Sex expression and growth rates in natural populations of the desert soil crustal mossSyntrichia caninervis

The low elevation Mojave Desert cryptobiotic crust is dominated by the mossSyntrichia caninervis. In 16 populations of this moss, stem height and population were significantly associated with sex expression, with longer stems expressing sex more frequently and producing more perichaetia. The above-ground age of stems ranged up to 10 years, with a mean growth rate across populations of 0.36 mm year⁻¹. The overall stem sex ratio, as a proportion of the total number of stems, was 0.30♀: 0♂: 0.70 non-expressing. The probability of expressing sex in a given season was 0.09. The absence of sexual reproduction (no sporophytes) and likely absence of the male sex from the area indicate that the non-expressing plants are female individuals. The slow growth rates, low rates of sex expression, absence of male plants, and absence of sexual reproduction in this crustal species may help explain why re-establishment of mosses on desert soils can take decades.     

Crustal structure across the Grand Banks–Newfoundland Basin Continental Margin – II. Results from a seismic reflection profile

New multichannel seismic reflection data were collected over a 565 km transect covering the non-volcanic rifted margin of the central eastern Grand Banks and the Newfoundland Basin in the northwestern Atlantic. Three major crustal zones are interpreted from west to east over the seaward 350 km of the profile: (1) continental crust; (2) transitional basement and (3) oceanic crust. Continental crust thins over a wide zone (∼160 km) by forming a large rift basin (Carson Basin) and seaward fault block, together with a series of smaller fault blocks eastwards beneath the Salar and Newfoundland basins. Analysis of selected previous reflection profiles (Lithoprobe 85-4, 85-2 and Conrad NB-1) indicates that prominent landward-dipping reflections observed under the continental slope are a regional phenomenon. They define the landward edge of a deep serpentinized mantle layer, which underlies both extended continental crust and transitional basement. The 80-km-wide transitional basement is defined landwards by a basement high that may consist of serpentinized peridotite and seawards by a pair of basement highs of unknown crustal origin. Flat and unreflective transitional basement most likely is exhumed, serpentinized mantle, although our results do not exclude the possibility of anomalously thinned oceanic crust. A Moho reflection below interpreted oceanic crust is first observed landwards of magnetic anomaly M4, 230 km from the shelf break. Extrapolation of ages from chron M0 to the edge of interpreted oceanic crust suggests that the onset of seafloor spreading was ∼138 Ma (Valanginian) in the south (southern Newfoundland Basin) to ∼125 Ma (Barremian–Aptian boundary) in the north (Flemish Cap), comparable to those proposed for the conjugate margins.     

Floating and fixed artificial habitats: Spatial and temporal patterns of benthic communities in a coral reef environment

While natural marine habitats with motion capabilities, e.g., kelps and seaweeds, have been studied alongside their associated fouling communities, little is known of the effect of motion on the communities of floating artificial habitats such as buoys, rafts, and pontoons, particularly in tropical systems. Hydrodynamic features greatly differ between floating and fixed artificial substrata, which in turn affect the structure of their associated communities. This study tested the hypothesis that floating and fixed artificial installations in a tropical reef system (Eilat, Red Sea) would support different benthic communities throughout space and time. Specifically, we examined differences in communities recruited onto settlement plates between floating and fixed installations deployed at three different sites, along a two-year monitoring period. The three sites exhibited distinct differences in species assemblages between the monitoring dates (6, 12, 18 and 24 months post deployment), mainly between the first and the last two dates. The average level of dissimilarity between floating and fixed installations increased over time at all sites. Over 50% of the dissimilarity between the floating and fixed installations resulted from five taxonomic groups i.e., bryozoans, bivalves, barnacles, sponges, including the amount of bare space on the settlement plates. The contribution of these groups to the dissimilarity changed both temporally within each site, and spatially among sites. The observed differences were related to the hydrodynamic characteristics of floating and fixed habitats, interacting with biotic features such as predation, successional processes and seasonality; and abiotic features including small-scale spatial changes, light, and position in the water column.     

Reliable Procedure for Molecular Analysis of Airborne Microflora in Three Indoor Environments: An Office and Two Different Museum Contexts

Biological aerosols from air constitute a significant source of exposure to microorganisms in public places. Airborne microorganisms are involved in the development of certain respiratory symptoms, allergies, or infections among users and occupants. Various sampling instruments have commonly been used in aerobiology to collect bacteria and fungi suspended in the air. The objective of this study was to develop a reliable procedure for sampling in indoor public environments presenting different levels of occupancy, airborne bacteria and fungi to be subjected to molecular analysis (bacteria and fungi quantitative PCR, capillary electrophoresis single strand conformation polymorphism fingerprinting). Four different sampling devices were tested in situ in an office building (open‐plan type) and the sampling strategy chosen was tested in two museum contexts. In accordance with the drawbacks involved to our study (quantitative and qualitative aspects, cost, and overcrowding), cyclone device appeared to be most suitable. The results underline the effectiveness of this high‐volume aerosol sampling device for both qualitative and quantitative molecular analysis. Four in situ sampling collections were carried out in 1 day in the Louvre Museum to study quantitative and qualitative variations of airborne bacterial and fungal diversity. The quantitative results revealed a similar order of magnitude for the numbers of both bacteria and fungi. In the Louvre Museum, the samples yielded between 3.7 × 10⁴ and 4.1 × 10⁴ genome equivalent (GE) bacteria/m³ air and between 5.0 × 10⁴ and 5.9 × 10⁴ GE fungi/m³ air and in the Decorative Arts Museum between, 2.1 × 10⁴ and 2.5 × 10⁴ GE bacteria/m³ air and between 1.4 × 10⁴ and 1.7 × 10⁴ GE fungi/m³ air. The results also indicate that the dominant bacterial community displayed a stable structure over a short period of time whereas dominant eukaryotic airborne community appeared more variable.     

