Intraplate deformation adjacent to the Macquarie Ridge south of New Zealand—The tectonic evolution of a complex plate boundary

The distribution of relocated seismicity and the evolving shape of fracture zones through time in the oceanic crust of the Australian Plate adjacent to the Australia:Pacific plate boundary south of New Zealand are used to constrain the deformation of this region of the Australian Plate, here called the Puysegur Block. Relocated seismicity reveals a broad distribution of earthquakes in the Puysegur Block on both inter- and intraplate structures, including two great (M8+) earthquakes in the region over the past twenty years, one of which occurred over 130 km from the plate boundary. Plate reconstructions from the Late Oligocene through Early–Mid Miocene allow us to determine the undeformed shape of fracture zones in the Puysegur Block, formed during the Paleogene when the plate boundary was dominantly a divergent mid-ocean ridge system. Comparing these reconstructions to the present-day shape of the fracture zones allows us to map the deformation that has occurred within the Puysegur Block since the fracture zones formed. These two sets of independent observations delineate a broad zone of deformation extending ~ 150 km into the plate interior from the Macquarie Ridge Complex, the modern plate boundary structure through the region. The persistence of this deformation through time indicates a link with the evolution of the plate boundary over the past ~ 25 Ma from divergence to translation and subduction of the Australian Plate further north at the Puysegur Trench. We infer that this deformation may be a result of stresses in the Puysegur Block resulting from the impingement of the subducting plate on the thickened lithosphere of southern New Zealand. Such a collision may resist subduction, and if resistance remains substantial, further deformation internal to the Puysegur Block may lead to a southward migration of the Australia:Pacific subduction interface and the capturing of this section of lithosphere onto the Pacific Plate.     

Early stages of star formation

The study of the earliest stages of star formation in molecular clouds is one of the fields that should benefit most from ALMA. Improving our understanding of these deeply embedded stages is crucial to gain insight into the origin of stellar masses and binary systems. While the use of large single-dish (sub)millimeter radiotelescopes and existing interferometers has led to good progress on the overall density structure of isolated prestellar cores and young protostars, many questions remain open concerning, e.g., their fragmentation properties and detailed kinematics. Furthermore, the classical paradigm for the formation of single low-mass stars in well-separated, magnetized prestellar cores has been challenged on the grounds that most young stars actually belong to multiple systems and/or coherent clusters. A new paradigm based on supersonic turbulence has emerged which emphasizes the role of dynamical interactions between individual (proto)stars in cluster-forming clumps. The debate is far from settled and ALMA will greatly help to discriminate between these two paradigms.     

Does Manila clam cultivation affect habitats of the engineer species Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766)?

The major French site of Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum (Adams and Reeves, 1850) cultivation is located in the Chausey Archipelago where the associated practices are highly mechanized: every steps of production are made with tractor-driven machinery. The Manila clam concessions are concentrated on Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766) bioherms, which are known to increase alpha-diversity and to locally modify sediment dynamics. This study focus on the impacts of Manila clam cultivation on (i) the natural populations of L. conchilega and on (ii) the structure of the associated benthic assemblages during the different steps of the farming production cycle. We found that the L. conchilega populations are significantly affected within the concessions where their total abundances drastically decrease, their spatial patterns are modified and the associated benthic assemblages are significantly altered. Our results are discussed in a context of a sustainable management of the Manila clam cultivation in coastal areas.     

Enhanced bioremediation of crude oil utilizing lipophilic fertilizers combined with biosurfactants and molasses

Many research studies have demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of fertilization with nitrogen and phosphorus to combat oil spills in marine environments. Rapid dilution of water-soluble nutrients can be overcome by oleophilic formulations that retain optimal nutrient concentrations at the oil-water interface where biodegradation occurs. Previous work has demonstrated that biodegradation processes are enhanced by the addition of lipophilic fertilizers of natural origin (uric acid and lecithin). In this work, we examined the effectiveness of these nutrients in combination with biosurfactants (rhamnolipids) and molasses (source of C and vitamins) to enhance the biodegradation by naturally occurring microorganisms. It was found that the use of biosurfactants resulted in an increased removal of petroleum hydrocarbons (96% removal of C19-C34 n-alkanes within a period of 18 days) as well as in a reduction of the lag phase (almost 80% removal was achieved within the first week of biosurfactant application).     

