting common shear structures ranging from faults to plastic shear zones. The concept of failure along zero extension directions can be applied to natural structures in rocks and is predicated on strain compatibility between differently strained volumes. Zero extension directions are considered for two strain configurations, plane strain (k=1) and uniaxial shortening (k=0). The crucial difference between shear fractures, or faults, and plastic yield zones is that the former are preceded by dilatation while the latter are isovolumetric. Volume changes during deformation affect the orientations of zero extension directions and hence of the resulting structures. With isovolumetric strain, yield occurs on planes at 45° to the principal shortening direction in plane strain and at 54.7° to this axis in uniaxial shortening. Uniaxial shortening experiments on rock samples allow estimation of the relative volumetric strains when yield zones initiate. When this volumetric strain is used to estimate the orientation of shear fractures in plane strain, ca 70° dips are predicted for normal faults at high crustal levels, decreasing downwards to 45°.     

The “Upper Basalts” of the East Chukotka Segment of Okhotsk–Chukotka Belt: the Along Strike Migration of Volcanic Activity or the Overprint by Later Magmatic Event?

Doklady Earth Sciences - New U–Pb and 40Ar/39Ar isotopic dates on volcanic rocks of the East Chukotka segment of the Okhotsk–Chukotka Belt correspond to 76–71 Ma span, which is...     

Upstream—Downstream Shifts in Peak Recruitment of the Native Olympia Oyster in San Francisco Bay During Wet and Dry Years

Understanding the conditions that drive variation in recruitment of key estuarine species can be important for effective conservation and management of their populations. The Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) is native to the Pacific coast of North America and has been a target of conservation efforts, though relatively little information on larval recruitment exists across much of its range. This study examined the recruitment of Olympia oysters at biweekly to monthly intervals at four sites in northern San Francisco Bay from 2010 to 2015 (except 2013). Mean monthly temperatures warmed at all sites during the study, while winter (January–April) mean monthly salinity decreased significantly during a wet year (2011), but otherwise remained high as a result of a drought. A recurring peak in oyster recruitment was identified in mid-estuary, in conditions corresponding to a salinity range of 25–30 and >16 °C at the time of settlement (April–November). Higher average salinities and temperatures were positively correlated with greater peak recruitment. Interannual variation in the timing of favorable conditions for recruitment at each site appears to explain geographic and temporal variation in recruitment onset. Higher winter/spring salinities and warmer temperatures at the time of recruitment corresponded with earlier recruitment onset within individual sites. Across all sites, higher winter/spring salinities were also correlated with earlier onset and earlier peak recruitment. Lower winter salinities during 2011 also resulted in a downstream shift in the location of peak recruitment.     

Mercury in the Waters of the Jundiaí River, SP, Brazil: The Role of Dissolved Organic Matter

Many developing countries have regions of high demographic density, where untreated residuary waters from different sources are often discharged into rivers, streams and other water bodies. This paper discusses the reducing action of organic matter of anthropic origin on the mercury redox cycle in the Jundiaí River impacted by discharged wastes, and on the Piraí River, a non-impacted water body. The total mercury concentrations in these locations vary from 1.7 to 32?ng?L^?1 in the former and from 0.6 to 10.6?ng?L^?1 in the latter. Dissolved organic carbon concentrations of up to 68.3 and 6.5?mg?L^?1 were observed, confirming the higher impact on the Jundiaí River. It was found that an inverse correlation between the concentration of dissolved organic carbon and total mercury was stronger in the Jundiaí River, given that it receives higher organic loads, suggesting that organic matter exerts a reducing action on mercury, which is released as gas into the atmosphere. This correlation was not observed in the Piraí River, where the organic matter of natural origin is probably not sufficiently labile to act intensely upon the Hg redox cycle, favoring the metal transport.     

The Role of Forests in the Implementation of Russia’s Low-Carbon Development Strategy

Doklady Earth Sciences - The potential role of forests in achieving carbon neutrality in the Russian Federation by 2060 is analyzed. It is shown that the key rate in the Strategy for the...     

The Role of Hydrocarbons in the Formation of Epithermal Gold–Silver Deposits in Kamchatka,Russia

Doklady Earth Sciences - Data on the mineralogical and geochemical features of three epithermal gold deposits in Kamchatka, as well as on the compositions and physicochemical parameters of...     

