Speleothems as high-resolution paleoenvironment archives: Records from northeastern China

The isotopic compositions of oxygen and carbon and trace concentrations of magnesium and strontium in speleothems formed in limestone caves respond to climate changes outside the caves. Measurements of these properties on a stalagmite from Shihua Cave near Beijing, China, allowed reconstruction of the regional changes in precipitation, temperature and nature of vegetation. Over the last ∼ 500 years, there were fourteen precipitation cycles with a periodicity of 30–40 years, which may well reflect fluctuations in the strength of the East Asian summer monsoons reaching northeastern China. Relative to the mean temperature of this time interval, the period 1620–1900 AD was cold and periods 1520–1620 and 1900–1994 were warm. Over the last ∼ 3000-years, about eight wet/cool-dry/warm climatic cycles of 300–400 years duration occurred, the latest wet/cool half cycle corresponding to the Little Ice Age. The δ¹³C record registers the anthropogenic activities of fossil fuel CO₂ combustion in recent decades and regional deforestation between 13 and 16 centuries when Beijing was bustling with palatial constructions and being developed into the world’s most populated city.     

The features of the earthquake damage patterns of ancient city ruins in the Negev desert, Israel

During the last decades the ruins of Roman-Byzantine cities in the Negev desert of Israel have been the subject of intensive archeoseismic studies. A set of earthquake damage patterns was determined and several large scale earthquakes were identified as having occurred during the 2nd to 7th centuries AD. The ruins of buildings of the small village of Halssa provided a recent study of earthquake damage patterns that evolved quite recently—during the last 110 years.     

Microbial reduction of chromium from the hexavalent to divalent state

We demonstrate that Shewanella oneidensis, a metal-reducing bacteria species with cytoplasmic-membrane-bound reductases and remarkably diverse respiratory capabilities, reduced Cr(VI) to Cr(II) in anaerobic cultures where chromate was the sole terminal electron acceptor. Individual cell microanalysis by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) demonstrates Cr(II) concentrated near the cytoplasmic membrane, suggesting the terminal reduction pathway is intracellularly localized. Further, estimated cellular Cr(II) concentrations are relatively high at upwards of 0.03-0.09 g Cr/g bacterium. Accumulation of Cr(II) is observed in S. oneidensis cells prior to the formation of submicron-sized precipitates of insoluble Cr(III) on their surfaces. Furthermore, under anaerobic conditions, Cr(III) precipitates that encrust cells are shown to contain Cr(II) that is likely bound in the net negatively charged extracellular biopolymers which can permeate the surfaces of the precipitates. In otherwise nearly identical incubations, Cr(III) precipitate formation was observed in cultures maintained anaerobic with bubbled nitrogen but not in three replicate cultures in an anaerobic chamber.     

