Modes of occurrence of mercury and other trace elements in coals from the warrior field, Black Warrior Basin, Northwestern Alabama

The mineralogic residence and abundance of trace metals is an important environmental issue. Data from the USGS coal quality database show that potentially toxic elements, including Hg, As, Mo, Se, Cu, and Tl are enriched in a subset of coal samples in the Black Warrior Basin of Alabama, USA. Although the coal as-mined typically is low in these elements, localized enrichments occur in high-pyrite coals and near faults. Microscopic analyses demonstrate that the residence of these elements is dominantly in a late-stage pyrite associated with structurally disrupted coal. Further, our data suggest addition of Hg to the coal matrix as well. The source of these trace elements was hydrothermal fluids driven into the Black Warrior Basin by Alleghanian age tectonism.     

Torngat ultramafic lamprophyres and their relation to the North Atlantic Alkaline Province

Geological mapping and diamond exploration in northern Quebec and Labrador has revealed an undeformed ultramafic dyke swarm in the northern Torngat Mountains. The dyke rocks are dominated by an olivine-phlogopite mineralogy and contain varying amounts of primary carbonate. Their mineralogy, mineral compositional trends and the presence of typomorphic minerals (e.g. kimzeyitic garnet), indicate that these dykes comprise an ultramafic lamprophyre suite grading into carbonatite. Recognized rock varieties are aillikite, mela-aillikite and subordinate carbonatite. Carbonatite and aillikite have in common high carbonate content and a lack of clinopyroxene. In contrast, mela-aillikites are richer in mafic silicate minerals, in particular clinopyroxene and amphibole, and contain only small amounts of primary carbonate. The modal mineralogy and textures of the dyke varieties are gradational, indicating that they represent end-members in a compositional continuum.

The Torngat ultramafic lamprophyres are characterized by high but variable MgO (10–25 wt.%), CaO (5–20 wt.%), TiO₂ (3–10 wt.%) and K₂O (1–4 wt.%), but low SiO₂ (22–37 wt.%) and Al₂O₃ (2–6 wt.%). Higher SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Na₂O and lower CO₂ content distinguish the mela-aillikites from the aillikites. Whereas the bulk rock major and trace element concentrations of the aillikites and mela-aillikites overlap, there is no fractional crystallization relation between them. The major and trace element characteristics imply related parental magmas, with minor olivine and Cr-spinel fractionation accounting for intra-group variation.

The Torngat ultramafic lamprophyres have a Neoproterozoic age and are spatially and compositionally closely related with the Neoproterozoic ultramafic lamprophyres from central West Greenland. Ultramafic potassic-to-carbonatitic magmatism occurred in both eastern Laurentia and western Baltica during the Late Neoproterozoic. It can be inferred from the emplacement ages of the alkaline complexes and timing of Late Proterozoic processes in the North Atlantic region that this volatile-rich, deep-seated igneous activity was a distal effect of the breakup of Rodinia. This occurred during and/or after the rift-to-drift transition that led to the opening of the Iapetus Ocean.     

Dietary overlap between invasion ctenophora (M. leidyi ) and anchovy (C. engrauliformis) in the southern parts of Caspian Sea

Mnemiopsis leidyi, native to America, Invaded the Caspian Sea in 1999. By the end of 2000, the entire sea was accupied with them. In parallel, a sharp decline in pelagic fish such accurrred.This survey was studied the relationship between the M. leidyi and this decline. Dietary analysis was conducted on anchovy sprat (Clupeonnela engrauliformis) and M. leidyi from August 2001 to October 2002 in the coastal water in the southern parts of Caspian Sea, in Iran. M. leidyi was caught by plankton net, (the mesh size ～5 mm), at three depth at 5, 10 and 15m. Sprat was caught by fisheries boat at Babolasar fishery harbor. Samples were not fixed in M. leidyi common fixative, 96% Ethanol were used. The Schoener index analysis reflected a similar diet composition of both species, with an critical level of overlap (>89 in Babolsar samples and >84 in Noushahar samples). This competition is one of the reasons for the decline of anchovy sprat. also, the results show M. leidyi is feeding on fish eggs, but effects of this factor on anchovy population is less than feeding competition. Controlling of M. leidyi population is reducing the pressure of its invasion and the effective approach is introduces a predator to the Caspian Sea.     

