Correlation coefficients and sea-floor spreading an automated analysis of magnetic profiles

A computer correlation technique is described for comparing observed magnetic anomaly profiles to model profiles generated from a paleomagnetic time scale. A model is computed for a given spreading rate, divided into small segments, and each segment then compared to a corresponding unit of the data profile. Each model segment is systematically shifted and correlated with the data, and the resulting correlation functions are displayed in an offset-age diagram. Interpretation of this diagram reveals possible histories involving faulting or changes of spreading rate that may be overlooked by the visual method, and quantitative estimates of the uncertainties in the spreading rates may be made.     

Use of suppressive subtractive hybridization and cDNA arrays to discover patterns of altered gene expression in the liver of dihydrotestosterone and 11-ketotestosterone exposed adult male largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)

In this study male largemouth bass (LMB) were exposed to the naturally occurring androgens, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) in order to identify genes that are differentially regulated by these steroid hormones. Using subtractive hybridization on livers of fish treated with DHT against vehicle control, many novel LMB genes were cloned. These genes were added to our gene library and arrayed. Six genes were up-regulated and five were down-regulated by both androgens. But, each androgen also regulated specific genes. One gene that was identified as a potential androgen marker was spermidine-spermine-N¹-acetyltransferase that was up-regulated by both androgens. Determining which genes are responsive to natural androgens will help to identify biochemical pathways that are impacted.     

Metastable equilibria among dicarboxylic acids and the oxidation state during aqueous alteration on the CM2 chondrite parent body

Linear saturated dicarboxylic acids are present in carbonaceous chondrite samples at concentrations that suggest aqueous alteration under conditions of metastable equilibrium. In this study, previously published values of dicarboxylic acid concentrations measured in Murchison, Yamato-791198, and Tagish Lake carbonaceous chondrites are converted to aqueous activities during aqueous alteration assuming water:rock ratios that range from 1:10 to 10:1. Logarithmic plots of the aqueous activities of any two dicarboxylic acids are proximal to lines whose slope is fixed by the stoichiometry of reactions describing the oxidation-reduction equilibrium between the two species. The precise position of any line is controlled by the equilibrium constant of the reaction relating the species and the hydrogen fugacity for the reaction of interest. Reactions among succinic (C4), glutaric (C5), and adipic (C6) acids obtained from CM2 chondrites show evidence of metastable equilibrium and yield values that agree to within 0.3 log units at 298.15 K and 0.6 log units at 473.15 K. At a water:rock ratio of 1:1, metastable equilibrium among succinic, glutaric, and adipic acids results in calculated values during aqueous alteration that range from −6.2 at 298.15 K to −3.3 at 373.15 K. These values are consistent with those obtained in previous work on carbonaceous chondrites and with metastable equilibrium at temperatures ranging from 300 to 355 K in contact with cronstedtite + magnetite.     

Paleowetlands and regional climate change in the central Atacama Desert, northern Chile

Widespread, organic-rich diatomaceous deposits are evidence for formerly wetter times along the margins of the central Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth today. We mapped and dated these paleowetland deposits at three presently waterless locations near Salar de Punta Negra (24.5°S) on the western slope of the Andes. Elevated groundwater levels supported phreatic discharge into wetlands during two periods: 15,900 to ~ 13,800 and 12,700 to ~ 9700 cal yr BP. Dense concentrations of lithic artifacts testify to the presence of paleoindians around the wetlands late in the second wet phase (11,000?-9700 cal yr BP). Water tables dropped below the surface before 15,900 and since 8100 cal yr BP, and briefly between ~ 13,800 and 12,700 cal yr BP. This temporal pattern is repeated, with some slight differences, in rodent middens from the study area, in both paleowetland and rodent midden deposits north and south of the study area, and in lake level fluctuations on the adjacent Bolivian Altiplano. The regional synchroneity of these changes points to a strengthening of the South American Monsoon — which we term the “Central Andean Pluvial Event” — in two distinct intervals (15,900-13,800 and 12,700-9700 cal yr BP), probably induced by steepened SST gradients across the tropical Pacific (i.e., La Niña-like conditions).     

变泥质岩递进部分熔融作用的构造物理学效应

在南内华达岩基中,晚中生代花岗岩的侵位导致表壳岩广泛的变质及部分熔融,形成混合岩杂岩体。对伊萨贝拉湖南羊圈混合岩杂岩体构造的野外观测和应变测量表明：①变泥质混合岩和鹅卵石砾岩记录了类似强度的应变;②变泥质岩发生了递进部分熔融,表现为离羊圈花岗闪长岩岩体的距离越远,部分熔融程度越低;③随部分熔融程度的变化,变泥质岩的应变承载构造也逐渐从混合岩带的弱相承载构造（IWL）往强相承载构造（LBF）过渡;④在同岩浆构造作用中,浅色体的流变学性质与鹅卵石砾岩中泥质组分相当,为应变的主要承载体。该结果表明：在高级变质岩区中,部分熔融程度是否足够高及熔体能否形成互相链接的网络,是高级变质岩的流变学强度发生突降、深部岩石发生侧向流动的前提。     

Climate change beliefs in an agricultural context: what is the role of values held by farming and non-farming groups?

Climate change in many agricultural contexts will increase tensions between farming and non-farming populations over adaptations in land use and water conservation strategies. How adequately these future tensions may be mitigated will be partially determined by each groups' beliefs about climate change. A voluminous literature shows that climate change beliefs are crucial for understanding engagement with climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, and that values motivate climate change beliefs, but the role of values remains unclear, and comparisons of farming and non-farming populations are scant. We develop a model of climate change beliefs that integrates four main motivating factors - values, political ideology, knowledge, and worldview - and we explicitly compare members of farming and non-farming populations in an agricultural watershed in the Central Great Plains, USA. Our findings highlight the role of held values in motivating climate change beliefs and point to areas of potential consensus and tension within and among members of these two groups. The results provide an empirical basis for developing future climate change engagement strategies in contexts of growing divides and conflicts among farming and non-farming groups.