A multimetric-index approach using fisheries data to assess fish assemblage structure in relation to salinity gradient in a tropical West African estuary

This study examines the effects of increasing salinity on fish assemblage structure in the Casamance Estuary, Senegal, using a series of indices. The study data were derived from commercial fishery surveys conducted between April and July 2005. Analysis of within-trophic-group diversity in the Casamance Estuary shows a significant drop in the diversity of apex predators in the upper, more saline reaches of the estuary. By contrast, primary consumers adapted well to salinity changes and exhibited higher taxonomic diversity in the upper reaches of the estuary than in the lower reaches. The findings also indicate decreases in average sizes of the landed species and the trophic levels among fish catches in the direction of the upper reaches. However, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) was globally higher in the upstream area of the estuary as compared with the downstream area. This increasing CPUE trend from the lower towards the upper reaches is attributed to (i) the high primary productivity in the upper Casamance Estuary; (ii) the increasing abundance of euryhaline fish species in an upstream direction; and (iii) ‘telescoping’ of the food chain through the presence of mostly herbivorous fishes in the upper reaches. Such a situation likely facilitated high fish production in the upstream area of the estuary, though multimetric indices indicated unfavourable living conditions for many fish taxa in this area.     

Classification of marine bioregions on the east coast of South Africa

Marine bioregional planning requires a meaningful classification and spatial delineation of the ocean environment using biological and physical characteristics. The relative inaccessibility of much of the ocean and the paucity of directly measured data spanning entire planning regions mean that surrogate data, such as satellite imagery, are frequently used to develop spatial classifications. However, due to a lack of appropriate biological data, these classifications often rely on abiotic variables, which act as surrogates for biodiversity. The aim of this study was to produce a fine-scale bioregional classification, using multivariate clustering, for the inshore and offshore marine environment off the east coast of South Africa, adjacent to the province of KwaZulu-Natal and out to the boundary of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 200 nautical miles offshore. We used remotely sensed data of sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a and turbidity, together with interpolated bathymetry and continental-slope data, as well as additional inshore data on sediments, seabed oxygen and bottom temperature. A multivariate k-means analysis was used to produce a fine-scale marine bioregionalisation, with three bioregions subdivided into 12 biozones. The offshore classification was primarily a pelagic bioregionalisation, whereas the inshore classification (on the continental shelf) was a coupled benthopelagic bioregionalisation, owing to the availability of benthic data for this area. The resulting classification was used as a base layer for a systematic conservation plan developed for the province, and provided the methods for subsequent planning conducted for the entire South African EEZ. Validation of the classification is currently being conducted in marine research programmes that are sampling benthic biota and habitats in a sampling design stratified according to the biozones delineated in this study.     

Spatial patterns of ice storm disturbance on a forested landscape in the Appalachian Mountains, Virginia

Ice storms (major freezing rain events) periodically disturb forests in eastern North America. The damage may vary spatially, especially in complex terrain. This study uses satellite imagery to investigate spatial heterogeneity of forest damage caused by ice storms that affected the Appalachian Mountains, Virginia during 1994. The results display a region-scale (southwest-to-northeast) gradient in damage that apparently corresponds to a gradient in the depth of ice that accumulated during the storms. Damage also varied topographically, particularly by aspect. Damage was most extensive on east-, southeast- and south-facing slopes; at middle elevations; and on slopes of moderate steepness.     

Observed precipitation in the Paraná-Plata hydrological basin: long-term trends, extreme conditions and ENSO teleconnections

