Analysis of photosynthetic picoeukaryote community structure along an extended Ellett Line transect in the northern North Atlantic reveals a dominance of novel prymnesiophyte and prasinophyte phylotypes

Photosynthetic picoeukaryotes (PPEs) of a size <3 ??m can contribute significantly to primary production. Here, PPE community structure was analysed along an extended Ellett Line transect, an area in the North Atlantic well studied by physical oceanographers but largely neglected in the field of microalgal ecology. Distribution patterns of specific PPE classes were determined using dot-blot hybridization analysis, while the taxonomic composition of specific PPE classes was revealed by phylogenetic analysis of plastid 16S rRNA gene sequences. In addition, we performed fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of seawater samples collected along the transect to provide a PCR-independent survey of class level PPE distribution patterns. We found the PPE community was dominated by members of the Prymnesiophyceae, Prasinophyceae and Mamiellophyceae. Interestingly, phylogenetic analysis revealed several novel Prymnesiophyceae and Prasinophyceae phylotypes (with only 85-96% identity to neighbouring sequences) within lineages for which cultured counterparts are unknown.     

New aromatic biomarkers and possible maturity indicators found in New Albany Shale extracts

Aromatic hydrocarbons from benzene extracts of New Albany Shale were characterized. A biomarker that has a molecular weight of 546 and a structural configuration consistent with that of an alkyl-aromatic hydrocarbon (C₄₀H₆₆) was tentatively identified. It was found that the relative concentrations of the biomarker are indicative of differing levels of thermal maturity of the shale organic matter. A 40-carbon bicyclic carotenoid (C₄₀H₄₈) is proposed as the geochemical precursor of this biomarker. Thermal maturity of the shale organic matter can also be differentiated by observing differences in “fingerprints” as obtained by field-ionization mass spectrometry on the aromatic hydrocarbon fraction. Using this technique, we found that the more mature shale samples from southeastern Illinois contain more low molecular weight extractable aromatic hydrocarbons and the less mature shale samples from northwestern Illinois contain more high molecular weight extractable aromatic hydrocarbons. It was demonstrated that field-ionization and tandem mass spectrometric techniques through fingerprint and individual compound identification, are useful for shale aromatic hydrocarbon fraction characterization and for thermal maturation interpretation.     

基于生物气候因子聚类的植物群组划分及其中国生物群区模拟

本研究基于10′×10′空间分辨率运用GIS软件对中国植被分布地理配准数字化,提取获得196个优势植物的地理分布数据以及内插相关的气候因子,运用分位数函数计算获得各个植物地理分布的气候阈值;   在此基础上采用生物气候群组（BAGs）的分类方法,对196个优势植物气候因子数据进行聚类分析,同时结合中国植被的地理分布特征,最后划分出29个BAG组,包括13个乔木组(6个常绿阔叶和2个落叶阔叶群组,4个常绿针叶和1个落叶针叶群组)、10个灌木组(5个常绿灌木和5个落叶灌木群组)和6个草本组。本研究的BAGs划分是建立在较高空间分辨率和定量气候因子阈值的基础上,因此,通过计算获得BAGs气候阈值(包括每日温度变化幅度、地表霜冻频率、月均温度、月降雨量、相对湿度、日照时数和>5℃年积温等),运用生物圈碳循环CARAIB模型,模拟出中国19个生物群区的现代潜在分布。模拟结果较好地表达了中国植被类型的地理分布,尤其较详细地展示了热带、亚热带、温带和高原地区的不同植被类型地理分布格局,但由于东北地区、西部草原以及热带原生植被受人类活动严重干扰,使得模拟结果比该地区的原生植被地理分布的实际面积偏大。总体而言,本研究获得的29个生物气候群组对模拟现代生物群区分布提供了理想的分类依据,其气候阈值也是进行过去和未来生物群区模拟的重要参照数据。     

A Multiple Training Image Approach for Spatial Modeling of Geologic Domains

Characterization of complex geological features and patterns remains one of the most challenging tasks in geostatistics. Multiple point statistics (MPS) simulation offers an alternative to accomplish this aim by going beyond classical two-point statistics. Reproduction of features in the final realizations is achieved by borrowing high-order spatial statistics from a training image. Most MPS algorithms use one training image at a time chosen by the geomodeler. This paper proposes the use of multiple training images simultaneously for spatial modeling through a scheme of data integration for conditional probabilities known as a linear opinion pool. The training images (TIs) are based on the available information and not on conceptual geological models; one image comes from modeling the categories by a deterministic approach and another comes from the application of conventional sequential indicator simulation. The first is too continuous and the second too random. The mixing of TIs requires weights for each of them. A methodology for calibrating the weights based on the available drillholes is proposed. A measure of multipoint entropy along the drillholes is matched by the combination of the two TIs. The proposed methodology reproduces geologic features from both TIs with the correct amount of continuity and variability. There is no need for a conceptual training image from another modeling technique; the data-driven TIs permit a robust inference of spatial structure from reasonably spaced drillhole data.     