Impact and comminution processes in soft and hard rock

SummaryZertrümmerung von harten und weichen Felsen Eine experimentelle Untersuchung der Zertrümmerung von harten und weichen Felsen, nämlich grüner Tonschiefer und Diorit unter stoßartiger Belastung von Stahlkugeln mit 6,35 mm Durchmesser und von gewöhnlicher Munition wurde ausgeführt. Laborprüfungen mit Scheiben beider Materialen von 140 mm Durchmesser und unterschiedlichen Dicken wurden mit Kugeln durchgeführt im Geschwindigkeitsbereich von 50–260 m/s mittels einer Gasdruckkanone und für 340–2500 m/s mittels einer Pulverkanone. Geländeprüfungen an senkrechten Felsklippen aus Tonschiefer, ausgegraben in einem offenen Bergwerk, wurden durch Feuern von 20- und 40-mm-Geschossen mit Geschwindigkeiten von 610–880 m/s vorgenommen.Größe und Verteilung der Bruchstücke der verschiedenen Ziele wurden gemessen und die Geschwindigkeit gewisser Splitter wurde fotografisch bestimmt. Die Dimensionen der Krater und Höhlungen, erzeugt durch die Geschoßflugbahn, wurden bestimmt; plastische Verformung des Tonschiefers war in manchen Fällen vorhanden. In den ersten Versuchsreihen wurde auch die auf ein ballistisches Pendel übertragene Energie gemessen. Man bemühte sich, die Energie der durch den Stoß erzeugten Wellen in den Dioritscheiben zu messen, welches eine speziell zusammengesetzte, mit Dehnungsmeßstreifen ausgestattete Probe verlangte. Das Rißmuster auf einem diametralen Schnitt, verdeutlicht durch eine Farbflüssigkeit, wurde fotografisch vergrößert und vermessen.Man fand, daß in einem Bereich von sechs Dekaden der Schlagenergie die Tiefe des Loches im Tonschiefer eine gute Korrelation sowohl zu Anfangsimpuls als auch zu Anfangsenergie zeigte, und daß das Phänomen gut durch ein rein viskoses Ziel modelliert werden konnte. Die Zertrümmerungsenergie, welche die Differenz zwischen Anfangsenergie der Kugel und gemessenen Energien der Wellen im Ziel, Abprall der Kugel und Bewegung der Bruchteile ist, erreichte eine Größenordnung von 70–85 Prozent. Für die zur Bildung neuer Rißflächen benötigte Energie konnten wegen der Unsicherheit in der Bestimmung dieser Flächen nur obere und untere Grenzen ermittelt werden. Obwohl die Oberfläche der Ausbruchteile aus der gemessenen Größenverteilung und ihrer Gestalt, welche nur von einer Dimension abhing, bestimmt wurde, ist es nötig, die augenblickliche Forschung noch viel weiter zu treiben um eine komplette Analyse des Zerkleinerungs- und Ausstoßungsprozesses zu gewinnen.

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ZusammenfassungImpact and Comminution Processes in Soft and Hard Rock An experimental investigation was conducted to study the fragmentation of soft and hard rock, green shale and diorite, under conditions of impact by 6.35-mm (1/4-in.) diameter steel spheres and standard ammunition. Laboratory tests were conducted with the spheres at velocities from 50–260 m/sec (160–860 ft/sec) using a compressed gas gun and at speeds ranging from 340–2500 m/sec (100–8500 ft/sec) produced by a powder gun on 140-mm (5.5-in.) diameter disks of various thicknesses of both rocks. Field tests were also conducted with 20 and 40 mm ammunition fired at velocities in the range from 610–880 m/sec (2000–2900 ft/sec) against the excavated vertical green shale walls of a large open pit mine.Information has been collected on the size and distribution of the fragments dislodged from the various targets, and by means of photographic techniques, of the velocity of some of the ejecta. Crater and penetrating hole measurements have been performed and the compaction of the shale was noted in some instances. The energy transferred to a ballistic pendulum initially employed in the tests was determined. A major effort was exerted to measure the energy contained in the waves generated by impact in the diorite disks, involving a specially sectioned and straingaged composite sample; the crack pattern on a diametral section, delineated with the aid of a dye penetrant, was observed with suitable enlargement.It was found that, over a range of six decades of energy of the striker, the penetration depth in shale scaled reasonably well with both initial momentum and initial energy, and that the phenomenon could be satisfactorily modeled by a purely viscous target material. The energy of comminution for diorite, consisting of the difference between initial striker energy and the measured energies due to waves in the target, rebound of the projectile and motion of the ejecta was found to be of the order of 70 to 85 percent. Only upper and lower bounds could be established for the energy required to produce unit new surface in this event due to uncertainties in the establishment of crack surface generation. While the ejecta surface area was determined from the measured size distribution and a geometric configuration governed by a single linear dimension, a complete analytical representation of the comminution and ejection process will require considerable further study and experimentation.

