黄土孢粉分析的新途径——筛滤分析法

黄土-古土壤序列在全球古气候、古环境研究中占有不可替代的重要地位,而其中的孢粉是黄土高原生态环境演化过程中保存的直接生物学证据,它对建立黄土高原降水或湿度状况的时空变化特征,认识季风变迁的过程、规律以及未来发展趋势等具有重要的意义。随着黄土研究工作的不断深入,作为直接生物学证据的孢粉研究相对薄弱。其中最困扰的因素是从黄土中提取孢粉极其困难,分析技术上始终未能找到一个突破口,因此需要一种分析效果好、快捷、成本低的分析方法以获得大量高精度的孢粉数据。筛滤分析法正是为了适应黄土研究的需要而设计的一种新型的黄土孢粉分析方法。筛滤分析法利用真空状态下的气压差使样品在水中完全悬浮跳动,样品得到充分的冲洗并促使孢粉与其它无机质与有机质分离。相对真空的状态减少了微细颗粒对极为细小的网眼的阻塞,重力作用促使水及各类颗粒不断冲击筛网,使粒径小于10μm的物质较容易被过滤到聚水容器中,而孢粉与较少的大颗粒物质则被隔离在筛网之上,这使我们很容易用重液浮选出干净、清晰的孢粉底样。筛滤分析法与常规的黄土孢粉分析相比,具有以下特点:①大大降低了分析样品的重量及药品的消耗,一般仅需样品30 g左右,是常规分析法用量的1/6~1/8。②整个分析流程短, 12个样品一个流程仅需3~4 d。③筛滤分析法使孢粉几乎全部被隔离在筛网上而丢失极少,提高了黄土孢粉研究精度。④筛滤分析法几乎不破坏孢粉的结构,孢粉底样干净、清晰。使用筛滤分析法共分析耀县全新世黄土剖面69块孢粉样品,均发现数量不等的孢粉。孢粉底样干净、杂质少,结构清楚。共统计孢粉14978粒,分属27个科属,这些科属包括了黄土高原主要的孢粉类型。从孢粉结果可以初步确定,在全新世时期,位于黄土高原南缘的耀县地区,草本植物占全部孢粉总量的93.6%,而乔木植物仅占孢粉总量的4.7%。在整个剖面中没有出现乔木植物含量超过30%,可以认为在黄土高原的全新世时期是以草原植被为主,并无森林生长。     

Contribution of waters of Atlantic and Pacific origin in the Northeast Water Polynya

Measurements of nitrate and phosphate taken in the Northeast Water Polynya (NEWP) during the summer of 1993 have been used to identify the contribution of waters of Atlantic and Pacific origin in the polynya. Since waters from the northern Pacific exhibit a deficit in nitrate relative to phosphate due to denitrification in low oxygen waters, the relationship between nitrate and phosphate can be used to distinguish between oceanic waters of Pacific and Atlantic origin. The Pacific Water enters the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait and flows along the northern coasts of Alaska and Canada. Some of this water exits through Fram Strait and may therefore enter the polynya which is situated above the continental shelf off the north-eastern coast of Greenland. Compared to data from the Greenland Sea, which only show a N–P relationship of typical Atlantic Water, the data from the Northeast Water Polynya show that the upper waters of the polynya bear a clear signal of waters of Pacific origin. In the surface mixed layer an average of about 90% is found to have Pacific N–P characteristics. Below the surface mixed layer the amount of Pacific derived water decreases through the halocline and from about 150 m to the bottom only typical Atlantic Water is found.     

What can we learn about changing ethnic diversity from the distributions of mixed-race individuals?

It is hypothesized that self-defined mixed-race persons live in residentially mixed areas in the largest metropolitan areas in California. The hypothesis is tested by examining the distribution of mixed-race persons among ethnically and racially diverse and nondiverse neighborhoods in the San Francisco and Los Angeles Metropolitan Areas. The research confirmed that mixed-race individuals are more likely to live in areas with ethnic diversity and that the tendency is greater for the mixed-race population in the San Francisco–Oakland Metropolitan Areas than in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. Mixed-race individuals live in neighborhoods which are diverse with mixes of all four major ethnic and racial groups, and in “well-off” (but not the most affluent) neighborhoods. The study also shows that the mixed-race population is youthful. The association of mixed-race individuals and racially integrated neighborhoods will have important implications for the evolving nature of spatial integration in California specifically, and the United States more generally.     

Calibration of Local Magnitude M<Subscript>L</Subscript> in the Azores Archipelago Based on Recent Digital Recordings

—The development of the digital seismic network in the Azores Archipelago during recent years made it possible to obtain the amplitudes (waveform) of recorded motion in a large set of stations. With this new data, maximum amplitudes of the Wood Anderson seismograph are computed, for each station/component, which, together with epicentral distances, allows for the estimation of local magnitude M _L . We used data recorded in 8 digital permanent three-component stations, with inter-stations distances up to 300 km, in the period June 1998 – June 2000, corresponding to a set of 1315 events with magnitude (M _L or M _D ) 2<M<5.8 and epicenters located in the Azores region, to estimate the coefficients of the equation to compute M _L , as well as to determine the corrections to be applied to each station. The new set of parameters, formed by attenuation coefficients and station corrections, were introduced in the calculations of the M _L , leading to smaller dispersions in the analyzed dataset. We also conclude that the attenuation in the first 150 km is similar to the California values, although higher for longer distances.     

