Modelling the biological half-life and seasonality of ¹⁴C in Fucus vesiculosus from the east coast of Ireland: implications for the estimation of future trends

Radiocarbon levels were recorded in Fucus vesiculosus samples collected on a monthly basis over a three-year period at a site on the east coast of Ireland. The resulting data was analysed using a numerical model which estimates the transit times from the Sellafield plant to the sampling location, and the mean availability time of ¹⁴C in seaweed. With the inclusion of a model parameter allowing for seasonal variability in uptake by the Fucus, good correlation was observed between the predicted and measured concentrations. Future temporal trends of ¹⁴C Fucus concentrations along the eastern Irish coastline were modelled with the application of three possible prospective discharge scenarios, predicting ¹⁴C Fucus concentrations to reduce to ambient background levels within 2.5-years of discharges being set to zero. Such projections may prove helpful in assessing the consequences of discharge management and policy making in the context of the OSPAR convention.     

Relationship between sedimentation rates and benthic impact on Maërl beds derived from fish farming in the Mediterranean

The aim of this work was to study the dispersion of particulate wastes derived from marine fish farming and correlate the data with the impact on the seabed. Carbon and nutrients were correlated with the physico-chemical parameters of the sediment and the benthic community structure. The sedimentation rates in the benthic system were 1.09, 0.09 and 0.13 g m?2 day?1 for particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate organic nitrogen (PON) and total phosphorus (TP), respectively. TP was a reliable parameter for establishing the spatial extent of the fish farm particulate wastes. Fish farming was seen to influence not only physico-chemical and biological parameters but also the functioning of the ecosystem from a trophic point of view, particularly affecting the grazers and the balance among the trophic groups. POC, PON and TP sedimentation dynamics reflected the physico-chemical status of the sediment along the distance gradient studied, while their impact on the benthic community extended further. Therefore, the level of fish farm impact on the benthic community might be underestimated if it is assessed by merely taking into account data obtained from waste dispersion rates. The benthic habitat beneath the fish farm, Ma?rl bed, was seen to be very sensitive to aquaculture impact compared with other unvegetated benthic habitats, with an estimated POC-carrying capacity to maintain current diversity of 0.087 g C m?2 day?1 (only 36% greater than the basal POC input). Environmental protection agencies should define different aquaculture waste load thresholds for different benthic communities affected by finfish farming, according to their particular degree of sensitivity, in order to maintain natural ecosystem functions.     

Study of the Gravity Changes before and after the Jingtai Ms 5.9 Earthquake

By systematically analyzing the data of gravity reiteration in the Hexi region and taking a dynamic viewpoint.we have studied the evolution characters of gravity field during the preparation-occurrence of the Jingtai Ms5.9 earthquake of June 6,2000,The patterns of dynamic change of the gravity field clearly reflected how the gravity field evolved from the quasi-homogeneous state to non-homogeneous state for earthquake preparation and then the earthquake occurred.Besides,we have also studied the relation between the characteristic gravity change and strong earthquake activity.     

Water evacuations in remote tourist regions: evaluating case studies from natural hazards in North Patagonian lakes,Argentina

The remote North Patagonian region is a sparsely populated territory and a world famous tourist destination located on the leeward side of the Andes Mountains. Recent disasters triggered by various types of geoenvironmental hazards(including volcanic eruptions, mass-wasting processes and extreme weather events) heavily disrupted ground transport networks in a region with already limited territorial accessibilities. All these catastrophes prompted the need to evacuate or assist a number of seclud...     

“构造地质学”发展方向的一些思考

构造地质学是地质学的核心基础学科,其发展方向是目前构造地质学家面临的挑战之一。本文从构造作用的本质出发,试图对构造地质学的发展方向进行思考。构造作用本质上是岩石和矿物对应力作用的响应,包括物理响应和化学响应,进而用数学方法进行表达：（1）物理响应主要表现为变形,包括脆性变形和韧性变形。岩石的力学性能决定了其变形特征。岩石圈力学性能在时间和空间上的不均一性一直是研究岩石圈变形行为的巨大挑战。需要结合野外观测、岩石力学和流变学研究,并借助多尺度模拟方法来建立不同时间尺度和空间尺度下岩石的变形行为和变形准则。（2）化学响应主要指构造应力作用下岩石和矿物发生化学变化的过程,即应力化学作用。变形变质作用、剪切带成矿作用、剪切带石墨化、应力生气和生烃等方面都可能存在应力化学过程,但其详细过程和反应机理还需要进一步探究。（3）运用数值模拟、量子计算对以上这些构造过程进行数学表达,也是构造地质学未来发展值得关注的方向。总之,构造地质学未来的发展方向应是与物理学、化学乃至数学等基础学科的深度融合。

     

Distribution Patterns of Synechococcus Indicated Their Environmental Constraints and Related Geochemical Processes in the Yellow Sea

