A Review of “Turf Wars: Discourse,Diversity, and the Politics of Place”

The spatial correlation, or colocation, of two or more variables is a fundamental issue in geographical analysis but has received much less attention than the spatial correlation of values within a single variable, or autocorrelation. A recent paper by Leslie and Kronenfeld (2011) contributes to spatial correlation analysis in its development of a colocation statistic for categorical data that is interpreted in the same way as a location quotient, a frequently used measure in human geography and other branches of regional analysis. Geographically weighted colocation measures for categorical data are further developed in this article by generalizing Leslie and Kronenfeld's global measure as well as specifying a local counterpart for each global statistic using two different types of spatial filters: fixed and adaptive. These geographically weighted colocation quotients are applied to the spatial distribution of housing types to demonstrate their utility and interpretation.     

Precise radiocarbon dating of Late-Glacial cooling in mid-latitude South America

Variability of atmospheric ¹⁴C content often complicates radiocarbon-based chronologies; however, specific features such as periods of constant ¹⁴C age or steep changes in radiocarbon ages can be useful stratigraphic markers. The Younger Dryas event in the Northern Hemisphere is one of those periods, showing conspicuous ¹⁴C wiggles. Although the origin of those variations is not fully understood, we can make practical use of them and determine: (i) whether the Younger Dryas was global in extent; if so, (ii) were the initial cooling and the final warming synchronous worldwide; and (iii) what are the implications of these similarities/differences? Here we report high-resolution AMS ¹⁴C chronologies from the mid-latitudes of South America that pinpoint a cool episode between 11,400 and 10,200¹⁴C yr B.P. The onset of the final cool episode of the Late Glacial in the southern mid-latitudes, i.e., the Huelmo/Mascardi Cold Reversal, preceded the onset of the Younger Dryas cold event by ∼550 calendar years. Both events ended during a radiocarbon-age plateau at ∼10,200¹⁴C yr B.P. Thus, the Huelmo/Mascardi Cold Reversal encompasses the Younger Dryas, as well as a couple of short-term cool/warm oscillations that immediately preceded its onset in the North Atlantic region.     

Significance,mechanisms and environmental implications of microbial biomineralization

Microorganisms can mediate the formation of minerals by a process called biomineralization. This process offers an efficient way to sequester inorganic pollutants within relatively stable solid phases. Here we review some of the main mechanisms involved in the mediation of mineral precipitation by microorganisms. This includes supersaturation caused by metabolic activity, the triggering of nucleation by production of more or less specific organic molecules, and the impact of mineral growth. While these processes have been widely studied in the laboratory, assessment of their importance in the environment is more difficult. We illustrate this difficulty using a case study on an As-contaminated acid mine drainage located in the South of France (Carnoulès, Gard). In particular, we explore the potential relationships that might exist between microbial diversity and mineral precipitation. The present review, far from being exhaustive, highlights some recent advances in the field of biomineralogy and provides non-specialists an introduction to some of the main approaches and some questions that remain unanswered.     

V oxidation state in Fe–Ti oxides by high-energy resolution fluorescence-detected X-ray absorption spectroscopy

The oxidation state of vanadium in natural and synthetic Fe–Ti oxides is determined using high-energy resolution fluorescence-detected X-ray absorption spectroscopy (HERFD-XAS). Eleven natural magnetite-bearing samples from a borehole of the Main Magnetite Layer of the Bushveld Complex (South Africa), five synthetic Fe oxide samples, and three natural hematite-bearing samples from Dharwar supergroup (India) are investigated. V K edge spectra were recorded on the ID26 beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (Grenoble, France), and the pre-edge features were used to determine the local environment and oxidation state of vanadium. In the case of the magnetite samples (natural and synthetic), we show that vanadium is incorporated in the octahedral site of the spinel structure under two oxidation states: +III and +IV. The variations of the pre-edge area are interpreted as various proportions in V³⁺ and V⁴⁺ (between 9.5 and 16.3% of V⁴⁺), V³⁺ being the main oxidation state. In particular, the variations of the V⁴⁺/V³⁺ ratio along the profile of the Main Magnetite Layer seem to follow the crystallization sequence of the layer. In the case of the hematite samples from India, the pre-edge features indicate that vanadium is substituted to Fe and mainly incorporated as V⁴⁺ (between 40 and 72% of V⁴⁺). We also demonstrate the potentiality of HERFD-XAS for mineralogical studies, since it can filter out the unwanted fluorescence and give better resolved spectra than conventional XAS.     

