Geochemical Indication of Sinian Bedded Siliceous Rocks in the Hunan-Guizhou-Guangxi Area and Their Environmental Significance

In the Hunan-Guizhou-Guangxi area there have developed very thick bedded siliceous rocks of the late Sinian. The rocks have a fairly pure composition, with an average content of siliceous minerals exceeding 95%. They are relatively rich in Fe and Mn, and poor in Al, Ti and Mg. The Fe/Ti, (Fe+Mn)/Ti, Al/(Al+Fe+Mn) and U/Th ratios and the Al-Fe-Mn and Fe-Mn-(Ni+Co+Cu)×10 triangle diagrams all show that they are hydrothermal sedimentary siliceous rocks. In the rocks the total amount of REEs is low, the δCe shows an obvious negative anomaly and the 8Eu a weak anomaly, and LREE>HREE, all indicating that they are products of hydrothermal processes. The δ30Si and δ18O values, as well as the formation temperature of the rocks all clearly show that the silica forming the rocks comes from hot water. Besides, analyses of the depositional environment of the rocks using the MnO/TiO2 ratio and the δCe and δ30Si values yield the same conclusion that they are formed in environments from continental marginal slope     

Precipitation climatology over India: validation with observations and reanalysis datasets and spatial trends

Changing rainfall patterns have significant effect on water resources, agriculture output in many countries, especially the country like India where the economy depends on rain-fed agriculture. Rainfall over India has large spatial as well as temporal variability. To understand the variability in rainfall, spatial–temporal analyses of rainfall have been studied by using 107 (1901–2007) years of daily gridded India Meteorological Department (IMD) rainfall datasets. Further, the validation of IMD precipitation data is carried out with different observational and different reanalysis datasets during the period from 1989 to 2007. The Global Precipitation Climatology Project data shows similar features as that of IMD with high degree of comparison, whereas Asian Precipitation-Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation data show similar features but with large differences, especially over northwest, west coast and western Himalayas. Spatially, large deviation is observed in the interior peninsula during the monsoon season with National Aeronautics Space Administration-Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (NASA-MERRA), pre-monsoon with Japanese 25 years Re Analysis (JRA-25), and post-monsoon with climate forecast system reanalysis (CFSR) reanalysis datasets. Among the reanalysis datasets, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) shows good comparison followed by CFSR, NASA-MERRA, and JRA-25. Further, for the first time, with high resolution and long-term IMD data, the spatial distribution of trends is estimated using robust regression analysis technique on the annual and seasonal rainfall data with respect to different regions of India. Significant positive and negative trends are noticed in the whole time series of data during the monsoon season. The northeast and west coast of the Indian region shows significant positive trends and negative trends over western Himalayas and north central Indian region.     

Sources of information for farmers’ adaptation practices in Canada’s Prairie agro-ecosystem

Successful adaptation assumes the availability of appropriate information for groups potentially impacted by climate change. This research examines information available to help farmers in the Canadian Prairies to adapt, with focus on information related to soil and water conservation practices, such as preserving wetlands and maintaining shelterbelts and groundcover, considered particularly important for this region. Results of 28 semi-structured interviews carried out with producers in two Prairie provinces, Alberta and Manitoba, revealed that information regarding soil and water conservation practices comes from a variety of sources. These included industry, government, producer and conservation organizations, social sources of information and personal experience, and media. Producers were more open to new practices when they could learn them through observation, trials, and two-way dialogue. There appears to be a general lack of producer organization involvement, and dearth of government information, direction, and coordination for climate change adaptation. Information from government and producer organizations can be important for the co-production of knowledge that can lead to successful adaptation.     

R-band light curve of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 during the Deep Impact event

We present high-speed CCD photometry of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 during the Deep Impact event on 2005 July 4 UT. Approximately 2 h and 50 min of R-band data were acquired at Mount Laguna Observatory with a temporal resolution of 5.5 s. The flux increased by 9% in the first minute after impact. This was followed by a more gradual two-part linear rise, with a change in slope at 9.2 min post-impact, at which time the rate of brightening increased from ∼ to ∼. An analysis of the light curve obtained with the guide camera on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope and yields very similar results. These findings are mildly in disagreement with the 3-part linear rise found by Fernández et al. (2007) in that we do not find any evidence for a change at 4 min post-impact. We interpret the linear rise phase as due to solar illumination of the edge of an expanding optically thick dust ejecta plume. After approximately 20 min, the light curves begin to flatten out, perhaps coincident with the start of the transition to becoming optically thin. In the large apertures (>10^″) the light curve continues to gradually rise until the end of the observations. In smaller apertures, the light curves reach a peak at approximately 50 min, then decrease back towards the pre-impact flux level. The drop in flux in the smaller apertures may be caused by the ejecta expanding beyond the edge of the photometric aperture, and if so, we can use this timescale to infer an expansion velocity of ∼, consistent with previous published estimates.     

