Brachiopods from China seas

A collection of brachiopods by the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica (Qingdao), contains eight species from seven genera. Six of the species have been recorded previously from China seas—Lingula adamsi, L. anatina, Discinisca stella, Pelagodiscus atlanticus, Campages mariae, Terebratalia coreanica. Two species (Terebratulina hataiana andFrenulina sanguinolenta) have been described from other parts of the Pacific area. The apparent absence of any endemic species is a noteworthy feature of Chinese in comparison with Japanese faunas.     

Mineral magnetic and physical properties of surficial sediments and onshore samples from the southern basin of Lake Baikal, Siberia

Results of lithostratigraphic and mineral magnetic analysis of two surficial sediment cores (21 cm and 45 cm in length) collected from the Southern basin of Lake Baikal at a water depth of 1390 m, are presented. The sediments have been measured for a wide range of mineral magnetic parameters in order to assess their value in the identification of turbidite layers. Particle size and geochemical data are also presented and these explain some of the down core variations in magnetic mineralogy. It is suggested that changes in the particle size frequency distributions down core may be related to fossil diatom shells. One of the cores has been dated using ²¹⁰Pb. The sediment cores were cross-correlated using low frequency magnetic susceptibility (f) and these cores can also be correlated with a nearby core collected earlier in 1992. Changes in the magnetic parameters of lf, IRMs and HIRM₂₁₀ suggest that there are significant changes in the concentration of ferrimagnetic minerals in the sediment cores, indicating changing sediment sources and/or increasing concentrations of spheroidal carbonaceous particles and the dissolution of minerals through reduction below the oxidised layer within the sediment core.     

Horizontal and vertical zones of influence for root systems of four Mojave Desert shrubs

Horizontal and vertical zones of influence for root systems of four Mojave Desert shrubs were characterized using ³²P as a nutrient tracer. Larrea tridentata's horizontal zone of influence was sparse near the plant's stem base, with a maximum probability of accessing ³²P (P_max) of 41%. However, its horizontal zone of influence extended beyond 5 m, and the distance from the stem base at which the probability of accessing ³²P was half P_max (L₅₀3 m) was significantly greater than the other three shrubs. Ambrosia dumosa's zone of influence was dense near the plant's stem base (P_max78%), but was rare at distances >2 m (L₅₀1 m). Zones of influence for Lycium andersonii and Lycium pallidum were intermediate between those of L. tridentata and A. dumosa. For vertical zones of influence, L. tridentata was more likely to obtain ³²P from 5 m soil depths than A. dumosa, but L. pallidum was not significantly different from either A. dumosa or L. tridentata. Horizontal zones of influence did not change with treatments that altered soil water and nitrogen availability, but vertical zones of influence increased with a flood irrigation treatment that increased water availability to 5 m soil depth. These differences among species likely reflect compromises between their shoot growth strategies and their need to acquire spatially and temporally limited soil resources, especially through competitive interactions.     

青藏高原古人类的艺术创作——基于中更新世手脚印形态分析

在第二次青藏科考过程中,作者在西藏自治区拉萨市邱桑村的古泉华沉积上新发现了由5个手印和5个脚印组成 “岩面艺术” （parietal art）。对这一“岩面艺术”进行解剖学测量、3D 模型模拟、铀系测年和手脚印形态分析后,得到以下认识：① “岩面艺术”是在泉华没有成岩之前由古人类有意压上去的;② “岩面艺术”所在岩层的U/Th年代为226~169 ka B.P.,这其中包含一个手指印岩层的表面直接年龄（207~188 ka B.P.）;③ 这一发现是迄今为止发表的古人类在青藏高原上活动的最早记录之一,也为古人类适应高寒、低氧环境提供了新的证据;④ 此岩面艺术是目前世界上已知的最古老的艺术,上面的手印也是古人类留下的最早的手印;⑤ 这一原始的岩面艺术表明,创作它的古老人种可能具有一定的认知和空间感知能力,此岩面艺术的发现也将有可能改写人类艺术史,并且加深我们对已消失的古人类认知水平的认识。     

Dunes on Titan observed by Cassini Radar

Thousands of longitudinal dunes have recently been discovered by the Titan Radar Mapper on the surface of Titan. These are found mainly within ±30° of the equator in optically-, near-infrared-, and radar-dark regions, indicating a strong proportion of organics, and cover well over 5% of Titan's surface. Their longitudinal duneform, interactions with topography, and correlation with other aeolian forms indicate a single, dominant wind direction aligned with the dune axis plus lesser, off-axis or seasonally alternating winds. Global compilations of dune orientations reveal the mean wind direction is dominantly eastwards, with regional and local variations where winds are diverted around topographically high features, such as mountain blocks or broad landforms. Global winds may carry sediments from high latitude regions to equatorial regions, where relatively drier conditions prevail, and the particles are reworked into dunes, perhaps on timescales of thousands to tens of thousands of years. On Titan, adequate sediment supply, sufficient wind, and the absence of sediment carriage and trapping by fluids are the dominant factors in the presence of dunes.     

Heavy rare gases from Rabbit Lake (Canada) and the Oklo mine (Gabon): natural spontaneous chain reactions in old uranium deposits

Xenon isotopic studies confirm natural spontaneous chain reactions at the Oklo mine site (Republic of Gabon) with an integrated neutron flux of approximately 4 × 10²⁰n/cm² and a duration between 14,000 and 70,000 years. Similar studies for the Rabbit Lake deposit (Saskatchewan), a slightly younger site with some evidence of continued geologic activity, shows no evidence of self-supporting reactions.     

Bootstrapped discrete scale invariance analysis of geomagnetic dipole intensity

The technique of bootstrapped discrete scale invariance allows multiple time-series of different observables to be normalized in terms of observed and predicted characteristic timescales. A case study is presented using the SINT2000 time-series of virtual axial dipole moment, which spans the past 2 Myr. It is shown that this sequence not only bears a clear signature of a preferred timescale of about 55.6 Ka, but additionally predicts similar features (of shorter and longer duration) that are actually observed on the timescales of historical secular variation and dipole reversals, respectively. In turn, the latter two empirical sources both predict the characteristic timescale found in the dipole intensity sequence. These communal scaling characteristics suggest that a single underlying process could be driving dynamo fluctuations across all three observed timescales, from years to millions of years.     

Understanding the surface hydrology of the Lake Eyre Basin: Part 1—Rainfall

This is the first of two papers that describe the surface hydrology of the Lake Eyre Basin (LEB) (1,140,000 km²) in central Australia and compares some key characteristics with those observed from arid regions globally. This paper concentrates on annual rainfall, whereas the second paper is devoted to streamflow. The first part describes the LEB's climate (arid to semi-arid), which is dominated by a subtropical high pressure ridge stretching latitudinally across central Australia. Then follow major analyses that include the characteristics of rainfall, wet and dry spell lengths and cumulative surpluses and deficiencies, rainfall trends and intra- and inter-decadal fluctuations, and the relationship between rainfall and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The paper concludes with six conclusions, the key ones being: the variability of the annual rainfall (based on the coefficient of variation) in the LEB is approximately 60% greater than that found for stations located in arid regions in the rest of the world; there is a bias towards longer lengths of dry years than observed in the rest of Australia; and, there is a significant lag correlation between rainfall and ENSO, particularly in the east and in the latter part of a year.