The Paraná-Plata basin is the second largest hydrological basin in South America and is of great importance for the countries of the region (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). The present study focuses on the long-term trends in basin-scale precipitation with special emphasis on the role of distribution changes in extreme large-scale precipitation events and on the characteristics and evolution of ENSO teleconnections over the last 50 years. First, we defined a Paraná-Plata basin total precipitation index (PTPI) as the precipitations spatially averaged over the hydrological basin. On interannual time scales, such an index is mainly representative of anomalous monsoon precipitations in the northern part of the basin and large convective precipitation anomalies in the center of the basin (Paraguay-southern Brazil-Uruguay-northern Argentina) typical of the canonical ENSO teleconnection pattern. Our major findings clearly highlight a positive trend in yearly averaged PTPI mainly from the late 1960s to the early 1980s with a strong dependence from month-to-month. The largest precipitation increase is observed from November to May in southern Brazil and Argentina. A close examination of PTPI distributions during the two halves of the period 1950–2001 shows that the changes in the mean state from 1950–1975 to 1976–2001 result from significant changes in each calendar month mean state and in the tails of the PTPI anomaly distributions in May with lesser and weaker large-scale dry events and stronger large-scale wet events. Further studies will be needed to assess whether the observed trend in large-scale extreme precipitation conditions can be related to natural climate variability or anthropogenic activities and whether it is associated to changes in local/regional extreme events. The stronger wet conditions in different months seem to be associated to changes in ENSO characteristics (amplitude, propagation, spatial structure, ...) since the 1982–1983 El Niño. Indeed, spatial ENSO teleconnections (stronger in November and April–May) have greatly evolved from 1950–1975 to 1976–2001. Moreover, we demonstrate that there is a strong modulation and displacement of the teleconnection patterns from one event to another, impeding the definition of robust statistical relationship between ENSO and precipitation in the Paraná-Plata basin (except maybe over a very limited area near the common border between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil). Finally, the non-antisymmetrical patterns of precipitation between El Niño and La Niña conditions and the non-linear relationship between precipitation and either Niño3.4 or Niño1+2 sea surface temperature indices show that linear statistical forecast systems are actually of very limited use for impact predictions on society on a local or regional scale.     

Vertical distribution of living mangrove foraminifera from KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

Modern foraminiferal assemblage zones can be used to reconstruct palaeo sea levels when applied to fossil foraminifera down a sediment core. Previous intertidal foraminiferal studies have predominantly focused on assemblages in surface sediments (0–1 cm), with the rationale that surface assemblages reflect the modern-day environment. Foraminifera live infaunally and therefore there is a need to document the infaunal vertical distribution of living foraminifera to fully capture the modern environment. Infaunal foraminiferal populations may compositionally differ from or be similar to those in the uppermost 1 cm of a core sample, but abundance is variable vertically, making it very complex to reconstruct and interpret past sea levels. This can have implications for the choice of assemblages to use as modern analogues for past sea-level reconstructions. This study documents the vertical infaunal distribution of living foraminifera, to allow for more informed interpretations of palaeo-reconstructions in mangrove environments. The down-core vertical distribution and abundance of living foraminifera, along with grain size and organic content, were documented using sediment cores along an elevational transect. Nine taxa were recorded as living at the time of collection, six of which were restricted to the top 4 cm. The majority of these were calcareous and found in the cores situated closer to the intertidal channel. Therefore, we argue that the diversity of living calcareous and agglutinated foraminifera could be restricted by grain size, with coarser grain sizes associated with lower species diversity. The findings suggest that foraminiferal species inhabiting the top 4 cm represent deeper living foraminiferal populations. Therefore, the top 4-cm interval can be used to establish a modern training set upon which reconstructions can be based. The findings from this study will provide guidance on the use of South African mangrove environments for future sea-level reconstructions.     

内蒙古西拉沐伦成矿带碾子沟钼矿床成矿流体地球化学特征

碾子沟钼矿床是内蒙古西拉沐伦钼多金属成矿带中石英脉型钼矿床的典型代表,矿体以石英大脉形式产于燕山期中粗粒黑云母二长花岗岩内,受断裂构造控制。流体包裹体研究发现包裹体均为气液两相,按照相比不同,可进一步分为WL型(5%～20%)和WV型(20%～50%)。Ⅰ阶段流体为低温(89.3～245.2℃)、中低盐度(2.07%～17.96%NaCleqv)流体;Ⅱ阶段流体具有中低温(134.4～458.8℃,峰值170℃～240℃)、中低盐度(0.53%～19.92%NaCleqv)特征;Ⅲ阶段流体为低温(134.9～202.4℃)、中低盐度(4.96%～14.97%NaCleqv)流体。流体成分均以H2O为主(96.1mol%),含少量挥发份CO2、N2、CH4、C2H6、Ar、H2S,阳离子以Na+为主,阴离子以SO42-、Cl-为主,属NaCl-H2O体系。各阶段成矿热液氢、氧同位素特征为:δ18OH2O介于-5.75‰～-1.90‰、δD介于-128.821‰～-109.234‰,说明成矿流体是岩浆热液与古大气降水混合而成。开放的断裂体系为流体混合创造了条件,流体的混合作用是造成碾子沟辉钼矿沉淀成矿的主要原因。这与斑岩型钼矿床的高盐度流体以及以沸腾为主的矿石沉淀机制具有显著区别。     