Thermodynamics and civilization: from ancient rivers to fossil fuel energy servants

Civilization can be at least partially determined by climatic constraints upon net primary productivity and heat dissipation from the human body (Kleidon 2009). I discuss how these “metabolic” limitations were historically overcome: first, because large rivers in dry regions provided water to ancient civilizations; second, because fossil fuel energy servants working externally to muscle-limited bodies have produced economic well-being in a number of world areas.     

西加拿大盆地油砂储层中的泥夹层特征

西加拿大盆地含有丰富的油砂资源,主要产于阿尔伯达省东北部的下白垩统马克马里组(McMurray Formation)．该组含有不等的砂泥斜互层．这些砂泥斜互层(IHS)在局部很发育．描述其中的泥夹层为建立客观的储层模型提供了的重要数据．试图从6个方面对泥夹层进行描述并简要讨论如何利用这些描述结果去建立客观有效的储层模型．     

Polymictic pool behaviour in a montane meadow,Sierra Nevada,CA

We observed polymictic behaviour in stream pools in Long Meadow, Sequoia National Park, California—part of the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory. Stream pools stratified thermally during the day time and were isothermal at night—this pattern persists from the middle of summer into the fall. We found that four characteristics typical of a mountain meadow environment—low stream flow, open sky, cold groundwater discharge, and elevated organic carbon concentrations—are particularly conducive to pool stratification. Incoming shortwave radiation was the dominant energy input to heat pool water while nighttime emitted longwave radiation was the major cooling mechanism. Relatively cold groundwater discharge into the pool bottom increased density stratification within the pool. Elevated DOC concentrations increased the capacity of the pool to absorb photosynthetically active radiation and also promoted stratification. Stream velocities in the meadow were generally insufficient to meet threshold Richardson numbers and mix the pools during the daytime; smaller stream cross sectional areas would have potential for destabilizing pools in the daytime. We propose a conceptual model for describing polymictic stream pools and assessing the potential for polymictic pools to occur. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Landscape‐scale controls on the spatial distribution of caesium 137: A study based on an airborne geophysical survey across Northern Ireland

The spatial distribution of ¹³⁷Cs across the landscape and the processes controlling its redistribution are of interest because (i) ¹³⁷Cs has been widely used to quantify the movement of soil and sediments and (ii) substantial fallout of ¹³⁷Cs after the Chernobyl accident has led to contamination of foodstuffs in some places. A high‐resolution airborne geophysical radiometric survey of Northern Ireland has provided an opportunity to study the distribution and possible redistribution of ¹³⁷Cs. The ¹³⁷Cs activity (recorded at 1·2 million points) is distributed in a series of bands oriented approximately 160° and 115° clockwise from north. Geostatistical analysis of the data shows a strong, short‐range structure (correlation ranges between 0·6 and 8 km) in ¹³⁷Cs activity across the vast majority of the region; the spatial distribution shows association with a published, coarse‐scale depositional pattern of ¹³⁷Cs from Chernobyl. Two indices of land form derived from a digital elevation model, namely compound topographic index and the length–slope factor of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, account for only 3% of the variance in ¹³⁷Cs activity. In contrast, soil type and land cover in combination (including their interaction) account for 20% of the variance. In areas that received moderate fallout from Chernobyl, soil type alone accounts for a substantial proportion of the spatially correlated ¹³⁷Cs activity. We attribute this to each soil type having a fairly uniform radiocaesium interception potential that differs from those of other soil types and that this potential controls the vertical migration of ¹³⁷Cs. Over the granitic Mourne Mountains there is a strong spatial cross‐correlation between ¹³⁷Cs activity and airborne estimates of soil potassium, suggesting that the latter provides a measure of the soil's radiocaesium interception potential; this is probably dominated by the quantity of the mineral illite. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and British Geological Survey     

Revisiting the late Pleistocene mammal extinction record at Tight Entrance Cave, southwestern Australia

Tight Entrance Cave (TEC) in southwestern Australia provides a Pleistocene sequence documenting the extinction of 14 large mammal species. This record has been interpreted as indicating that extinctions did not occur during or before the penultimate glacial maximum (PGM) and that humans played a primary role in the extinctions. However, it remains possible that the majority of extinct megafauna persisted no later than the PGM. The TEC extinctions correspond with vegetation change, a cooling/drying trend, increased biomass burning, and increasingly unstable small mammal communities. The initiation of these trends predates human arrival on the continent and implies environmentally mediated extinctions.