Geoarchaeological Investigations in Mesoamerica Move into the 21st Century: A Review

Over the past thirty years, geoarchaeology has moved from the fringe to mainstream status within Mesoamerican archaeological investigations. This review focuses on works published since the year 2000. Five themes are identified as central to recent studies: (1) the correlation of environmental change and cultural history; (2) anthropogenic environmental impacts; (3) ancient land cover, land use, and diet; (4) archaeological prospection; and (5) provenance studies. These themes are often interwoven in the application of complex systems approaches that allow scientists to more accurately model the intricacies of ancient human–environment interactions.     

准噶尔盆地玛湖凹陷百口泉组相对湖平面升降规律研究

准噶尔盆地三叠系百口泉组相对湖平面升降规律认识不清,制约了对百口泉组沉积体系分布与演化的分析。在高分辨率层序地层学理论指导下,综合钻井、测井等资料,采用传统定性分析与定量的测井小波变换分析相结合的方法,对准噶尔盆地玛湖凹陷斜坡区三叠系百口泉组进行高精度层序地层划分,将百口泉组定量划分为1个长期层序,4个中期层序,16个短期层序,126个超短期层序;对126个超短期层序进行Fisher图解的定量分析,结果显示百口泉组沉积时期湖平面升降总体表现出持续上升的特征,内部又可划分为多个次级湖平面升降旋回,百口泉组一段（T₁b₁）、百口泉组二段（T₁b₂）、百口泉组三段（T₁b₃）与三次湖平面持续上升过程相对应,百口泉组三段（T₁b₃）湖平面达到百口泉组时期的最大规模。通过对比前人研究成果和钻井地质信息,认为相对湖平面升降曲线具有很高的可信度。     

鄱阳湖乐安河流域水质监测优化布点

采用鄱阳湖乐安河流域13个监测断面1995-2002年8年的污染指标的监测平均值作为原始数据,应用物元分析法对各监测断面进行优化．在确定最佳和最次理想点的基础上,建立标准物元矩阵和节域物元矩阵,并结合综合关联函数,选出优化点位．同时应用相关分析中的距离分析和K-均值聚类法确定各监测点所属类别．综合这三种优化结果,最终确定乐安河流域可以由传统的13个监测点位优化为9个监测点位．     

Long-term Changes of Disinfection Byproducts in Treatment of Simulated Ballast Water

This study investigated the changes in concentrations of haloacetic acids (HAAs) and haloacetonitriles (HANs) as disinfection byproducts (DBPs) for differe     

Flexural performances of prestressed high strength concrete piles reinforced with hybrid GFRP and steel bars

Abstract

This study developed prestressed high-strength concrete (PHC) piles reinforced with high-strength materials (glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars) for flexural performance enhancement. Flexural strengths and behaviors of PHC piles reinforced with hybrid GFRP and steel bars were experimentally investigated, respectively. Large-scale specimens with total lengths of 12,000?mm and diameters of 600?mm were constructed and tested under bending, accompanied by evaluation of effects of non-prestressed reinforcement type and longitudinal reinforcement ratio. J-factors were calculated to evaluate deformability of all the specimens. PHC piles reinforced with GFRP bars were demonstrated to have much higher flexural capacity than those reinforced with steel bars. Moreover, strains at the midspans of cross sections of all the specimens basically conformed to the assumption of plane section. Failure of PHC piles reinforced with GFRP bars was attributable to gradual concrete crushing, while that of PHC piles reinforced with steel bars resulted from steel yielding. Results of this study were expected to provide theoretical basis for wide engineering applications of PHC piles reinforced with hybrid GFRP bars and steel bars in marine structures.     

