Single zircon evaporation ages: Evidence for the Mesoproterozoic crust in the southeastern Nigerian basement complex

The Ukwortung area of the Obudu Plateau exposes high-grade metamorphic rocks of upper amphibolite to granulite facies. Zircon grains from three locations of Southwest Obudu Plateau were dated by the Pb-Pb dating method. This single zircon radiometric dating method confirms the occurrence of Mesoproterozoic crust in the southeastern Nigeria basement complex. The pyroxene gneiss (granulite facies) sample from Biereberi near Ukpe yielded a mean age of 2061.4±0.4 Ma, suggesting the presence of Paleoproterozoic crust. The combined 207Pb/206Pb ratios from the garnet-biotite gneiss in the area gave a mean age of 1794.4±0.4 Ma. This further confirms the pres-ence of Paleoproterozoic crustal components within the Obudu Plateau. The Mesoproterozoic (1548.8±0.5 Ma) and Neoproterozoic (619.8±0.9 Ma) ages were obtained from two populations of zircon grains from the leucogranite in Okordem, Southwest Obudu. These "signatures" collaborate the occurrence of Mesoproterozoic ages in the Afar region and Cameroon basements along with the southeastern Nigerian basement complex, constituting the major portion of the West Central African mobile belt. The zircon age of 1794.4±0.4 Ma may probably be the maximum depositional age of the meta-sediment (garnet-biotite gneiss) and the age of 1548.8±0.5 Ma may be interpreted as the time of emplacement of the granitoid. The Neoproterozoic age (619.8±0.9 Ma) probably records the metamorphic event that was prevalent during the Pan-African period and thus affected the area.     

Multifractal Simulation of GeochemicalMap Patterns

INTRODUCTIONThe mathematical modeling of geochemical data continuesto present an important challenge to earth scientists. Basically,the available data are 2-dimensional realizations of 3dimensional patterns, which are the results of one or more genetic processes that usually are poorly understood. It may bedifficult to project from the observations into the rock mass. Inthis paper, multifractal modeling is advocated as a methodologyto characterize geochemical patterns. If a geochemical pa…     

SHARE Asia自动气象站网络：喜马拉雅山—喀喇昆仑山地区气候研究的一个必要组成部分

Ev K2 CNR SHARE Asia计划的目标就是建立一个沿喜马拉雅山—喀喇昆仑山脉的监测网络，为气象学和气候研究提供参数，特别是为季风变化、大气化学、冰川学、高海拔湖沼学和古湖沼学等研究，同时也为准确地确定地球表面坐标。SHARE Asia 计划的一个特殊的目的是发展一套完整的测量系统，以满足不断进步的环境与地球科学；促进当地的技术升级和建设的能力。 就像WMO CEOP 和UNEP ABC一样，SHARE Asia 气象—气候及大气化学观测站已经成为重要的国际科学计划的一部分。     

Geochemistry of metasedimentary rocks of the Sonakhan and Mahakoshal greenstone belts,Central India:Implications for paleoweathering,paleogeography and mechanisms of greenstone belt development

A comparative study of the Precambrian Sonakhan(SGB) and Mahakoshal(MGB) greenstones belts of Central India has been undertaken to decipher their provenance,paleoweathering,paleogeography,and tectonics.As compared to the Upper Continental Crust(UCC),the MGB samples are enriched while the SGB samples are depleted in mafic elements indicating the presence of mafic rocks in the source of the MGB.This is complemented by the Ni–Cr diagram.The REE concentrations,LREE fractionated patterns and negative...     

Analysis of an Ensemble of High-Resolution WRF Simulations for the Rapid Intensification of Super Typhoon Rammasun(2014)

Diagnostics are presented from an ensemble of high-resolution forecasts that differed markedly in their predictions of the rapid intensification(RI) of Typhoon Rammasun. We show that the basic difference stems from subtle differences in initializations of(a) 500-850-h Pa environmental winds, and(b) midlevel moisture and ventilation. We then describe how these differences impact on the evolving convective organization, storm structure, and the timing of RI. As expected,ascent, diabatic heating an...     

Inverse modeling of coastal aquifers using tidal response and hydraulic tests

Remediation of contaminated aquifers demands a reliable characterization of hydraulic connectivity patterns. Hydraulic diffusivity is possibly the best indicator of connectivity. It can be derived using the tidal response method (TRM), which is based on fitting observations to a closed-form solution. Unfortunately, the conventional TRM assumes homogeneity. The objective of this study was to overcome this limitation and use tidal response to identify preferential flowpaths. Additionally, the procedure requires joint inversion with hydraulic test data. These provide further information on connectivity and are needed to resolve diffusivity into transmissivity and storage coefficient. Spatial variability is characterized using the regularized pilot points method. Actual application may be complicated by the need to filter tidal effects from the response to pumping and by the need to deal with different types of data, which we have addressed using maximum likelihood methods. Application to a contaminated artificial coastal fill leads to flowpaths that are consistent with the materials used during construction and to solute transport predictions that compare well with observations. We conclude that tidal response can be used to identify connectivity patterns. As such, it should be useful when designing measures to control sea water intrusion.     

The use of macroalgal species richness and composition on intertidal rocky seashores in the assessment of ecological quality under the European Water Framework Directive

The EC Water Framework Directive (WFD) suggests using abundance and species composition of intertidal seaweed communities for ecological quality classification of rocky seashores. There are two difficulties with this. According to WFD all sensitive species should be present on a shore. There is no accepted list of sensitive seaweed species and those which may be sensitive in one location may not be so in another. Second, natural successions can result in very large abundance changes of common species, e.g. from almost completely fucoid-dominated shores to almost totally barnacle-dominated shores, without any change in ecological quality. Studies have shown that numerical species richness, not the list of actual species present, is broadly constant in the absence of disturbance. The ephemeral species, possibly the sensitive members of the community, change regularly in such a way as to conserve species richness. It is proposed that species richness on a defined length of shore be used as a criterion of ecological quality. A database of species found on over 300 shores in the British Isles, under strictly controlled sampling conditions, has given ranges of values of species richness to be expected and has allowed for variations in these values due to sub-habitat variability, wave exposure and turbidity to be factored in. A major problem in applying such a tool is the lack of expertise of many workers in critical identification of seaweed species. A reduced species list has been extracted from the database using species commonly present and identifiable with reasonable certainty. A numerical index of ecological quality is proposed based on scores for various aspects of the physical nature of the habitat combined with a score for species richness which may be based on the reduced species list. The scoring system also uses further aspects of community structure, such as ecological status groups and the proportions of rhodophyta, chlorophyta and opportunist species. For this system to be effective there has to be close control of the way in which sampling is carried out to ensure a uniform level of thoroughness.