The lacustrine sedimentary records of coal-burning atmospheric pollution

With the acceleration of industrialization, coal- burning atmospheric pollution is getting more and more serious in many regions in China. However, there are only about ten odd years literature records about pollution in some large and mid-sized cities, where the atmosphere has perhaps been polluted for several decades, and therefore it is difficult to know the process and characteristic of pollution, and diffi-cult to evaluate its damage to environment. Lacustrine sediment, a natural record w…     

Rock composition and origin of the Duwi Formation calcareous rocks, Upper Egypt

Upper Cretaceous phosphorite beds of the Duwi Formation, Upper Egypt, are intercalated with limestone, sandy limestone, marl, calcareous shales, and calcareous sandstone. Calcareous intercalations were subjected to field and detailed petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical investigations in order to constrain their rock composition and origin. Mineralogically, dolomite, calcite, quartz, francolite and feldspars are the non-clay minerals. Smectite, kaolinite and illite represent the clay minerals. Major and trace elements can be classified as the detrital and carbonate fractions based on their sources. The detrital fraction includes the elements that are derived from detrital sources, mainly clay minerals and quartz, such as Si, Al, Fe, Ti, K, Ba, V, Ni, Co, Cr, Zn, Cu, Zr, and Mo. The carbonate fraction includes the elements that are derived from carbonates, maily calcite and dolomite, such as Ca, Mg and Sr. Dolomite occurs as being dense, uniform, mosaic, very fine-to-fine, non-ferroan, and non-stoichiometrical, suggesting its early diagenetic formation in a near-shore oxidizing shallow marine environment. The close association and positive correlation between dolomite and smectite indicates the role of clay minerals in the formation of dolomite as a source of Mg^2＋ -rich solutions. Calcareous rocks were deposited in marine, oxidizing and weakly alkaline conditions, marking a semi-arid climatic period. The calcareous/argillaceous alternations are due to oscillations in clay/carbonate ratio.     

Geochemistry of Late Cretaceous （ 60 - 67 Ma） igneous activities in the Hebrides Terrace seamount （guyot） area, Scotland

Tholeiitic basalts in various stages of alteration were dredged from Late Cretaceous volcanic rocks (60 -67 Ma) in the Hebrides Terrace seamount area in the Atlantic Ocean. These rocks are extrusive olivine basalts, including high- and low-Al basalts. High-Al basalts are depleted in MgO, CaO, Cr,Sc, V, St, Zr and enriched in TiO2, Na2O, Nb, Rb as compared with low-A1 basalts. Petrography and bulk-rock composition (major, trace and rare-earth elements) data defined clear tholeiitic suites displaying possible liquid lines of descent related to different degrees of crystal fractionation and partial melting.Isotopic dating of dredged samples gave the guyot an age of 60 - 67 Ma, in support of the assumption that it was formed during the Late Cretaceous.     

Skilful Forecasts of Summer Rainfall in the Yangtze River Basin from November

Variability in the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM) brings the risk of heavy flooding or drought to the Yangtze River basin, with potentially devastating impacts. Early forecasts of the likelihood of enhanced or reduced monsoon rainfall can enable better management of water and hydropower resources by decision-makers, supporting livelihoods and major economic and population centres across eastern China. This paper demonstrates that the EASM is predictable in a dynamical forecast model from the pr...     

Map of Mafic Dyke Swarms and Related Units of Russia and Adjacent Regions

正Work is currently underway to produce a map in Arc GISTM 10 of the mafic dyke swarms and related units(volcanics,sills and layered intrusions)of Russia and adjacent regions at a scale of 1:5,000,000.Over the past     

Giant Circumferential Dyke Swarms on Earth: Possible Analogues of Coronae on Venus and Similar Features on Mars

正Venusian coronae are large(60-2600 km diameter)tectono-magmatic features characterized by quasi-circular graben-fissure systems and topographic features such as a central dome,central depression,circular rim or circular     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167498711600030X

Proterozoic(pre-Ediacaran) glaciations occurred under strongly seasonal climates near sea level in low palaeolatitudes.Metre-scale primary sand wedges in Cryogenian periglacial deposits are identical to those actively forming,through the infilling of seasonal(winter) thermal contraction-cracks in permafrost by windblown sand,in present-day polar regions with a mean monthly air temperature range of40 ℃ and mean annual air temperatures of-20 ℃ or lower.Varve-like rhythmites with dropstones in Proterozoic glacial successions are consistent with an active seasonal freeze-thaw cycle.The seasonal(annual) oscillation of sea level recorded by tidal rhythmites in Cryogenian glacial successions indicates a significant seasonal cycle and extensive open seas.Palaeomagnetic data determined directly for Proterozoic glacial deposits and closely associated rocks indicate low palaeolatitudes:Cryogenian deposits in South Australia accumulated at 10°,most other Cryogenian deposits at 20° and Palaeoproterozoic deposits at 15° palaeolatitude.Palaeomagnetic data imply that the Proterozoic geomagnetic field approximated a geocentric axial dipole,hence palaeolatitudes represent geographic latitudes.The Cryogenian glacial environment included glacier-free,continental permafrost regions with ground frozen on a kyr time-scale,aeolian sand-sheets,extensive and long-lived open seas,and an active hydrological cycle.This palaeoenvironment conflicts with the 'snowball Earth' and 'slushball Earth' hypotheses,which cannot accommodate large seasonal changes of temperature near the equator.Consequently,their proponents have attempted to refute the evidence for strong seasonality by introducing Popperian'auxiliary assumptions'.However,non-actualistic arguments that the Cryogenian sand wedges indicate diurnal or weakly seasonal temperature changes are based on misunderstandings of periglacial processes.Modelling of a strongly seasonal climate for a frozen-over Earth is invalidated by the evidence for persistent open seas and glacier-free continental regions during Cryogenian glaciations,and gives a mean monthly air temperature range of only 10 ℃ for 10° latitude.By contrast,a strongly seasonal climate in low palaeolatitudes,based on the actualistic interpretation of cryogenic sand wedges and other structures,is consistent with a high obliquity of the ecliptic(54°) during Proterozoic low-latitude glaciations,whereby the equator would be cooler than the poles,on average,and global seasonality would be greatly amplified.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987115000882

A detailed vibrational Raman-IR spectroscopic and diffractional analyses have been performed on basalts from two locations from Tenerife Island:(1) the Arenas Negras volcano which belongs to the historical eruption not showing visible alteration and(2) Pillow Lavas zone from Anaga Massif which shows a clearly fluid-rock interaction caused by submarine alteration.These places have been extensively studied due to its similarity with the surface of Mars.The analysis is based on the mineral detection of selected samples by a Micro-Raman study of the materials.The complementary techniques have confirmed the mineralogy detected by the Raman measurement.The results show a volcanic environment behavior with primary phases like olivine,pyroxene,and feldspar/plagioclase.Moreover,the presence of accessory minerals or secondary mineralization like phosphate,iron oxides,zeolite or carbonates shows the alteration processes on each outcrop.The variation in the crystallinity and amorphous phases is related to fluid-rock interaction caused by hydrothermal episodes and external weathering processes,which shows several analogies with the ancient volcanic activity from Mars.