Deep seismic reflection profiling in the Archaean northeastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: implications for crustal architecture and mineral potential

Deep seismic reflection data across the Archaean Eastern Goldfields Province, northeastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, have provided information on its crustal architecture and on several of its highly mineralised belts. The seismic reflection data allow interpretation of several prominent crustal scale features, including an eastward thickening of the crust, subdivision of the crust into three broad layers, the presence of a prominent east dip to the majority of the reflections and the interpretation of three east-dipping crustal-penetrating shear zones. These east-dipping shear zones are major structures that subdivide the region into four terranes. Major orogenic gold deposits in the Eastern Goldfields Province are spatially associated with these major structures. The Laverton Tectonic Zone, for example, is a highly mineralised corridor that contains several world-class gold deposits plus many smaller deposits. Other non crustal-penetrating structures within the area do not appear to be as well endowed metallogenically as the Laverton structure. The seismic reflection data have also imaged a series of low-angle shear zones within and beneath the granite–greenstone terranes. Where the low-angle shear zones intersect the major crustal-penetrating structures, a wedge shaped geometry is formed. This geometry forms a suitable fluid focusing wedge in which upward to subhorizontal moving fluids are focused and then distributed into the nearby complexly deformed greenstones.     

Transtensional deformation in the Lake Tahoe region, California and Nevada, USA

Dextral transtensional deformation is occurring along the Sierra Nevada–Great Basin boundary zone (SNGBBZ) at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada microplate. In the Lake Tahoe region of the SNGBBZ, transtension is partitioned spatially and temporally into domains of north–south striking normal faults and transitional domains with conjugate strike-slip faults. The normal fault domains, which have had large Holocene earthquakes but account only for background seismicity in the historic period, primarily accommodate east–west extension, while the transitional domains, which have had moderate Holocene and historic earthquakes and are currently seismically active, primarily record north–south shortening. Through partitioned slip, the upper crust in this region undergoes overall constrictional strain.Major fault zones within the Lake Tahoe basin include two normal fault zones: the northwest-trending Tahoe–Sierra frontal fault zone (TSFFZ) and the north-trending West Tahoe–Dollar Point fault zone. Most faults in these zones show eastside down displacements. Both of these fault zones show evidence of Holocene earthquakes but are relatively quiet seismically through the historic record. The northeast-trending North Tahoe–Incline Village fault zone is a major normal to sinistral-oblique fault zone. This fault zone shows evidence for large Holocene earthquakes and based on the historic record is seismically active at the microearthquake level. The zone forms the boundary between the Lake Tahoe normal fault domain to the south and the Truckee transition zone to the north.Several lines of evidence, including both geology and historic seismicity, indicate that the seismically active Truckee and Gardnerville transition zones, north and southeast of Lake Tahoe basin, respectively, are undergoing north–south shortening. In addition, the central Carson Range, a major north-trending range block between two large normal fault zones, shows internal fault patterns that suggest the range is undergoing north–south shortening in addition to east–west extension.A model capable of explaining the spatial and temporal partitioning of slip suggests that seismic behavior in the region alternates between two modes, one mode characterized by an east–west minimum principal stress and a north–south maximum principal stress as at present. In this mode, seismicity and small-scale faulting reflecting north–south shortening concentrate in mechanically weak transition zones with primarily strike-slip faulting in relatively small-magnitude events, and domains with major normal faults are relatively quiet. A second mode occurs after sufficient north–south shortening reduces the north–south S_hmax in magnitude until it is less than S_v, at which point S_v becomes the maximum principal stress. This second mode is then characterized by large earthquakes on major normal faults in the large normal fault domains, which dominate the overall moment release in the region, producing significant east–west extension.     

合理设计岩屑规程保证正常钻进条件——金刚石钻进技术专题之一

论述了正常钻进的条件，提出了合理岩屑规程是保证正常钻进的关键和设计钻头的主要依据之一，讨论了岩屑规程与金刚石钻头唇面工作状态、孔底表面粗糙度和岩屑粒度的关系，提出了相应的建议。     