Macroinvertebrate Production in the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation of the Mobile–Tensaw Delta: Effects of an Exotic Species at the Base of an Estuarine Food Web

This study, conducted in 1997, reports the first estimates of the impacts of the proliferation of an exotic submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) species (Myriophyllum spicatum) on macroinvertebrate production via comparisons with two co-occurring native SAV species (Heteranthera dubia and Vallisneria americana) in the tide-influenced Mobile–Tensaw Delta (located in the north-central Gulf of Mexico, 30°40′ N, 87°55′ W). Production of macroinvertebrates was greatest on M. spicatum and H. dubia and least on V. americana. The key determinant of these differences was a greater abundance of amphipods (Gammarus mucronatus) found on the leaves of M. spicatum and H. dubia. Macroinvertebrate production on M. spicatum was three times greater (>1 kg m^?2 year^?1) than on either of the native SAV species. No-choice palatability tests showed that these differences could not be attributed to differences in invertebrate grazing on these plants. Instead, it is probable that the high production within the structurally complex M. spicatum and H. dubia was the result of reduced predator foraging efficiency. If true, then the presence of this exotic species probably renders this elevated production inaccessible to most high-order predators.     

The Thermal Structure of the Upper Mantle in Eastern China——Inferred from the Petrological Model

Cenozoic basalt in eastern China contains abundant ultramafic xenoliths which are specimens of pyrolitesreleased during basaltic magma eruption. A total of 405 P-T data of pyroxene in the ultramafic rocks have beencollected, which present a more precise pyroxene geotherm. The average geothermal gradient in the upper man-tle represented by the pyroxene geotherm is about 3.3℃ / km, which is much less than that derived from theconductive thermal model (≈14℃ / km), implying the great significance of convective heat transfer. The calcu-lation shows that the contributions of convective and conductive heat transfers are 79% and 21%, respectively.The perturbation in the thermal structure of the upper mantle is an important manifestation of thetectonothermal event of Cenozoic continental rifting and intense basaltic volcanism in eastern China. Based onthe pyroxene geotherm and its comparison with the current geothermal field derived from the measurements ofthe surface heat flows, it is suggested that the Moho may be a secondary thermal boundary. The currentgeothermal field and the thermal structure of the lithosphere in eastern China may mainly reflect the result ofthe tectonothermal disturbance in the Neogene-Quaternary, in other words, the lithosphere has just begun toCool.     

The Isotopic Composition of Noble Gases in Gold Deposits and the Source of Ore- Forming Materials in the Region of North Hebei, China

1IntroductionOnthenorthernmarginoftheNorthChinaplatformislocatedoneofthemostimportantAu Ag polymetallicore concentratedzones,wherethereareavarietyoforetypes .Soithasbeenat tractingeverincreasingattentionofmanygeologists (PeiRongfuetal.,1 998;ShenBaofengetal.,1 994 ;LuSongnianetal.,1 997;HuShouxietal.,1 994 ;ChenYuchuan ,1 999;ZhaiYushengetal.,1 999) .Manyscholarspresentedtheirresearchresultsinvariousaspects.How ever ,thesourceofore formingmaterialshaslongbeenafocusofdiscussion .Studieso…     

The Role of Organic Matter in the Formation of Siderite from Xuanlong Area,Hebei Province

Based on the analysis of siderite distribution,occurrence,chemical compositionk,structureal characteristics,carbon-oxygen isotopic characteristics and relationship between siderite and hematite,this paper presents a systematic study of siderite in the region studied.suggesting that the siderite in the Xuanlong area genetically resulted from organically reduced primary hematite during the diagenesis.The ferric and ferrous relations directly depend on organic contents.In the presence of organic matter ferrous iron can be converted to ferric iron through or ganic reduction.The above conclusion has also been proved by organic geochemistry.data.     

The Horto-Baratinha itabirite-hosted iron ore: A basal fragment of the Espinhaço basin in the eastern São Francisco Craton