Proterozoic anorogenic magmatism in the Central Amazonian Province,amazonian araton: Geochronological,petrological and geochemical aspects

Summary In the Central Amazonian Province, the anorogenic granites are older in the eastern block (1.88 Ga, U-Pb; 1.8 - 1.6 Ga Rb-Sr and K-Ar) and in the central block (1.75 -1.7 Ga, Rb-Sr) than in the western one (1.55 Ga, U-Pb). The country rocks are of Archaean age in the eastern block, and in the western block they are of Lower Proterozoic age (Trans-Amazonian Event). There is a minimum difference of 200 Ma between the last metamorphic event and the formation of the anorogenic granites. Metaluminous to peraluminous subsolvus granites are largely dominant but hypersolvus granites, sometimes peralkaline, as well as syenites and quartz-syenites also occur. Wiborgites and pyterlites are found only in the western block but rapakivi-like textures are described in the province as a whole. Mineralizations include large deposits of Sn, as well as small occurrences of F, Zr, REE, Y, and W. The granites are generally rich in Si, K, Fe, Zr, Ga, Nb, Y, and REE and show very high K/Na, Fe/(Fe + Mg) and Ga/Al₂O₃ ratios. They are geochemically similar to A-type and within-plate granites and more particularly to the Proterozoic rapakivi granites of the Fennoscandian shield and the metaluminous granites of the North American anorogenic province. Petrographic, geochemical and Sr isotopic data indicate crustal sources for the granite magmas. Differences in the sources should explain the contrast observed in some of the granites. The model of crustal anatexis induced by underplating or intrusion of mantle-derived basic magmas is preferred to explain the generation of the crustal granitic magmas.

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Proterozoischer, anorogener Magmatismus in der zentralen Amazonas-Provinz, Amazonas Kraton: Geochronologie, petrologische und geochemische Aspekte

Zusammenfassung In der zentralen Amazonas-Provinz sind die anorogenen Granite im östlichen (1.88 Mia, U-Pb; 1.8-1.6 Mia, Rb-Sr und K-Ar) und im zentralen Block (1.75-1.7 Mia,Rb-Sr) älter als im westlichen Block (1.55 Mia, U-Pb). Die Nebengesteine sind im östlichen Block archaiischen Alters, während sie im westlichen Block im unteren Proterozoikum (Transamazonas Event) gebildet worden sind. Dies ergibt eine minimale Altersdifferenz von 200 Mio zwischen dem letzten metamorphen Ereignis und der Intrusion der anorogenen Granite. Es dominieren metaluminöse bis peraluminöse Subsolvus-Granite, jedoch treten auch Hypersolvus-Granite, stellenweise Peralkaline, wie auch Syenite und Quarz-Syenite auf. Wiborgite und Pyterlite kommen lediglich im westlichen Block vor, Rapakivi-ähnliche Texturen werden jedoch aus der gesamten Provinz beschrieben. An Mineralisationen treten große Sn-Lagerstätten und kleinere Vorkommen von F, Zr, SEE, Y und W auf. Die Granite sind generell reich an Si, K, Fe, Ga, Nb, Y und SEE und zeigen sehr hohe K/Na, Fe/(Fe + Mg) und Ga/Al₂O₃ Verhältnisse. Sie zeigen geochemische Ähnlichkeiten mit A-Typ und Intraplatten-Graniten, besonders jedoch mit den proterozoischen Rapakivi Graniten des fennoskandischen Schildes und mit den metaluminösen Graniten der nordamerikanischen anorogenen Provinz. Petrographische, geochemische und Sr-Isotopendaten deuten krustale Ausgangsgesteine der granitischen Magmen an. Unterschiede im Ausgangsmaterial sollen die verschiedenen Granittypen erklären. Als Modell für die Entstehung krustaler granitischer Magmen wird krustale Anatexis, hervorgerufen durch underplating oder Intrusion von aus dem Mantel stammenden, basischen Magmen angenommen.

     

Solution of an infinite number of inequations depending on a continuous parameter and application to the solution of equations in dynamical astronomy

The investigation of a large class of problems in physics and astrophysics requires the dtermination of the ranges of some parameters z, E, ... for which inequations of the form F(r; z, E, ... )0 are satisfied for all r in some interval )a, b(. The solution of this problem is given under the form of three general theorems and, resulting from them, a very simple numerical procedure. This can also be used to solve equations of the form df/dt=0 where f is some function of variables and derivatives of these variables (functions of t) with respect to t, for instance Vlasov-type equations in dynamics of flat stellar disks.