2011—2012年广州高建筑物雷电磁场特征统计

为研究不同高度的建筑物对雷电磁场的影响,对2011年7月—2012年8月广州高建筑物雷电观测试验中获取的雷电磁场波形数据进行统计分析,共选取击中14个高建筑物的40次雷电 (均为负极性雷电) 的磁场数据,结果表明：高建筑物对回击磁场峰值有增强作用,且建筑物越高对回击磁场峰值的增强作用越大,高度在200 m以上的建筑物上雷电首次回击磁场峰值的几何平均值是高度在200 m以下的建筑物上的2.4倍;高建筑物雷电回击的磁场波形呈多峰特征;观测到的20次击中200 m以下高建筑物的雷电中,有13次 (65%) 雷电首次回击的磁场波形出现后续峰值比初始峰值大的现象,击中200 m以上高建筑物的14次雷电中有8次 (57%) 出现该现象;40次高建筑物雷电中有22次 (55%) 为多回击雷电,135个回击间隔时间的几何平均值为69.1 ms, 多回击高建筑物雷电中有10次 (45%) 出现继后回击的磁场峰值大于首次回击磁场峰值的现象。     

Water contamination and remedial measures at the Troya abandoned Pb-Zn mine (The Basque Country, Northern Spain)

 This article describes a case of contamination of a karstic aquifer by abandoning an underground mine exploiting sulphide ore body. To exploit the ore, the aquifer was drained and the water level declined about 230 m, drying up the spring that had drained the aquifer up to that moment. When the mining activity ceased, the piezometric level recovered and contaminated water began to flow out from a mine adit. The water is high in sulphates and dissolved Fe, although the pH is neutral. When this water reached the nearby creek, the fish population was eliminated, principally due to the presence of toxic metals and the precipitation of Fe hydroxides. The contamination originated in an area of the partially flooded mine rooms where the ore is in contact with both air and water. The acidity generated by pyrite oxidation is neutralized by calcite dissolution. Presently, the mine water is diverted to the old tailings pond which functions as an aerobic wetland. This action has allowed the fish population in the creek to be restored. Received: 20 January 1999 · Accepted: 15 March 1999     

The Structure of the Bazhenov Horizon in the Northeast Part of West Siberia

A new variant of the structural-facies zonation of the Bazhenov horizon (Tithonian–Lower Berriasian) in the northeastern part of West Siberia was considered using lithofacies and structural analysis. The low content of terrigenous sedimentary material in the high-carbon facies of the Bazhenov Formation is explained by the capturing of the material by the relatively deep Pur–Taz Paleobasin, where the fan of the Yenisei–Khatanga strait was formed. The Pur–Taz Paleobasin was filled by the sediments of the Yanovstanov Formation. In the northeast the basin borders the vast and relatively shallow Ob Paleobasin, where the black shales of the oil-source Bazhenov Formation were accumulated.     

Dating of mine waste in lacustrine sediments using cesium-137

For over a century Medicine Lake in northern Idaho has received heavy-metal-laden tailings from the Coeur d'Alene mining district. Establishing the depositional chronology of the lake bottom sediments provides information on the source and rate of deposition of the tailings. Cesium-137, an isotope produced in the atmosphere by nuclear bomb tests, was virtually absent in the environment prior to 1951, but reached its apex in 1964. Our analysis of cesium-137 in the sediments of Medicine Lake revealed that 14 cm of fine-grained tailings were deposited in the lake from 1951 to 1964 and tailing deposition downstream was greatly reduced by the installation of tailings dams in the district in 1968. Cesium-137 analysis is accomplished by a fairly simple gamma-ray counting technique and should be a valuable tool for analyzing sedimentation in any lacustrine environment that was active during the 1950s and 1960s.