The Mars oxidant experiment (MOx) for Mars '96

The MOx instrument was developed to characterize the reactive nature of the martian soil. The objectives of MOx were: (1) to measure the rate of degradation of organics in the martian environment; (2) to determine if the reactions seen by the Viking biology experiments were caused by a soil oxidant and measure the reactivity of the soil and atmosphere: (3) to monitor the degradation, when exposed to the martian environment, of materials of potential use in future missions; and, finally, (4) to develop technologies and approaches that can be part of future soil analysis instrumentation. The basic approach taken in the MOx instrument was to place a variety of materials composed as thin films in contact with the soil and monitor the physical and chemical changes that result. The optical reflectance of the thin films was the primary sensing-mode. Thin films of organic materials, metals, and semiconductors were prepared. Laboratory simulations demonstrated the response of thin films to active oxidants.     

地下水地球化学在西澳墨旗地区勘查中的应用

黑旗地区是一个典型伊尔岗地块金矿区,有多种产状的构造控制原生矿化,矿化大部分以太古代镁铁质火山岩和侵入岩为母岩。从８０年代就开始了勘查和采矿活动,但主要是采表生矿。表生矿发育在原生矿化之上或领近地区的强风化的表层土内。经济矿床地产在埋藏的第三系古河道系内,对此仅部分地进行了勘查。大多数未勘查的远景区都被深部运移覆盖层覆盖或强烈淋滤,这就降低了现有地球化学量技术的效果。综合性地下水地球化学发现了广泛     

Abundance and Distribution of Fatty Acids in Sediments of the South Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Sediment samples obtained from the South Mid-Atlantic Ridge were studies by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer(GC-MS) for the abundance and distributions of total fatty acids(TFAs). Approximately 34 fatty acids were identified, with the chain-lengths ranging from C12 to C30. The total concentrations of TFAs(∑TFA) ranged from 7.15 to 30.09 μg g-1 dry sediment, and ∑TFA was weakly correlated with bitumen content(R2 = 0.69). The ∑TFA of samples around hydrothermal areas were significantly higher than that of samples away from hydrothermal areas, indicating intense primary production and large biomass in the hydrothermal areas, and suggesting a close relationship between hydrothermal activity and ∑TFA of samples. The characteristics of the TFA composition in the present study are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and lacking in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and the ratios between the concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids and ΣTFAs in samples close to the hydrothermal areas, are about 0.8, but for samples far from the hydrothermal areas, they are only about 0.5. Several fatty acids(e.g., a/i C15:0 and C16:1ω7), which are signature biomarkers for sulfur-metabolizing bacteria, show the same distribution trend as ∑TFA of samples, further highlighting the close relationship between fatty acid content and hydrothermal activity and/or hydrothermal communities. The metabolic activities of hydrothermal communities, especially those of microorganisms, are likely the main source of fatty acids in samples.     

Primary Discussion of a Carbon Sink in the Oceans

As a consequence of global warming and rising sea levels, the oceans are becoming a matter of concern for more and more people because these changes will impact the growth of living organisms as well as people’s living standards. In particular, it is extremely important that the oceans absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide. This paper takes a pragmatic approach to analyzing the oceans with respect to the causes of discontinuities in oceanic variables of carbon dioxide sinks. We report on an application of chemical, physical and biological methods to analyze the changes of carbon dioxide in oceans. Based on the relationships among the oceans, land, atmosphere and sediment with respect to carbon dioxide, the foundation of carbon dioxide in shell-building and ocean acidification, the changes in carbon dioxide in the oceans and their impact on climate change, and so on, a vital conclusion can be drawn from this study. Specifically, under the condition that the oceans are not disturbed by external forces, the oceans are a large carbon dioxide sink. The result can also be inferred by the formula: C=A-B and G=E+F when the marine ecosystem can keep a natural balance and the amount of carbon dioxide emission is limited within the carrying capacity of the oceans.     

