The Problem of the Lower Yangtze Terraces

INTRODUCTION During a journey taken to easternmost Hsikang during the summerof 1936,the author took the opportunity of examining the interestingterrace features of the lower Yangtze river(Fig.1).By travelling     

Predicting June Mean Rainfall in the Middle/Lower Yangtze River Basin

We demonstrate that there is significant skill in the GloSea5 operational seasonal forecasting system for predicting June mean rainfall in the middle/lower Yangtze River basin up to four months in advance. Much of the rainfall in this region during June is contributed by the mei-yu rain band. We find that similar skill exists for predicting the East Asian summer monsoon index(EASMI) on monthly time scales, and that the latter could be used as a proxy to predict the regional rainfall. However, th...     

Assessment of man-made and natural hazards in the surroundings of hydropower projects under construction in the beas valley of northwestern Himalaya

Mountain ecosystem,on the earth,has plenty of natural resources. In Himachal Pradesh all the rivers are snowfed and therefore rich in water resources. These resources have been supporting enough for the generation of electricity through introducing hydropower projects since the last decade. However,every developmental activity has its own negative impacts on the surrounding environment. Due to the fragile nature of topography and delicacy of ecology of the Himalaya,it results in lot of disturbances because of high degree of human interferences like construction of major hydropower projects. The increased extent of geological hazards,such as landslides,rock fall and soil erosion,have mainly due to alike developmental interventions in the natural ecosystem. So understanding and analysing such impacts of the hydropower projects have mainly been on the environment in various forms but natural hazards have been frequent ones. The present study,therefore,focuses mainly on the Parbati Stage Ⅱ (800 MW) and the Parbati Stage Ⅲ (520 MW) hydropower projects; both of which fall within the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. Based on the perception survey of the local communities,the existing land use pattern,status of total acquired land of the residents by hydropower projects,frequent natural hazards and resultant loss to the local communities due to upcoming construction of hydropower projects surrounding to the Parbati Stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ have been analysed in the paper. Also,the preventive measures to mitigate these adverse impacts have been suggested to strengthen these projects in eco-friendly manner in the mountain context.     

First record of dinosaur trackway from Tibet,China

Three sauropod trackways comprise eight tracks that resemble Brontopodus tracks have been found at the Morong track site in Changdu Prefecture, Tibet, China. These wide- (or sub-wide)-gauge tracks suggest that there was a large sauropod, possibly a member of Titanosauriformes, in Changdu Prefecture during the Early-Middle Jurassic. The sauropod fauna from Changdu Prefecture, Tibet not only has elements in common with the sauropod fauna from the Sichuan Basin, but may include more diverse faunal components.     

墨西哥城地震预警系统的启示

2017年墨西哥普埃布拉发生7.1级破坏性地震,这次地震为评估公众如何感知和使用墨西哥城的地震预警系统提供了一次良好的检验机会。     

Identification of Greigite in the Pliocene Sediments of Qinghai Lake and Its Geological Significance

正Objective The Qinghai Lake in North China is the largest interior plateau lake in Central Asia,and is sensitive to climate change and the environmental effects of Tibetan Plateau uplift.An almost continuous 626 m long sediment core was drilled in an in-filled part of the southern lake basin in the Scientific Drilling at Qinghai Lake.Previous     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987115001516

The Semail ophiolite of Oman and the United Arab Emirates(UAE) provides the best preserved large slice of oceanic lithosphere exposed on the continental crust,and offers unique opportunities to study processes of ocean crust formation,subduction initiation and obduction.Metamorphic rocks exposed in the eastern UAE have traditionally been interpreted as a metamorphic sole to the Semail ophiolite.However,there has been some debate over the possibility that the exposures contain components of older Arabian continental crust.To help answer this question,presented here are new zircon and rutile U-Pb geochronological data from various units of the metamorphic rocks.Zircon was absent in most samples.Those that yielded zircon and rutile provide dominant single age populations that are 95-93 Ma,partially overlapping with the known age of oceanic crust formation(96.5-94.5 Ma),and partially overlapping with cooling ages of the metamorphic rocks(95-90 Ma).The data are interpreted as dating high-grade metamorphism during subduction burial of the sediments into hot mantle lithosphere,and rapid cooling during their subsequent exhumation.A few discordant zircon ages,interpreted as late Neoproterozoic and younger,represent minor detrital input from the continent.No evidence is found in favour of the existence of older Arabian continental crust within the metamorphic rocks of the UAE.     

Protein carbonyls and antioxidant defenses in corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops) from a heavy metal polluted and a PAH polluted site

The use of fish in environmental monitoring has become increasingly important in recent years as anthropogenic substances, many of which function as prooxidants, are accumulating in aquatic environments. We have measured a battery of antioxidant defenses as a measure of oxidative status, as well as protein carbonylation as a measure of oxidative damage, in corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops) captured near a disused copper mine, where water and sediment are contaminated with heavy metals, and an aluminum smelter, a site contaminated with PAHs. Results were compared to two different reference sites. Fish at the heavy metal site had lower glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and elevated protein carbonyls (1.8 times) compared to fish from the reference site. At the PAH site, EROD was increased 2-fold, while total glutathione and methemoglobin reductase concentration, were decreased. No differences were seen in protein carbonyl levels at the PAH site. Measures of both antioxidant defenses and oxidative damage should be used when assessing effects of xenobiotics on oxidative stress in fish species.     

Comparative oxygen radical formation and toxicity of BDE 47 in rainbow trout cell lines

The polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) constitute a class of flame retardants whose residues have markedly increased in fish and human tissues during the last decade. In particular, the levels of certain PBDE congeners in salmon have raised concern regarding potential risks associated with dietary PBDE exposures. However, little is known regarding PBDE-mediated cell injury in relevant in vitro cell models. We conducted a comparative study of oxyradical production and cell injury in rainbow trout gill (RTgill-W1) and trout liver cells (RTL-W1) exposed to 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 47), a predominant BDE residue found in fish tissues such as salmonids. Exposure to low micromolar concentrations of BDE 47 elicited a significant loss in RTgill-W1 and RTL-W1 cell viability as measured by alamarBlue assay. The dose-response of BDE toxicity differed among the two cell lines, with the RTL-W1 liver cells showing greater resistance to toxicity at lower BDE 47 doses, but a more dramatic loss of viability relative to gill cells when challenged with higher (50 microM) doses. The sensitivity of the trout liver cells at higher BDE 47 exposures was reflected by a higher basal production of oxygen radical production by 6-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) fluorescence that was markedly enhanced in the presence of BDE 47, suggesting an overwhelming of trout liver cell antioxidant defense pathways. Collectively, our data indicate that RTgill-W1 and RTL-W1 liver cells are sensitive to BDE 47-mediated cell injury through a mechanism that may involve oxidative stress. Our data also provide an in vitro basis for potential tissue differences in BDE 47-mediated cell injury.