Unique achondrite Northwest Africa 11042: Exploring the melting and breakup of the L chondrite parent body

Northwest Africa (NWA) 11042 is a heavily shocked achondrite with medium‐grained cumulate textures. Its olivine and pyroxene compositions, oxygen isotopic composition, and chromium isotopic composition are consistent with L chondrites. Sm‐Nd dating of its primary phases shows a crystallization age of 4100 ± 160 Ma. Ar‐Ar dating of its shocked mineral maskelynite reveals an age of 484.0 ± 1.5 Ma. This age coincides roughly with the breakup event of the L chondrite parent body evident in the shock ages of many L chondrites and the terrestrial record of fossil L chondritic chromite. NWA 11042 shows large depletions in siderophile elements (<0.01×CI) suggestive of a complex igneous history involving extraction of a Fe‐Ni‐S liquid on the L chondrite parent body. Due to its relatively young crystallization age, the heat source for such an igneous process is most likely impact. Because its mineralogy, petrology, and O isotopes are similar to the ungrouped achondrite NWA 4284 (this work), the two meteorites are likely paired and derived from the same parent body.     

Strain analysis of a seismically imaged mass‐transport complex,offshore Uruguay

Strain style, magnitude and distribution within mass‐transport complexes (MTCs) are important for understanding the process evolution of submarine mass flows and for estimating their runout distances. Structural restoration and quantification of strain in gravitationally driven passive margins have been shown to approximately balance between updip extensional and downdip contractional domains; such an exercise has not yet been attempted for MTCs. We here interpret and structurally restore a shallowly buried (c. 1,500 mbsf) and well‐imaged MTC, offshore Uruguay using a high‐resolution (12.5 m vertical and 15 × 12.5 m horizontal resolution) three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection survey. This allows us to characterise and quantify vertical and lateral strain distribution within the deposit. Detailed seismic mapping and attribute analysis shows that the MTC is characterised by a complicated array of kinematic indicators, which vary spatially in style and concentration. Seismic‐attribute extractions reveal several previously undocumented fabrics preserved in the MTC, including internal shearing in the form of sub‐orthogonal shear zones, and fold‐thrust systems within the basal shear zone beneath rafted‐blocks. These features suggest multiple transport directions and phases of flow during emplacement. The MTC is characterised by a broadly tripartite strain distribution, with extensional (e.g. normal faults), translational and contractional (e.g. folds and thrusts) domains, along with a radial frontally emergent zone. We also show how strain is preferentially concentrated around intra‐MTC rafted‐blocks due to their kinematic interactions with the underlying basal shear zone. Overall, and even when volume loss within the frontally emergent zone is included, a strain difference between extension (1.6–1.9 km) and contraction (6.7–7.3 km) is calculated. We attribute this to a combination of distributed, sub‐seismic, ‘cryptic’ strain, likely related to de‐watering, grain‐scale deformation and related changes in bulk sediment volume. This work has implications for assessing MTCs strain distribution and provides a practical approach for evaluating structural interpretations within such deposits.     

Northwest Africa 11024—A heated and dehydrated unique carbonaceous (CM) chondrite

Based on the high abundance of fine‐grained material and its dark appearance, NWA 11024 was recognized as a CM chondrite, which is also confirmed by oxygen isotope measurements. But contrary to known CM chondrites, the typical phases indicating aqueous alteration (e.g., phyllosilicates, carbonates) are missing. Using multiple analytical techniques, this study reveals the differences and similarities to known CM chondrites and will discuss the possibility that NWA 11024 is the first type 3 CM chondrite. During the investigation, two texturally apparent tochilinite–cronstedtite intergrowths were identified within two thin sections. However, the former phyllosilicates were recrystallized to Fe‐rich olivine during a heating event without changing the textural appearance. A peak temperature of 400–600 °C is estimated, which is not high enough to destroy or recrystallize calcite grains. Thus, calcites were never constituents of the mineral paragenesis. Another remarkable feature of NWA 11024 is the occurrence of unknown clot‐like inclusions (UCLIs) within fine‐grained rims, which are unique in this clarity. Their density and S concentration are significantly higher than of the surrounding fine‐grained rim and UCLIs can be seen as primary objects that were not formed by secondary alteration processes inside the rims. Similarities to chondritic and cometary interplanetary dust particles suggest an ice‐rich first‐generation planetesimal for their origin. In the earliest evolution, NWA 11024 experienced the lowest degree of aqueous alteration of all known CM chondrites and subsequently, a heating event dehydrated the sample. We suggest to classify the meteorite NWA 11024 as the first type 3 CM chondrite similar to the classification of CV3 chondrites (like Allende) that could also have lost their matrix phyllosilicates by thermal dehydration.