Titanium Isotope Analysis of Igneous Reference Materials using a Double-spike MC-ICP-MS Method

Ti separation was achieved by ion-exchange chromatography using Bio-Rad AG 1-X8 anion-exchange and DGA resins. For high-Fe/Ti and high-Mg/Ti igneous samples, a three-column procedure was required, whereas a two-column procedure was used for low-Fe/Ti and low-Mg/Ti igneous samples. The Ti isotopes were analysed by MC-ICP-MS, and instrumental mass bias was corrected using a 47Ti-49Ti double-spike technique. The 47Ti-49Ti double-spike and SRM 3162a were calibrated using SRM 979-Cr, certificated value 53Cr/52Crtrue = 0.11339. Isobaric interference was evaluated by analysing Alfa-Ti doped with Na, Mg, Ca, and Mo, and results indicate that high concentrations of Na and Mg have no significant effect on Ti isotope analyses; however, Ca and Mo interferences lead to erroneous δ49/47Ti values when Ca/Ti and Mo/Ti ratios exceed 0.01 and 0.1, respectively. Titanium isotopic compositions were determined for 12 igneous reference materials, BCR-2, BHVO-2, GBW07105, AGV-1, AGV-2, W-2, GBW07123, GBW07126, GBW07127, GBW07101, JP-1, and DTS-2b. Samples yield δ49/47Ti (‰) of ?0.035 ± 0.022, ?0.038 ± 0.031, 0.031 ± 0.022, 0.059 ± 0.038, 0.044 ± 0.037, 0.000 ± 0.015, 0.154 ± 0.044, ?0.044 ± 0.018, 0.010 ± 0.022, 0.064 ± 0.043, 0.169 ± 0.034, and ?0.047 ± 0.025 (relative to OL-Ti, ±2SD), respectively; of which isotopic compositions of DTS-2b, JP-1, GBW07101, GBW07105, GBW07123, GBW07126, and GBW07127 are reported for the first time. Standard Alfa-Ti was analysed repeatedly over a ten-month period, indicating a reproducibility of ±0.047 (2SD) for δ49/47Ti, similar to the precisions obtained for geochemical reference materials.     

The improvement of the one-dimensional Mellor-Yamada and K-profile parameterization turbulence schemes with the non-breaking surface wave-induced verticalmixing

Both the level 2.5 Mellor-Yamada turbulence closure scheme(MY) and K-profile parameterization(KPP) are popularly used by the ocean modeling community.The MY and the KPP are improved through including the non-breaking surface wave-induced vertical mixing(Bv),and the improved schemes were tested by using continuous data at the Papa ocean weather station(OWS) during 1961–1965.The numerical results showed that the Bv can make the temperature simulations fit much better with the continuous data from Papa Station.The two improved schemes overcame the shortcomings of predicting too shallow upper mixed layer depth and consequently overheated sea surface temperature during summertime,which are in fact common problems for all turbulence closure models.Statistical analysis showed that the Bv effectively reduced the mean absolute error and root mean square error of the upper layer temperature and increased the correlation coefficient between simulation and the observation.Furthermore,the performance of vertical mixing induced by shear instability and the Bv is also compared.Both the temperature structure and its seasonal cycle significantly improved by including the Bv,regardless of whether shear instability was included or not,especially for the KPP mixing scheme,which suggested that Bv played a dominant role in the upper ocean where the mean current was relatively weak,such as at Papa Station.These results may provide a clue to improve ocean circulation models.     

Rainfall effect on wind waves and the turbulence beneath air-sea interface

Rainfall effects on wind waves and turbulence are investigated through the laboratory experiments in a large wind-wave tank. It is found that the wind waves are damped as a whole at low wind speeds, but are enhanced at high wind speeds. This dual effect of rain on the wind waves increases with the increase of rain rate, while the influence of rainfall-area length is not observable. At the low wind speed, the corresponding turbulence in terms of the turbulent kinetic energy （TKE） dissipation rate is significantly enhanced by rain- fall as the waves are damped severely. At the high wind speed, the augment of the TKE dissipation rate is suppressed while the wind waves are enhanced simultaneously. In the field, however, rainfall usually hin- ders the development of waves. In order to explain this contradiction of rainfall effect on waves, a possibility about energy transfer from turbulence to waves in case of the spectral peak of waves overlapping the inertial subrange of turbulence is assumed. It can be applied to interpret the damping phenomenon of gas trans- fer velocity in the laboratory experiments, and the variation of the TKE dissipation rates near sea surface compared with the law of wall.     