Synechococcus is a widely distributed photosynthetic pico-phytoplankton,which contributes mainly to carbon fixation and maintains the stability of the marine ecosystem.To investigate its distribution patterns in the Yellow Sea,seawater samples were collected during September 2018.Results of flow cytometry analysis showed that the Synechococcus abundance ranged from 6.36×10² to 4.51×10⁴ cells mL^?1,which correlated with salinity(P<0.01)and temperature(P<0.05).At deeper off-shore sites,Synecho-coccus showed high abundance at the subsurface thermo-halocline,which was in accordance with chlorophyll a(Chl a)content along the vertical column.Based on the high-throughput sequencing data of rpoC1(partial gene encoding RNA polymerase),two Synechococcus subclusters,S5.1 and S5.2,were found to coexist in the studied area.Several clades of S5.1,including Clades I,II,and III,were the dominant components,accounting for 6.63%,26.11%,and 45.5%of the total genus,respectively.Redundancy analysis(RDA)showed that nitrite was the main environmental factor that explained the genus composition among samples.Fur-thermore,co-occurrence network revealed that the main phyla that coexisted with Synechococcus were Proteobacteria,Bacteroidetes,Actinobacteria,Planctomycetes,and Verrucomicrobia,which were involved in the carbon(C),nitrogen(N),sulfur(S),and manga-nese(Mn)cycles.Overall,Synechococcus exhibited biogeographic distribution correlated with temperature-salinity and nitrite in the Yellow Sea,and their geochemical function showed diverse but should be further verified in the future.     

There is no such thing as the ‘Ediacara Biota'

The term‘Ediacara Biota’(or many variants thereof)is commonly used to refer to certain megascopic fossils of Precambrian and early Palaeozoic age e but what does the term actually mean?What differentiates a non-Ediacaran‘Ediacaran’and an Ediacaran‘Ediacaran’from an Ediacaran non-‘Ediacaran’?Historically,the term has been used in either a geographic,stratigraphic,taphonomic,or biologic sense.More recent research and new discoveries,however,mean that the term cannot actually be defned on any of these bases,or any combination thereof.Indeed,the term is now used and understood in a manner which is internally inconsistent,and unintentionally implies that these fossils are somehow distinct from other fossil assemblages,which is simply not the case.Continued use of the term is a historical relic,which has led in part to incorrect assumptions that the‘Ediacara Biota’can be treated as a single coherent group,has obscured our understanding of the biological change over the PrecambrianeCambrian boundary,and has confused research on the early evolution of the Metazoa.In the future,the term‘Ediacaran’should be restricted to purely stratigraphic usage,regardless of affnity,geography,or taphonomy;suffcient terminology also exists where reference to specimens on a geographic,taphonomic,or biologic basis is required.It is therefore time to abandon the term‘Ediacara Biota’and to instead treat equally all of the fossils of the Ediacaran System.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001533

The collision of a divergent ocean ridge may evolve into two end cases:in the continuity of ocean-floor subduction.or in the detachment of the subducted plate.The northern Patagonia active plate margin has the unique situation that in Cenozoic time it has been subjected to two divergent ridge collisions,each one representing one of the end members.The Neogene Antarctica-Nazca divergent ridge collision evolved as a continuous ocean-floor subduction system,promoting a magmatic hiatus at the arc axis,the obduction of part of the ridge ocean-floor in the fore-arc.and basaltic volcanism in the back-arc.In contrast,the Paleogene Farallon-Aluk divergent ridge collision evolved into a transform margin,with the detachment and sinking of the Aluk plate and the development of a large slab window.As in the previous case,this collision promoted a magmatic hiatus at the arc axis,but the tectono-magmatic scenario changed to postorogenic synextensional volcanism that spread to the former fore-arc（basalt,andesite,rhyolite） and former back-arc（bimodal ignimbrite flare-up,basalt）.Geochemistry of this slab window synextensional volcanism shows more MORB-like basalts towards the former fore-arc,and MORB-OIB-like basalts towards the former back-arc.Instead,an isolated undeformable crustal block in the former back-arc,with an "epeirogenic" response to the slab window and extensional regime,was covered by OIB-type basalts after uplift.Major elements show that slab window basalts reach TiCh values up to 3 wt%,as compared with the top value of 1.5 wt%of arc magmas.Besides,the MgO with respect to（FeO^t + Al₂O₃） ratio helps to distinguish slab window magma changes from the former fore-arc to the former back-arc and also with respect to the "epeirogenic" block.Higher contents of HFS elements such as Nb and Ta also help to distinguish this slab window from arc magmas and also,to distinguish slab window magma changes from the former fore-arc to the former back-arc and "epeirogenic" block settings.The isotope compositions of slab window magmatism show a disparate coeval array from MORB to crustal sources,interpreted as a consequence of the lack of protracted storage and homogenization due to the extensional setting.