The tectonic significance of K/Ar illite fine-fraction ages from the San Luis Formation (Eastern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina)

The Sierra de San Luis forms the southern tip of the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas in central Argentina. Two narrow belts of low-grade phyllites and quartz arenites, i.e. the San Luis Formation, have accommodated part of the strain-related differential exhumation of the medium- to high-grade metamorphic domains that constitute to the basement complex of the sierra. Eleven phyllite samples were subjected to the K/Ar fine-fraction dating technique. Results are interpreted in relation to the Kübler index of the illites, which indicate epimetamorphic conditions for the majority of the samples. Obtained ages between 330 and 290 Ma cover a period of compressional tectonics in the late Mississippian (Visean/Serpukhovian boundary) followed by the subsidence during the formation of the Paganzo Basin in the provinces of La Rioja and San Luis. These tectonic movements are coincident with the Toco orogeny in northern Chile and southern Bolivia. This suggests that the older K/Ar ages document the compressional stage and that younger ages record the cooling of the basement during the subsequent extensional uplift of the basement.     

The Valais units in Savoy (France): a key area for understanding the palaeogeography and the tectonic evolution of the Western Alps

The Valais units in Savoy (Zone des Brèches de Tarentaise) have been re-mapped in great detail and are subject of combined stratigraphic, structural and petrological investigations summarized in this contribution. The sediments and rare relics of basement, together with Cretaceous age mafic and ultramafic rocks of the Valais palaeogeographical domain, represent the heavily deformed relics of the former distal European margin (External Valais units) and an ocean–continent transition (Internal Valais unit or Versoyen unit) that formed during rifting. This rifting led to the opening of the Valais ocean, a northern branch of the Alpine Tethys. Post-rift sediments referred to as “Valais trilogy” stratigraphically overlie both External and Internal Valais successions above an angular unconformity formed in Barremian to Aptian times, providing robust evidence for the timing of the opening of the Valais ocean. The Valais units in Savoy are part of a second and more external mid-Eocene high-pressure belt in the Alps that sutured the Briançonnais microcontinent to Europe. Top-N D1-deformation led to the formation of a nappe stack that emplaced the largely eclogite-facies Internal Valais unit (Versoyen) onto blueschist-facies External Valais units. The latter originally consisted of, from internal to external, the Petit St. Bernard unit, the Roc de l’Enfer unit, the Moûtiers unit and the Quermoz unit. Ongoing top-N D2-thrusting and folding substantially modified this nappe stack. Post 35 Ma D3 folding led to relatively minor modifications of the nappe stack within the Valais units but was associated with substantial top-WNW thrusting of the Valais units over the Dauphinois units along the Roselend thrust during W-directed indentation of the Adria block contributing to the formation of the arc of the Western Alps.     

Surface texture analysis of southern Tuli Basin sediments: Implications for Limpopo Valley geoarchaeological contexts

The Hackthorne 1 site (southern Tuli Basin, South Africa) is situated on a sand-covered plateau adjacent to the Limpopo River Valley. Although the site is well known for its Stone Age archaeology, the past environmental contexts (particularly sedimentological/geomorphological) are not well known. We examine the Hackthorne sand grain surface textures, so as to provide some insight on the site specific and regional depositional history. Quartz sands at Hackthorne were collected from surface sands and from underlying weathered calcrete. SEM analysis was performed on sand grains, through which several mechanical and chemical microtextures were identified. Microtextures typical of fluvial environments were found only on grains derived from the plateau calcrete host sediment, whilst the surface sands exhibited only textures associated with aeolian environments. The results indicate that the calcrete host sediment is composed of alluvium, and that the surface sands mantling the Hackthorne Plateau are not deflated from the alluvial deposits in the Limpopo Valley, but may rather be derived from distant aeolian sources. The deposition of aeolian sands is consistent with OSL dates which place sand deposition, or remobilization, at 23 and 15 kya, periods in southern Africa associated with increased aridity.     

Colluviation and soil formation as geoindicators to study long-term environmental changes

Soil is a dynamic natural body and fundamental resource. Human activities influence intensively the natural processes in soils. They modify and accelerate the development of soils. In this investigation, the deposition of colluvial sediments (colluviation) and soil formation are proposed as geoindicators for a better understanding of long-term environmental changes and environmental impact assessment. Deposition of colluvial sediments during several time periods and subsequent soil formation under different land-use systems reflect important aspects on the long-term human interference in the environment. In this study, we hypothesize that intensive human activities and environmental changes during middle and late Holocene are responsible for a strong modification of soils in an investigation area in Schleswig–Holstein (Germany). Soil age information together with geomorphological data, physical, chemical and biological soil properties provide the database which is necessary to study the types and rates of colluviation and soil formation. After the investigation with a high resolution in time and space, results show that middle and late Holocene land-use changes and land management are responsible for soil formation in colluvial layers. Properties of soils and sediments vary intensively from Mesolithic until Modern times. Intensive soil formation took place during periods of geomorphodynamic stability in dense woodland. Evidence in our investigations shows that colluviation has a strong relation with decision-making and environmental degradation in the past. This confirms, too, that a geoindicator concept is needed to understand and to monitor long-term environmental changes and degradation.     