On the existence of a second scale of convection in the upper mantle

Summary. This paper is concerned with an examination of the possibility that there might exist a small scale of convective circulation beneath the oceanic lithosphere. Recent suggestions that this might be the case have been made in an effort to understand why the bathymetry of the sea-floor deviates from the prediction of boundary layer theory for ages in excess of about 100 Ma. The energy source which sustains the secondary motion is supposed to be found in the steep temperature gradient near the planetary surface which is itself presumably maintained by the large-scale convective circulation associated with plate creation and destruction. Here we investigate the extent to which the temperature dependence of viscosity may act so as to stabilize the upper boundary layer against disruption by such secondary instability. If the viscosity profile is monotonie and the asymptotic upper mantle viscosity is about 10²²poise, as suggested by post-glacial rebound data, then the existence of the second scale is extremely unlikely. On the other hand, if a sufficiently pronounced low viscosity zone does exist under old sea-floor then the development of such a second scale cannot be ruled out completely. Some recently obtained geophysical evidence is reviewed which suggests that this is unlikely to be the case.     

Studying of liquid thermolysis products of various types of immature kerogen in sedimentary lacustrine rocks from the valjevo-Mionica basin,Serbia, and the effect of Pt<Superscript>4+</Superscript> and Ru<Superscript>3+</Superscript> ions on their yield and the hydrocarbon composition

Liquid thermolysis products of various types of immature kerogen from sedimentary lacustrine rocks from the Valjevo-Mionica basin in Serbia were studied to evaluate the generation potential of kerogen contained in the organic matter (OM) of the rocks, determine the composition of the biomarkers and alkylaromatics in the liquid thermolysis products, and elucidate the effect of Pt⁴⁺ and Ru³⁺ ions (which were added in the form of inorganic salts) on the yield and hydrocarbon composition of the liquid thermolysis products. For this purpose, representative bitumen-free samples A and B of the sedimentary rocks were subjected to thermolysis under various conditions. Rock A contains high amount of immature organic matter, which is dominated by kerogen type I/II and was generated under strongly reduced sedimentation conditions at a high salinity. Sample B is poorer in immature OM than sample A, and the OM of the former contains kerogen type II/III and was generated predominantly in a reduced environment. The content of the liquid products and the concentrations of hydrocarbons obtained in the course of thermolysis of bitumen-free sample A and the typical oil distribution of the biomarkers and alkylaromatics in the thermolysis products confirm a high generation potential of OM in this rock. In all of our experiments on the thermolysis of bitumen-free sample B, the yield of liquid products and hydrocarbons is low. According to the kerogen type, the thermolysis of this rock generates much gases. The Pt⁴⁺ and Ru³⁺ ions (added in the form of simple inorganic salts) increased the yield of liquid (kerogen type I/II) and gaseous (kerogen type II/III) products. During the thermolysis of various type of immature kerogen in the lacustrine sedimentary rocks at a temperature of 400°C, the OM attained maturation corresponding to the early catagenesis level. Saturated biomarkers and alkylaomatics in the thermolysis products of both samples display typical oil distributions. The type of the source OM most strongly affects the composition of n-alkanes and alkylnaphthalenes. The metal ions used in this research served as catalysts for the methylation process during the thermolysis of immature kerogen, regardless of its type. The effect of the Pt⁴⁺ and Ru³⁺ ions on other transformations of the hydrocarbons, for example, the destruction of high-molecular n-alkanes to low-molecular ones and on isomerization reactions in molecules of polycyclic biomarkers and alkylaromatics to thermodynamically more stable isomers in the thermolysis products is controlled, first of all, by the type of the source OM.     

Simulation of torsional shear test results with neuro-fuzzy control system

In the first part of this study, a series of stress-controlled hollow cylinder cyclic torsional triaxial shear tests were conducted on loose to medium dense saturated samples of clean Toyoura sand to investigate its liquefaction behavior. A uniform cyclic sinusoidal loading at a 0.1 Hz frequency was applied to air-pluviated samples where confining pressure and relative density was varied. Cyclic shear stress–strain changes, the number of cycles to reach liquefaction and pore pressure variations were recorded. Results indicate that the liquefaction resistances of uniform sands are significantly affected by the method of sample preparation and initial conditions.     

Estimation of monotonic behavior of reinforced concrete columns considering shear‐flexure‐axial load interaction

Reinforced concrete columns with insufficient transverse reinforcement and non‐seismic reinforcement details are vulnerable to brittle shear failure and to loss of axial load carrying capacity in the event of a strong earthquake. In this paper, a procedure is presented after examining the application of two macro models for displacement‐based analysis of reinforced concrete columns subjected to lateral loads. In the proposed model, lateral load‐deformation response of the column is simulated by estimating flexural and shear deformation components separately while considering their interaction and then combining these together according to a set of rules depending upon column's yield, flexural and shear strengths. In addition, lateral deformation caused by reinforcement slip in beam–column joint regions and buckling of compression bars are taken into account and considered in the analysis. Implementation of the proposed procedure produces satisfactory lateral load–displacement relationships, which are comparable with experimental data. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.