青藏高原东北部天然地震探测与岩石圈深部特征

为了研究青藏高原东北部块体构造变形的深部驱动机制, 笔者对青藏高原东北部的天然地震观测数据进行地震层析反演,并结合同一剖面的接收函数及各向异性结果进行讨论 .介绍了ACH方法的基本原理,论述了由于印度板块向北俯冲的强大的持续作用力,造就了NE向俯冲到柴达木盆地之下的昆仑造山带,并发现在巴颜喀拉地体下方壳幔内的仰冲活动.壳幔内的低速体十分显著地出现在阿尼玛卿缝合线以北,深度可达300 km.推断该低速体可能与昆仑断裂在深层的剪切作用有关.深部资料显示该区莫霍界面由北向南逐渐加深,这与青藏高原东北部的岩石圈减薄现象一致,而且与印度板块向北运动的远程效应有关 .另外,地震层析结果及各向异性分析也支持青藏高原东北部主应力方向转为NE向的观点.     

Arsenite sorption at the magnetite-water interface during aqueous precipitation of magnetite: EXAFS evidence for a new arsenite surface complex

The interaction of aqueous As(III) with magnetite during its precipitation from aqueous solution at neutral pH has been studied as a function of initial As/Fe ratio. Arsenite is sequestered via surface adsorption and surface precipitation reactions, which in turn influence the crystal growth of magnetite. Sorption samples were characterized using EXAFS spectroscopy at the As K-edge in combination with HRTEM observations, energy dispersive X-ray analysis at the nanoscale, electron energy loss spectroscopy at the Fe L₃-edge, and XRD-Rietveld analyses of reaction products. Our results show that As(III) forms predominantly tridentate hexanuclear As(III)O₃ complexes (³C), where the As(III)O₃ pyramids occupy vacant tetrahedral sites on {1 1 1} surfaces of magnetite particles. This is the first time such a tridentate surface complex has been observed for arsenic. This complex, with a dominant As-Fe distance of 3.53 ± 0.02 Å, occurs in all samples examined except the one with the highest As/Fe ratio (0.33). In addition, at the two highest As/Fe ratios (0.133 and 0.333) arsenite tends to form mononuclear edge-sharing As(III)O₃ species (²E) within a highly soluble amorphous As(III)-Fe(III,II)-containing precipitate. At the two lowest As/Fe ratios (0.007 and 0.033), our results indicate the presence of additional As(III) species with a dominant As-Fe distance of 3.30 ± 0.02 Å, for which a possible structural model is proposed. The tridentate ³C As(III)O₃ complexes on the {1 1 1} magnetite surface, together with this additional As(III) species, dramatically lower the solubility of arsenite in the anoxic model systems studied. They may thus play an important role in lowering arsenite solubility in putative magnetite-based water treatment processes, as well as in natural iron-rich anoxic media, especially during the reductive dissolution-precipitation of iron minerals in anoxic environments.     

Preliminary report on radiocarbon dating of cryptoendolithic microorganisms

The existence of microbial communities living inside desert rocks has been reported by FRIEDMANN et al. (1967, 1976), first in rocks collected from the hot and dry Negev desert and later in rocks in the frigid Ross Desert of Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The extremely inhospitable climatic conditions in both places has led to the suggestion that these organisms have very low rates of metabolism and may, in addition, be very old (FRIEDMANN 1982). Our preliminary measurements showed a 14C deficiency indicating a carbon age in the order of magnitude of 10(3) years.     

Palaeoweathering of Lower Palaeozoic rocks of the Brabant Massif,Belgium: a mineralogical and petrographical analysis

The Lower Palaeozoic low-grade metamorphic rocks of the Brabant Massif are largely buried below a thick cover of post-Palaeozoic strata. Along the top of the subcrop, they comprise remnants of Cretaceous to Tertiary weathering profiles that represent the lower part of thick saprolites. The alteration of the chlorite- and muscovite-dominated Palaeozoic rocks was characterized by the destruction of chlorite, accompanied by the formation of kaolinite and iron oxides and/or iron hydroxides. The first product of chlorite weathering seems to have been regularly interstratified chlorite-vermiculite or chlorite-smectite, which is now represented by interstratified chlorite-muscovite with regular ordering. Outside the thin transitional zones in which this mineral occurs, the rubefied intervals show only little variation in composition, which is due to the replacement of chlorite by kaolinite over short vertical distances and the stability of muscovite throughout the preserved parts of the saprolite. The rubefied rocks do have a somewhat different composition along the top of some profiles, which is related to an interaction with groundwater after burial, resulting in smectite formation, feldspar weathering and iron dissolution. Groundwater interaction is also responsible for the occurrence of weathering without rubefaction, outside the areas with saprolite remnants, which resulted in vermiculite, smectite and kaolinite formation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE DETERMINATION OF FLUORINE BY PROTON INDUCED GAMMA RAY EMISSION SPECTROMETRY (PIGE) IN EIGHTEEN CHINESE STANDARD REFERENCE SAMPLES OF STREAM SEDIMENTS, SOILS AND ROCKS: GSD 9-12, GSS 1-8 AND GSR 1-6

Eighteen new Chinese standard reference samples (including stream sediments, soils and rocks) have been analysed by an automated proton induced gamma ray emission (PIGE) method for fluorine. Results of determinations are reported and are generally in good agreement with the "usable values" previously published.