知识网络空间结构演化及对NIS建设的启示——以我国生物技术知识为例

以重庆维普期刊全文数据库中2000～2009年发表于生物技术领域的合著论文作者信息统计数据为数据源,从省级层面运用UCINET和ArcGIS软件分析知识网络的空间结构特征及其演化规律。近十年来生物技术知识网络经历了由萌芽阶段向扩张阶段和成熟阶段转变的过程,知识的扩散方式由接触扩散为主向等级扩散为主转变,知识交流的密集区...     

Modelling hydrological management for the restoration of acidified floating fens

Wetlands show a large decline in biodiversity. To protect and restore this biodiversity, many restoration projects are carried out. Hydrology in wetlands controls the chemical and biological processes and may be the most important factor regulating wetland function and development. Hydrological models may be used to simulate these processes and to evaluate management scenarios for restoration. HYDRUS2D, a combined saturated–unsaturated groundwater flow and transport model, is presented. This simulates near‐surface hydrological processes in an acidified floating fen, with the aim to evaluate the effect of hydrological restoration in terms of conditions for biodiversity. In the acidified floating fen in the nature reserve Ilperveld (The Netherlands), a trench system was dug for the purpose of creating a runoff channel for acid rainwater in wet periods and to enable circum‐neutral surface water to enter the fen in dry periods. The model is calibrated against measured conductivity values for a 5 year period. From the model simulations, it was found that lateral flow in the floating raft is limited. Furthermore, the model shows that the best management option is a combination of trenches and inundation, which gave the best soil water quality in the root zone. It is concluded that hydrological models can be used for the calculation of management scenarios in restoration projects. The combined saturated–unsaturated model concept used in this paper is able to incorporate the governing hydrological processes in the wetland root zones. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The HLMA project: determination of high Δm LMA mixing parameters and constraint on |Ue3| with a new reactor neutrino experiment

In the forthcoming months, the KamLAND experiment will probe the parameter space of the solar large mixing angle MSW solution as the origin of the solar neutrino deficit with ’s from distant nuclear reactors. If however the solution realized in nature is such that Δm²_sol2×10⁻⁴ eV² (thereafter named the HLMA region), KamLAND will only observe a rate suppression but no spectral distortion and hence it will not have the optimal sensitivity to measure the mixing parameters. In this case, we propose a new medium baseline reactor experiment located at Heilbronn (Germany) to pin down the precise value of the solar mixing parameters. In this paper, we present the Heilbronn detector site, we calculate the interaction rate and the positron spectrum expected from the surrounding nuclear power plants. We also discuss the sensitivity of such an experiment to |U_e3| in both normal and inverted neutrino mass hierarchy scenarios. We then outline the detector design, estimate background signals induced by natural radioactivity as well as by in situ cosmic ray muon interaction, and discuss a strategy to detect the anti-neutrino signal ‘free of background’.     

Rapid, high-precision potentiometric titration of alkalinity in ocean and sediment pore waters

A system for rapid, high precision potentiometric determination of alkalinity in sea water and sediment pore water is presented. Two titration units were used: a 40 ml unit for seawater and a small volume unit for sediment pore water. Titration time was normally less than 10 minutes per sample, including sample exchange. With a 40 ml sample volume, the relative standard deviation of the alkalinity obtained in the laboratory was 0.05% and at sea 0.1 %. The small-volume system (0.5–1.5 ml) gave a precision of 0.07%. Five titration points, in two groups after the second equivalence point, were used to evaluate the equivalence volume. Results from equilibrium calculations and computer simulated alkalinity titrations show that it was possible to use a non-modified Gran function [(V₀ +v)^*10^(E/Z)] and still achieve good accuracy and precision.     

Detecting the dynamics of urban structure through spatial network analysis

Urban spatial structure in large cities is becoming ever more complex as populations grow in size, engage in more travel, and have increasing amounts of disposable income that enable them to live more diverse lifestyles. These trends have prominent and visible effects on urban activity, and cities are becoming more polycentric in their structure as new clusters and hotspots emerge and coalesce in a wider sea of urban development. Here, we apply recent methods in network science and their generalization to spatial analysis to identify the spatial structure of city hubs, centers, and borders, which are essential elements in understanding urban interactions. We use a ‘big’ data set for Singapore from the automatic smart card fare collection system, which is available for sample periods in 2010, 2011, and 2012 to show how the changing roles and influences of local areas in the overall spatial structure of urban movement can be efficiently monitored from daily transportation.

In essence, we first construct a weighted directed graph from these travel records. Each node in the graph denotes an urban area, edges denote the possibility of travel between any two areas, and the weight of edges denotes the volume of travel, which is the number of trips made. We then make use of (a) the graph properties to obtain an overall view of travel demand, (b) graph centralities for detecting urban centers and hubs, and (c) graph community structures for uncovering socioeconomic clusters defined as neighborhoods and their borders. Finally, results of this network analysis are projected back onto geographical space to reveal the spatial structure of urban movements. The revealed community structure shows a clear subdivision into different areas that separate the population’s activity space into smaller neighborhoods. The generated borders are different from existing administrative ones. By comparing the results from 3 years of data, we find that Singapore, even from such a short time series, is developing rapidly towards a polycentric urban form, where new subcenters and communities are emerging largely in line with the city’s master plan.

To summarize, our approach yields important insights into urban phenomena generated by human movements. It represents a quantitative approach to urban analysis, which explicitly identifies ongoing urban transformations.