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RésuméFragmentation des rocs mous et durs On rapporte des expériences faites pour étudier la fragmentation de rocs mous et durs, en particulier: du schiste vert et du diorite, soumis aux chocs produits par des boules d'acier de 6,35 mm de diamètre ou par des balles. Les spécimens de rocs au laboratoire étaient des disques de 140 mm de diamètre et d'épaisseurs diverses. La vitesse d'impact des boules lancées d'un canon à gaz comprimé était comprise entre 50 et 260 m/s, tandis que celle des balles tirées d'un canon à poudre était comprise entre 340 et 2500 m/s. On a aussi fait des expériences à l'extérieur en lançant des projectiles d'artillerie de 20 et 40 mm de diamètre contre un mur vertical de schiste vert dans une carrière; la vitesse d'impact était comprise entre 610 et 880 m/s.On a déterminé la taille et la distribution des fragments détachés des diverses cibles, et dans certains cas par une technique photographique la vitesse des fragments. On a mesuré la taille des cratères et des trous produits par les projectiles et, dans certains cas, la déformation plastique du schiste vert a été notée. En plus, dans quelques expériences initiales, l'énergie transférée à un pendule balistique a été determinée. Un effort majeur a été consacré à la mesure de l'énergie des ondes produites par le choc dans les disques de diorite en utilisant une éprouvette sectionnée, munie de jauges de contrainte électrique, et recollée. La conformation des fissures le long d'une coupe diamètrale a été coloriée pour la rendre visible et pour la photographier.Sur un domaine de six décades d'énergie initiale, la profondeur de pénétration dans le schiste correspond d'une manière assez satisfaisante à l'impulsion et à l'énergie initiale; donc le phénomène peut être représenté dans ce domaine par une cible visqueuse. L'énergie de fragmentation, égale à la différence entre l'énergie initiale et la somme de trois termes: l'énergie des ondes dans la cible, l'énergie cinétique des fragments et celle du projectile sortant, est de l'ordre de 70 a 85 pourcent.On n'a pu que déterminer des limites supérieures et inférieures de l'énergie requise pour former les surfaces des fissures à cause de la difficulté de déterminer l'aire de ces surfaces. La surfaces des fragments a été établie, d'après l'hypothèse que la distribution de leurs tailles et leurs configurations géométriques pouvaient être déterminées par une seule mesure de longeur. Cependant, pour arriver à une théorie complète concernant la perte d'énergie et le processus de fragmentation, il faudra une étude et des expériences beaucoup plus étendues.

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With 15 Figures     

Li-Sr-Nd isotope signatures of the plume and cratonic lithospheric mantle beneath the margin of the rifted Tanzanian craton (Labait)

Lithium concentrations and isotopic compositions of olivine and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd of coexisting clinopyroxene from peridotite xenoliths from the Quaternary Labait volcano, Tanzania, document the influence of rift-related metasomatism on the ancient cratonic mantle. Olivines show negative correlations between Fo content and both δ⁷Li and Li concentrations. Olivines in iron-rich peridotites (Fo_85–87) have high Li concentrations (3.2–4.8 ppm) and heavy δ⁷Li (+5.2 to +6.6). In contrast, olivines in ancient, refractory peridotites have lower Li concentrations (∼2 ppm) and relatively light δ⁷Li (+2.6 to +3.5). This reflects mixing between ancient, refractory cratonic lithosphere and asthenosphere-derived rift magmas. A uniquely fertile, deformed, high-temperature garnet lherzolite, interpreted to be from the base of the lithosphere, has a ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of 0.7029 and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd of 0.51286, similar to HIMU oceanic basalts. It provides the best estimate of the Sr–Nd isotope composition of the upwelling mantle (i.e., plume, sensu lato) underlying this portion of the East African Rift, and is slightly less radiogenic compared to previous estimates of the plume that were based on rift basalts. Although elevated δ⁷Li are not exclusive to HIMU source regions, the data collectively indicate that the plume beneath Labait has HIMU characteristics in Sr, Nd and Li isotope composition. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Change in the magnetic properties of bituminous coal intruded by an igneous dike, Dutch Creek Mine, Pitkin County, Colorado

Magnetization measurements have been made on natural coke–coal samples collected at various distances from a felsic porphyry dike in a coal seam in Dutch Creek Mine, Colorado to help characterize the nature and distribution of the iron-bearing phases. The magnetization passes through a maximum at the coke-to-coal transition about 31 cm from the dike contact. The magnetic measurements support the geochemical data indicating that magmatic fluids along with a high-temperature gas pulse moved into the coal bed. Interaction of the magmatic fluids with the coal diminished the reducing power of the thermal gas pulse from the dike to a point about 24 cm into the coal. The hot reducing gas penetrated further and produced a high temperature (400–525°C) zone (at about 31 cm) just ahead of the magmatic fluids. Metallic iron found in this zone is the principal cause of the observed high magnetization. Beyond this zone, the temperature was too low to alter the coal significantly.