The vertical structure of the atmospheric boundary layer over the central Arctic Ocean

The tropopause height and the atmospheric boundarylayer （PBL） height as well as the variation of inversion layer above the floating ice surface are presented using GPS （global position system ） radiosonde sounding data and relevant data obtained by Chinas fourth arctic scientific expedition team over the central Arctic Ocean （86°-88°N, 144°-170°W） during the summer of 2010. The tropopause height is from 9.8 to 10.5 km, with a temperature range between -52.2 and -54.10C in the central Arctic Ocean. Two zones of maximum wind （over 12 m/s） are found in the wind profile, namely, low- and upper-level jets, located in the middle troposphere and the tropopause, respectively. The wind direction has a marked variation point in the two jets from the southeast to the southwest. The average PBL height determined by two methods is 341 and 453 m respectively. These two methods can both be used when the inversion layer is very low, but the results vary significantly when the inversion layer is very high. A significant logarithmic relationship exists between the PBL height and the inversion intensity, with a correlation coefficient of 0.66, indicating that the more intense the temperature inversion is, the lower the boundary layer will be. The observation results obviously differ from those of the third arctic expedition zone （800-85° N）. The PBL height and the inversion layer thickness are much lower than those at 870-88° N, but the inversion temperature is more intense, meaning a strong ice- atmosphere interaction in the sea near the North Pole. The PBL structure is related to the weather system and the sea ice concentration, which affects the observation station.     

Sedimentary Environments of Cambrian–Ordovician Source Rocks and Ultra-deep Petroleum Accumulation in the Tarim Basin

The Tarim Basin is the only petroliferous basin enriched with marine oil and gas in China. It is presently also the deepest basin for petroleum exploration and development in the world. There are two main sets of marine Source Rocks (SRs) in the Tarim Basin, namely the high over-mature Cambrian–Lower Ordovician (∈–O1) and the moderately mature Middle–Upper Ordovician (O2–3). The characteristic biomarkers of SRs and oils indicate that the main origin of the marine petroleum is a mixed source of ∈–O1 and O2–3 SRs. With increasing burial, the hydrocarbon contribution of the ∈–O1 SRs gradually increases. Accompanied by the superposition of multi-stage hydrocarbon-generation of the SRs and various secondary alteration processes, the emergence and abnormal enrichment of terpenoids, thiophene and trimethylaryl isoprenoid in deep reservoirs indicate a complex genesis of various deep oils and gases. Through the analysis of the biofacies and sedimentary environments of the ∈–O1 and O2–3 SRs, it is shown that the lower Paleozoic high-quality SRs in the Tarim Basin were mainly deposited in a passive continental margin and the gentle slope of the platform, deep-water shelf and slope facies, which has exhibited a good response to the local tectonic-sedimentary environment. The slope of the paleo-uplift is the mutual area for the development of carbonate reservoirs and the deposition of marine SRs, which would be favorable for the accumulation of petroleum. Due to the characteristics of low ground temperature, the latest rapid and deep burial does not cause massive oil-cracking in the paleo-uplift and slope area. Therefore, it is speculated that the marine reservoirs in the slope of the Tabei Uplift are likely to be a favorable area for deep petroleum exploration, while the oil-cracking gas would be a potential reserve around the west margin of the Manjiaer Depression. Hydrocarbons were generated from various unit SRs, mainly migrating along the lateral unconformities or reservoirs and the vertical faults. They eventually brought up three major types of exploration fields: middle and lower Cambrian salt-related assemblages, dolomite inner reservoirs and Middle and Lower Ordovician oil-bearing karst, which would become the most favorable target of marine ultra-deep exploration in the Tarim Basin.