Seasonal evolution of runoff generation on agricultural land in the Belgian loess belt and implications for muddy flood triggering

Muddy floods due to agricultural runoff are a widespread and frequent phenomenon in the European loess belt, and particularly in central Belgium. These floods are triggered when high quantities of runoff are generated on cropland and cause severe erosion. Three soil surface characteristics are relevant to determine the runoff potential of cultivated soils: soil cover by crops and residues, soil surface crusting and roughness. These characteristics have been observed on 65 cultivated fields throughout 2005. A heavy rainfall event representative for events triggering muddy floods in the region (60 mm h^?1 during 30 minutes) has been simulated using a 0·5 m² simulator on fields with the 17 most observed combinations of soil surface characteristics in central Belgium. Runoff is not observed in the case of (ploughed) bare uncrusted soils, nor in the case of soils covered by crops showing a transitional crust and a moderate roughness (1–2 cm). In the cases where runoff has been observed, mean runoff coefficients ranged from 13% (wheat in July) to 58% (sugar beet or maize in May and June). Grassed buffer strips (GBSs) and grassed waterways (GWWs) show a higher runoff coefficient (62% for GBSs and 73% for GWWs) than most cultivated soils (13–58%). Furthermore, it is demonstrated that small plot measurements can be used to estimate runoff generation at the field scale. A classification of runoff generation risk based on the surveys of soil surface characteristics has been applied to common crops of central Belgium. February as well as the period between May and September are the most critical for runoff at the field scale. However, it appears from monitoring of a 16 ha catchment that the highest runoff volumes and peak discharges are recorded between May and August after heavy rainfall, explaining why 85% of muddy floods are recorded during this period in central Belgium. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Uncertainty in the True End Point of a Fossil's Stratigraphic Range When Stratigraphic Sections Are Sampled Discretely

Stratigraphic sections are often sampled at well-defined discrete points. Because of the incompleteness of the fossil record, a particular species may not be observed even when it is extant at a sampling point. We introduce a model and Bayesian analysis for estimating the true time of disappearance of a lineage from a section in the face of the possibility that failure to find the species beyond its observed stratigraphic range may represent false negatives. We incorporate proper prior information, including an estimated longevity of the species and the probability that it will be observed if extant. Our analysis produces a posterior density for the true extinction time of the species. Summaries of this probability distribution provide a point estimate of the extinction time, a standard deviation for the uncertainty in the estimate, and confidence intervals for the time of extinction. We apply our model to stratigraphic ranges of benthic foraminifera collected from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian and Turonian) from Eastbourne, England.     

Layered tektites of southeast Asia: Field studies in central Laos and Vietnam

Abstract— We have recovered 18 kg of layered tektites from 10 tektite-bearing localities in Laos and central Vietnam, including 5 localities around the town of Muong Nong (Laos). Several of these deposits originally contained several hundred kilograms of layered tektite fragments, and one fragmented mass may have been as large as 1000 kg. This is the largest single deposit of tektites yet reported. In this region, layered tektite fragments are found in isolated clusters usually associated with a pebbly laterite horizon that is 0–1 m below the surface. Near Khe Sanh, Vietnam, we estimate the abundance of layered tektite fragments to be ～100 g/m². This is greater than five times the abundance estimated for northeast Thailand (Fiske et al., 1996). In a region that extends from northeast Thailand, through central Laos, and into central Vietnam, we found only layered tektites, which confirmed the existence of a large (>50 000 km²) subfield of the Australasian strewn field with only layered tektites. The east-west extent of the “layered-only” subfield is well constrained, but little field data exist to constrain its north-south extent.     

Forward modeling of the coronal response to reconnection in an X-ray bright point

We use MDI magnetic field observations and the theory of reconnection through a separator to constrain a numerical simulation of an X-ray bright point observed in EUV by TRACE. A gasdynamic model is employed to describe the corona and transition region in the bright point loop. Nonlocal effects such as opacity and ambipolar diffusion are important to the transition region; these effects are approximated locally by modification of the radiative loss and thermal conduction. A straightforward comparison of measured light curves versus those generated by the simulation shows that the reconnection model is unable to account for the observations. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005205807984     

Rare cephalopods from the Přídolí of England and Wales

The very rare occurrences of cephalopods in the Přídolí Series of the English and Welsh Silurian are recorded and their taxonomy revised. Apart from one derived form, they constitute a typical relict Ludlow fauna, including Cyrtocycloceras ibex, Leurocycloceras whitcliffense, and Polygrammoceras bullatum. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.