The Horto-Baratinha (HBD) iron ore deposit is located at the eastern border of São Francisco Craton, comprising BIF-hosted high-grade bodies (>60 wt.% Fe) associated with polydeformed quartz-mica-schists, amphibole-schist of Statherian maximum deposition age, enclosed by Statherian granitoids of the Borrachudos Suite and Neoarchean gneiss. All the sequence is crosscut by undeformed dikes and sills of pegmatitic bodies probably formed during Late Ediacaran-Cambrian. The metasedimentary sequence is stratigraphically correlatable with the Orosirian-Statherian Serra da Serpentina and Serra de São José Groups that comprise the basal units of the Espinhaço Supergroup and was intensively segmented into distinct tectonic blocks. The sedimentary/diagenetic bedding of the metamorphosed BIF (itabirite) is generally transposed by an axial planar schistosity. The lamellar hematite from itabirite is the oldest iron oxide generation, which was formed during the syn-deformational stage, parallel-oriented to the rock foliation. The (keno)magnetite grains from itabirite, iron ore and pegmatite bodies developed as idioblasts that grew over the foliation formed during late and post-deformational stages. Magnetite oxidizes subsequently to martite and granular hematite. Coarse lamellar hematite crystals randomly oriented in the border of the pegmatitic bodies also formed during the post-deformational stage due to hydrothermal reaction with itabirite. The country rocks have undergone at least three stages of deformation developed during the syn-collisional and late-collisional (Ediacaran to early-Cambrian) phases of the Brasiliano Orogeny: stage 1 with the development of a pervasive foliation (S₁), parallel to axial plane to tight folds and transposition of all sedimentary structures; stage 2 with folding of S₁; stage 3 with refolding of S₁. Both fold systems interfere with each other making up a dome and basin refolding shape. During the late-collisional (Ediacaran to early-Cambrian) and post-collisional/gravitational collapse (Cambrian) the sequence was intruded by anatectic pegmatitic bodies, which are part of the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province, one of the most significant pegmatitic regions worldwide. The fluid related with these intrusions could be related with the Si leaching, crystallization of magnetite and granular hematite, and consequent formation of high-grade iron bodies.     

Granulites of the Kolpakovskaya Series in the sredinny range,Kamchatka: A myth or reality?

Geological, mineralogical, and geothermobarometric data testify that the regional metamorphism of the terrigenous protolith of the Kolpakovskaya Series, which composes the stratigraphic basement of the Kamchatka Median Crystalline Massif, corresponded to the kyanite mineral subfacies of the amphibolite facies at temperatures of 560–660°C and pressures of 5.9–6.9 kbar. This metamorphism predetermined wide kyanite development in high-Al garnet-biotite plagiogneisses. The younger granitization and migmatization of the plagiogneisses took place at a decrease in the pressure (depth), as follows from the textures of kyanite reaction replacement by andalusite in both the metamorphic rocks and the vein synmetamorphic granitoids and pegmatites. The temperature of the granitization and migmatization processes in the plagiogneisses was estimated at 620–650°C, and the pressure was evaluated at 1.9–3.0 kbar. Acid leaching that accompanied the granitization and migmatization processes resulted in the intense replacement of biotite by sillimanite (fibrolite) and, to a lesser degree, muscovite in the metamorphic and vein magmatic rocks. The highest temperature orthopyroxene-cordierite-biotite-orthoclase-plagioclase-quartz mineral assemblages were determined to have been formed in the Kolpakovskaya Series at a temperature of 830–840°C not by the regional metamorphism but in contact aureoles around gabbro-granitoid intrusions of the Lavkinskii intrusive complex of Oligocene-Miocene age in garnet-biotite and kyanite-garnet-biotite plagiogneisses of the amphibolite facies and cannot thus be regarded as evidence of an early granulite stage in the metamorphism of these rocks.     

The end of the Ediacara biota: Extinction,biotic replacement,or Cheshire Cat?

The Ediacaran–Cambrian transition signals a drastic change in both diversity and ecosystem construction. The Ediacara biota (consisting of various metazoan stem lineages in addition to extinct eukaryotic clades) disappears, and is replaced by more familiar Cambrian and Paleozoic metazoan groups. Although metazoans are present in the Ediacaran, their ecological contribution is dwarfed by Ediacaran-type clades of uncertain phylogenetic affinities, while Ediacaran-type morphologies are virtually non-existent in younger assemblages. Three alternative hypotheses have been advanced to explain this dramatic change at, or near, the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary: 1) mass extinction of most Ediacaran forms; 2) biotic replacement, with early Cambrian organisms eliminating Ediacaran forms; and 3) a Cheshire Cat model, with Ediacaran forms gradually disappearing from the fossil record (but not necessarily going extinct) as a result of the elimination of unique preservational settings, primarily microbial matgrounds, that dominated the Ediacaran. To evaluate these proposed explanations for the biotic changes observed at the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition, environmental drivers leading to global mass extinction are compared to biological factors such as predation and ecosystem engineering. We explore temporal and biogeographic distributions of Ediacaran taxa combined with evaluations of functional guild ranges throughout the Ediacaran. The paucity of temporally-resolved localities with diverse Ediacaran assemblages, combined with difficulties associated with differences in taphonomic regimes before, during, and after the transition hinders this evaluation. Nonetheless, the demonstration of geographic and niche range changes offers a novel means of assessing the downfall of Ediacara-type taxa at the hands of emerging metazoans, which we hypothesize to be most likely due to the indirect ecological impact metazoans had upon the Ediacarans. Ultimately, the combination of studies on ecosystem construction, biostratigraphy, and biogeography showcases the magnitude of the transition at the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary.