Geochemical and geochronological studies of the Muong Hum alkaline granitic pluton from the Phan Si Pan Zone,northwest Vietnam: Implications for petrogenesis and tectonic setting

The Phan Si Pan zone in northwest Vietnam is an important tectonic unit for understanding the geological evolution of the southeast Asian Block. Numerous late Permian A‐type granites outcrop in this zone. In this study, new geochemical and geochronological data derived from the Muong Hum alkaline granitic pluton in the Phan Si Pan zone were investigated for its petrogenesis and tectonic setting. Zircon U–Pb analyses of three samples yielded ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of (251.1 ±3.5) Ma, (251.2 ±3.8) Ma, and (253.9 ±1.5) Ma, respectively, coinciding with the ages of the acid member of magma from Emeishan large igneous province, southwest China. The Muong Hum granite has 10 000 × Ga/Al and A/CNK values of 4.70–4.93 and 0.87–0.90, respectively, as well as negative Eu anomalies. It shows significant depletion of Ba, Sr, Ti, and P, similar to features of A‐type granite. Zircons have positive ε_Hf(t) values (+1.9 to +8.6) and Hf model ages (T_DM1) of 595–846 Ma, originating a mantle source. Compared with the Panzhihua A‐type granite of the southwest China domain and other A‐type plutons of the Phan Si Pan zone, including Ye Yen Sun, Phu Sa Phin, Nam Xe, Tam Duong Phan Si Pan, and Taihe, the geochemical characteristics and zircon Hf isotopic compositions of the Muong Hum granite demonstrate an affinity of mantle magma. It is believed that the Phan Si Pan zone is an important part of Emeishan large igneous province. It was reworked by the Cenozoic Aillaoshan‐Red River shear fault to its present location.     

Estimation of Blast-Induced Air Overpressure in Quarry Mines Using Cubist-Based Genetic Algorithm

In the present work, blast-induced air overpressure is estimated by an innovative intelligence system based on the cubist algorithm (CA) and genetic algorithm (GA) with high accuracy, called GA–CA model. Herein, CA initialization model was developed first and the hyper-parameters of the CA model were selected randomly. Subsequently, the GA procedure was applied to perform a global search for the optimized values of the hyper-factors of the CA model. Root-mean-square error (RMSE) is utilized as a compatibility function to determine the optimal CA model with the lowest RMSE. Gaussian process (GP), conditional inference tree (CIT), principal component analysis (PCA), hybrid neural fuzzy inference system (HYFIS) and k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) models are also developed as the benchmark models in order to compare and analyze the quality of the proposed GA–CA algorithm; 164 blasting works were investigated at a quarry mine of Vietnam for this aim. The results revealed that GA significantly improved the performance of the CA model. Based on the statistical indices used for model assessment, the proposed GA–CA model was confirmed as the most superior model as compared to the other models (i.e., GP, CIT, HYFIS, PCA, k-NN). It can be applied as a robust soft computing tool for estimating blast-induced air overpressure.

     

Influences of diel and tidal cycles on fish assemblage in eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed of southern Korea during autumn

Short-term tidal and diel variations of autumn fish assemblage in a Zostera marina bed were investigated using 3 h interval samplings for 24 h in both spring and neap tide using a small beam trawl. A total of 1 346 fishes belonging to 19 species were collected at spring tide, whereas 1 115 fishes belonging to 17 species were at neap tide. The common fish species were Nuchequula nuchalis, Acanthogobius flavimanus, Takifugu niphobles, Acentrogobius pflaumii, and Pholis nebulosa with the former three species dominating at spring tide, while the latter two species being abundant at neap tide. Diel variation in abundance was significant with higher abundance at night than day, but there were no significant differences between spring and neap tides, and between ebb and flood tides (three-way ANOVAs). Diel variation in the abundance of fishes may be influenced by tidal range and cycle, and day-night differences of food availability and behaviors of fishes indirectly. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) ordination and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) results revealed significant differences in species compositions both between day and night, and between spring and neap tide. Eelgrass beds are highly productive marine ecosystem, and thus, our results will contribute to conservation of seagrass ecosystem in the study area.     

Precambrian crustal evolution in Rangrim Massif , Korean Peninsula

Petrological, chronological and geotectonic geological analysis of Precambrian metamorphic rock in Korean Peninsula shows that the remnants ( > 314 Ga) of continental nuclei crust were formed in the Paleo-archean in the Rangrim Massif. In the massif, the main formation ages of continental crust range from 3.2 Ga to 2.5 Ga, its important growing period was 2.8 - 2.5 Ga. The subsequent expansion period of the Rangrim Massif was 2.4 - 2.2 Ga. The division events occurred in 1.85 Ga and in the Late Paleoproterozoic－Early Mesoproterozoic, respectively. Since then the massif was relatively stable. However, the last division of the Rangrim Massif occurred at 793 Ma.     

Antioxidant efficacy of extracts from a variety of seaweeds in a cellular system

As a part of an ongoing search for antioxidants frodm marine sources, antioxidant activities of 24 kinds of seaweeds (4 green algae, 8 brown algae, and 12 red algae) were investigated. The seaweeds were extracted by acetone/ dichloromethane and methanol, respectively. The antioxidant properties of both extracts were evaluated using four different activity tests, including degree of occurrence of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), NO, lipid peroxidation, and GSH (glutathione) in mouse macrophage Raw 264.7 cells. The levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and GSH were measured using 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCF-DA) and monobromobimane as fluorescence probe, respectively. Moreover, the generation of NO and lipid peroxidation products were determined by each method based on the Griess reaction and TBARS assay. Solvent extracts from seaweeds such asScytosiphon lomentaria, Prionitis cornea, Laruencia okamurae,Callophyllis japonica, Sargassum horneri, Dictyopteris divaricat a,Lomentaria catenata, Corallina confuse, Ishige okamurae, andAhnfeltiopsis flabelliformi exhibited high antioxidant activities in cellular oxidizing systems.     

Toward integrated assessment of environmental change: air pollution health effects in the USA

We demonstrate a method for integrating environmental effects into a computable general equilibrium model. This is a critical step forward toward the development of improved integrated assessment models of environmental change. We apply the method to examine the economic consequences of air pollution on human health for the US for the period from 1970 to 2000. The pollutants include tropospheric ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. We apply this method to the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model, a computable general equilibrium model of the economy that has been widely used to study climate change policy. The method makes use of traditional valuation studies, incorporating this information so that estimates of welfare change are consistent with welfare valuation of the consumption of market goods and services. We estimate the benefits of air pollution regulations in USA rose steadily from 1975 to 2000 from $50 billion to $400 billion (from 2.1% to 7.6% of market consumption). Our estimated benefits of regulation are somewhat lower than the original estimates made by the US Environmental Protection Agency, and we trace that result to our development of a stock model of pollutant exposure that predicts that the benefits from reduced chronic air pollution exposure will only be gradually realized. We also estimate the economic burden of uncontrolled levels of air pollution over that period. The uncertainties in these estimates are large which we show through simulations using 95% confidence limits on the epidemiological dose-response relationships     

Comparison of Daily Extreme Temperatures over Eastern China and South Korea between 1996–2005

This paper examined the decadal mean, seasonal cycle, and interannual variations of mean and extreme temperatures using daily temperature and relative humidity data from 589 stations over eastern China and South Korea between 1996–2005. The results show that the decadal mean Tm (mean daily mean temperature) and the TNn (minimum daily minimum temperature) increase from north to south; the opposite spatial gradient is found in the DTR (diurnal temperature range); the value of the DTR over South Korea is in- b...     

Cluster analysis of Tropical Cyclones making landfall on the Korean Peninsula

Cluster analysis has been performed on the tracks of 51 Tropical Cyclones (TCs) that made landfall on the Korean Peninsula (KP) for the period of 1951–2004. The classification technique of the landfalling tracks used in this study was the fuzzy clustering method (FCM) and the resultant silhouette coe?cient suggested four clusters as an optimal cluster number. Most TCs of Cluster 2 and Cluster 3 (C-23) tended to pass through mainland China before landfall, but those of Cluster 1 and Cluster 4 (C-14) tended t...     

A simple approach to estimating freshwater discharge in branched estuarine systems

In tidal estuaries, quantifying freshwater discharge is still a difficult problem that has not yet been overcome due to the inherent difficulty in measuring and analysing the tidal discharge, especially during periods of low river flow. Because observations are often made in the stations further upstream, where the ratio of river to tidal discharge is large, it remains difficult to determine the discharge rate in the saline region. Freshwater discharge estimation is even more difficult in a branched estuary system having multiple diversion channels that connect with each other at a junction. To date, several methods have been developed for estimating freshwater discharge in estuaries. The most widely used are analytical and conceptual models that employ salinity as the principal trace and numerical simulations. However, these methods are very time consuming and costly as they require large sets of observations before the computations can take place. This paper presents a simple approach to investigating the discharge distribution over branched channels by considering the energy loss due to friction. We develop an analytical model that can obtain the discharge rate quantitatively at a junction where the main flow bifurcates into two branches. The model uses the bed roughness, tidal water level, and cross‐sectional profile under tidally averaged conditions as input data. Two selected estuarine systems in the Hiroshima delta in Japan and the Mekong delta in Vietnam have been investigated. Computations of the newly developed model show good agreement with earlier published results computed by sophisticated analytical and numerical models.     

Study of the State and Variability of Marine Environment in the Japan/East Sea in Cruise 58 of the R/V Akademik Oparin

Oceanology - Multiyear monitoring of the marine environment of the Japan/East Sea was continued by the joint Korean–Russian expedition of the R/V Akademik Oparin (cruise 58) in...