Field testing cellulose-water oxygen isotope relations in periphyton for paleohydrological reconstructions

Journal of Paleolimnology - The oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) of aquatic cellulose extracted from lake sediment cores has long been used to reconstruct past hydrological responses to...     

Functioning of intertidal flats inferred from temporal and spatial dynamics of O<Subscript>2</Subscript>, H<Subscript>2</Subscript>S and pH in their surface sediment

In this article, we describe the dynamics of pH, O₂ and H₂S in the top 5–10 cm of an intertidal flat consisting of permeable sand. These dynamics were measured at the low water line and higher up the flat and during several seasons. Together with pore water nutrient data, the dynamics confirm that two types of transport act as driving forces for the cycling of elements (Billerbeck et al. 2006b): Fast surface dynamics of pore water chemistry occur only during inundation. Thus, they must be driven by hydraulics (tidal and wave action) and are highly dependent on weather conditions. This was demonstrated clearly by quick variation in oxygen penetration depth: Seeps are active at low tide only, indicating that the pore water flow in them is driven by a pressure head developing at low tide. The seeps are fed by slow transport of pore water over long distances in the deeper sediment. In the seeps, high concentrations of degradation products such as nutrients and sulphide were found, showing them to be the outlets of deep-seated degradation processes. The degradation products appear toxic for bioturbating/bioirrigating organisms, as a consequence of which, these were absent in the wider seep areas. These two mechanisms driving advection determine oxygen dynamics in these flats, whereas bioirrigation plays a minor role. The deep circulation causes a characteristic distribution of strongly reduced pore water near the low water line and rather more oxidised sediments in the centre of the flats. The two combined transport phenomena determine the fluxes of solutes and gases from the sediment to the surface water and in this way create specific niches for various types of microorganisms.     

How Well Does Chlorophyll Explain the Seasonal Variation in Phytoplankton Activity?

The seasonal variation in phytoplankton activity is determined by analysing 1385 primary production (PP) profiles, chlorophyll a (Chl) concentration profiles and phytoplankton carbon biomass concentrations (C) from the period 1998–2012. The data was collected at six different stations in the Baltic Sea transition zone (BSTZ) which is a location with strong seasonal production patterns with light as the key parameter controlling this productivity. We show that the use of Chl as a proxy for phytoplankton activity strongly overestimates the contribution from the spring production to annual pelagic carbon flow. Spring (February and March) Chl comprised 16–30% of the total annual Chl produced, whereas spring C was much lower (8–23%) compared to the annual C. Spring PP accounted for 10–18% of the total annual PP, while the July–August production contributed 26–33%, i.e. within the time frame when zooplankton biomass and grazing pressure are highest. That is, Chl failed in this study to reflect the importance of the high summer PP. A better proxy for biomass may be C, which correlated well with the seasonal pattern of PP (Pearson correlation, p < 0.05). Thus, this study suggests to account for the strong seasonal pattern in C/Chl ratios when considering carbon flow in coastal systems. Seasonal data for PP were fitted to a simple sinusoidal wave model describing the seasonal distribution of PP in the BSTZ and were proposed to present a better parameterizaton of PP in shallow stratified temperate regions than more commonly applied proxies.     

Monitoring of heat transmission from buildings into geological environment and evaluation of soil deformation consequences in foundation engineering

In engineering geology a number of factors affecting foundation conditions are taken into consideration during engineering-geological investigations. This article deals with the factor of heat sourced from a structure (brick kiln) as a restrictive factor in foundation engineering in clay soils and introduces a documentation of soil deformation observations as an impact of the heat transmission into the geological environment. It was carried out in Southern Moravia in the Czech Republic, where the dominant foundation soils are Neogeneous clays where differential settlements of a tunnel kiln structure occurred as a result of ignoring the boundary conditions of temperature changes in the soil environment. The brick kilns caused heterogeneous spatial changes in the subsoil temperatures. This consequently resulted in differential settlements due to temperature changes originating from the kilns. The differential settlements reached as much as 150 mm. The major objective of the article is to highlight the importance of the heat transmission from buildings into the geological environment as a factor which should be considered in engineering geology and its application in planning. A new procedure for reducing or elimination of ground movements sourced from underlying clayey soils depending on the heat changes was also suggested in this context.     

Considerations on the seismotectonics of the Northern Apennines

The Northern Apennines have been subdivided into homogeneous zones, on the basis of recent structural evolution and crustal structure, in which the earthquake distribution can find a coherent framework. These zones, whose physiography is in strict connection with their structure, are: the Internal Peri-Tyrrhenian Belt; the External or Main Belt; the Buried Belt; and the Pede-Alpine Homocline. Earthquake activity has a tendency to cluster along well-defined bands, particularly in the easternmost border of the Peri-Tyrrhenian Belt, as well as along the zone between the External Belt and the Buried Belt, i.e. along the Padanian margin of the Northern Apennines.A minimum of seismic activity seems to be correlated with some zones of the External Belt, as well as with the Late Tertiary and Quaternary magmatic province of Tyrrhenian Southern Tuscany.The fault-plane solutions are coherent with the structural picture.A tentative seismotectonic model of the Northern Apennines is discussed.