应用高光谱遥感数据估算土壤表层水分的研究

土壤水分是土壤的重要组成部分，它在陆地表层和大气之间的物质和能量交换方面扮演着重要角色，寻求快速而准确的方法估算土壤水分具有重要意义。通常，从可见光一近红外对土壤表层水分的估计多是建立在土壤水分与反射率的关系之上的。而在土壤水分含量不高时，土壤水分的增加使土壤光谱反射率在整个波长范围内降低，尤其在760nm，970nm，1190nm，1450nm，1940nm和2950nm等水分吸收波段，而在土壤水分含量较高时，土壤水分的增加会使土壤光谱反射率在某些光谱波段升高。而土壤水分的估计往往是基于土壤水分与土壤水分吸收波段的吸收强度之间的线性关系上，虽然这些经验的方法对于估算某些土壤的表层水分含量是有效的，但这些关系应用于其它条件(如不同种类土壤、土壤湿度变化范围很大的情况)时却面临很多困难，这与土壤的光谱反射率是由土壤的组成成分(土壤水分、有机质、氧化铁和粘土矿物等)的含量和它们在土壤中的分布密切相关。微分技术处理“连续”的光谱是遥感中常用的数学方法，微分技术能部分消除低频光谱成分的影响。现在微分光谱已广泛地应用于研究植被的生物物理参数、矿物和有机质等。然而利用微分光谱对土壤水分反演的研究却鲜见报道。本文通过对实验室中多种不同类型的土壤进行光谱与土壤表层水分含量进行观测，探讨了通过土壤反射率与微分光谱对土壤表层水分的反演方法。4种类型的土壤光谱数据(反射率(R)，反射率倒数的对数(log(1／R))，反射率的一阶微分光谱(dR／dλ)，反射率倒数的对数的一阶微分光谱(d(log(1／R))／dλ))与土壤表层水分之间的关系在本文中得到分析，R与log(1／R)对于不同土壤类型与土壤表层水分都很敏感，说明通过R与log(1／R)反演土壤表层水分受土壤类型的影响很大，而dR／dλ，d(log(1／R))／dλ)对土壤类型却不敏感，对土壤表层水分较为敏感，说明dR／dλ和d(log(1／R))／dλ)对于反演不同类型土壤具有很大的潜力，微分光谱与土壤水分在某些波段具有显著的相关性。通过随机对9种土壤(各具有4个土壤水分)的数据建立反演土壤水分的模型，并其他9种土壤(各具有4个土壤水分)的数据进行验证模型，结果表明，dR／dλ和d(log(1／R))／dλ)能够显著提高R与log(1／R)对于不同土壤类型土壤表层水分的反演精度，由于吸收过程是非线性的，在四种类型的土壤光谱数据中，总体来说，d(log(1／R))／dλ)具有最好的能力预测不同类型土壤的表层水分含量。     

Upper Pleistocene and Holocene paleosalinity and trophic state changes in relation to sea level variation in Rocha Lagoon, southern Uruguay

Paleolimnological data are presented on trophic development in relation to sea level variation in Rocha Lagoon, a 72 km² coastal lagoon in southern Uruguay. Using sediment cores that extended to ∼20,000 yr BP, analyses of grain size, organic matter, carbonate, total carbon, nutrients, and diatoms allowed us to infer changes in trophic state and paleosalinities, which were closely related to Holocene relative sea level variation. Higher trophic states were observed during regressive events, most probably due to increases in runoff and erosion as regressions progressed. Diatom Association Zones (DAZ) were identified in both cores. Those DAZ corresponding to transgressive events were dominated by marine/brackish taxa and relatively low organic matter and nutrient values, while those DAZ corresponding to regressive events showed increases in brackish/freshwater diatoms and both organic matter and nutrients. Although the lagoon formed after the first Holocene marine transgression, our data indicate the existence of a marine/brackish aquatic system during upper Pleistocene (i.e., before 15,000 yr BP), but by ∼20,000 yr BP, the system was still likely to be a semi-arid terrestrial system.     

Changes in soil organic carbon and other physical soil properties along adjacent Mediterranean forest, grassland, and cropland ecosystems in Turkey

Cultivation, overgrazing, and overharvesting are seriously degrading forest and grassland ecosystems in the Taurus Mountains of the southern Mediterranean region of Turkey. This study investigated the effects of changes on soil organic carbon (SOC) content and other physical soil properties over a 12-year period in three adjacent ecosystems in a Mediterranean plateau. The ecosystems were cropland (converted from grasslands in 1990), open forest, and grassland. Soil samples from two depths, 0–10 and 10–20 cm, were collected for chemical and physical analyses at each of cropland, open forest, and grassland ecosystems. SOC pools at the 0–20 cm depth of cropland, forest, and grassland ecosystems were estimated at 32,636, 56,480, and 57,317 kg ha⁻¹, respectively. Conversion of grassland into cropland during the 12-year period increased the bulk density by 10.5% and soil erodibility by 46.2%; it decreased SOM by 48.8%, SOC content by 43%, available water capacity (AWC) by 30.5%, and total porosity by 9.1% for the 0–20 cm soil depth (p<0.001). The correlation matrix revealed that SOC content was positively correlated with AWC, total porosity, mean weight diameter (MWD), forest, and grassland, and negatively with bulk density, pH, soil erodibility factor, and cropland. The multiple regression (MLR) models indicated that any two of the three ecosystems and one of the two soil depths accounted for 86.5% of variation in mean SOC values ((p<0.001).