Sea-level history of past interglacial periods from uranium-series dating of corals,Curaçao,Leeward Antilles islands

Curaçao has reef terraces with the potential to provide sea-level histories of interglacial periods. Ages of the Hato (upper) unit of the “Lower Terrace” indicate that this reef dates to the last interglacial period, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5.5. On Curaçao, this high sea stand lasted at least 8000 yr (~ 126 to ~ 118 ka). Elevations and age of this reef show that late Quaternary uplift rates on Curaçao are low, 0.026–0.054 m/ka, consistent with its tectonic setting. Ages of ~ 200 ka for corals from the older Cortalein unit of the Lower Terrace correlate this reef to MIS 7, with paleo-sea level estimates ranging from ? 3.3 m to + 2.3 m. The estimates are in agreement with those for MIS 7 made from other localities and indicate that the penultimate interglacial period was a time of significant warmth, on a par with the present interglacial period. The ~ 400 ka (MIS 11) Middle Terrace I on Curaçao, dated by others, may have formed from a paleo-sea level of + 8.3 to + 10.0 m, or (less likely) + 17 m to + 20 m. The lower estimates are conservative compared to previous studies, but still require major ice sheet loss from Greenland and Antarctica.     

A method of accelerating transport simulation when groundwater pumping is simulated

In solving groundwater transport problems with numerical models, the computation time (CPU processing time) of transport simulation is approximately inversely proportional to the transport time-step size. Therefore, large time-step sizes are favorable for achieving short computation time. However, transport time-step size must be sufficiently small to avoid numerical instability if an explicit scheme is used (and to guarantee enough model accuracy if an implicit scheme is used). For a transport model involving groundwater pumping, a small transport time-step size is often required due to the high groundwater velocities near the pumping well. Small grid spacing often specified near the pumping well also limits the time-step size. This paper presents a method to increase transport time-step size in a transport model when groundwater pumping is simulated. The key to this approach is to numerically decrease the groundwater seepage velocities in grid cells near the pumping well by increasing the effective porosity so that the transport time-step size can be increased without violating stability constraints. Numerical tests reveal that by using the proposed method, the computation time of transport simulation can be reduced significantly, while the transport simulation results change very little.     

The distribution of silty soils in the Grayling Fingers region of Michigan: Evidence for loess deposition onto frozen ground

This paper presents textural, geochemical, mineralogical, soils, and geomorphic data on the sediments of the Grayling Fingers region of northern Lower Michigan. The Fingers are mainly comprised of glaciofluvial sediment, capped by sandy till. The focus of this research is a thin silty cap that overlies the till and outwash; data presented here suggest that it is local-source loess, derived from the Port Huron outwash plain and its down-river extension, the Mainstee River valley. The silt is geochemically and texturally unlike the glacial sediments that underlie it and is located only on the flattest parts of the Finger uplands and in the bottoms of upland, dry kettles. On sloping sites, the silty cap is absent. The silt was probably deposited on the Fingers during the Port Huron meltwater event; a loess deposit roughly 90 km down the Manistee River valley has a comparable origin. Data suggest that the loess was only able to persist on upland surfaces that were either closed depressions (currently, dry kettles) or flat because of erosion during and after loess deposition. Deep, low-order tributary gullies (almost ubiquitous on Finger sideslopes) could only have formed by runoff, and soil data from them confirm that the end of gully formation (and hence, the end of runoff) was contemporaneous with the stabilization of the outwash surfaces in the lowlands. Therefore, runoff from the Finger uplands during the loess depositional event is the likely reason for the absence of loess at sites in the Fingers. Because of the sandy nature and high permeability of the Fingers' sediments, runoff on this scale could only have occurred under frozen ground conditions. Frozen ground and windy conditions in the Fingers at the time of the Port Huron advance is likely because the area would have been surrounded by ice on roughly three sides. This research (1) shows that outwash plains and meltwater streams of only medium size can be significant loess sources and (2) is the first to present evidence for frozen ground conditions in this part of the upper Midwest.     

北喜马拉雅淡色花岗岩地球化学: 区域对比、岩石成因及其构造意义

北喜马拉雅出露一系列片麻岩穹窿,这些穹窿被形成于27.5～10Ma的淡色花岗岩侵入.淡色花岗岩的岩石类型为二云母花岗岩,它们的主量元素组成为SiO2=70.97%～74.54%、K2O+Na2O=6.27%～8.09%、K2O/Na2O=0.91～1.36及A/CNK=1.10～1.33.然而,它们在微量元素组成上呈现出较大的变化:Rb=(41～322)×10-6、Sr=(26～139)×10-6、Ba=(135～594)×10-6、(La/Yb)N=0.97～17.31、Eu/Eu=0.29～0.72.北喜马拉雅淡色花岗岩的主量元素和微量元素组成特征类似于高喜马拉雅中新世的二云母花岗岩,而在Ti、Mg、Ca、Ba含量和Rb/Sr比值上明显不同于高喜马拉雅中新世的电气石-白云母花岗岩.北喜马拉雅淡色花岗岩(87Sr/86Sr)t=0.7344～0.8503(t=10Ma),εNd(10Ma)=-12.5～-19.3,与高喜马拉雅淡色花岗岩无明显差异.在岩石成因上,北喜马拉雅和高喜马拉雅中新世淡色花岗岩均起因于构造减压作用,由此导致白云母发生脱水反应诱发高喜马拉雅结晶岩系的深熔.但北喜马拉雅淡色花岗岩形成的地质背景明显不同于高喜马拉雅淡色花岗岩,前者具有较长的时间跨度,开始形成于喜马拉雅渐新世的地壳增厚期,之后形成于中新世穹窿片麻岩的折返时期,而高喜马拉雅淡色花岗岩与中新世高喜马拉雅结晶岩系的构造挤出作用有关.因此,北喜马拉雅和高喜马拉雅淡色     

Viruses as Groundwater Tracers: Using Ecohydrology to Characterize Short Travel Times in Aquifers

Viruses are attractive tracers of short (<3 year) travel times in aquifers because they have unique genetic signatures, are detectable in trace quantities, and are mobile in groundwater. Virus “snaphots” result from infection and disappearance in a population over time; therefore, the virus snapshot shed in the fecal wastes of an infected population at a specific point in time can serve as a marker for tracking virus and groundwater movement. The virus tracing approach and an example application are described to illustrate their ability to characterize travel times in high‐groundwater velocity settings, and provide insight unavailable from standard hydrogeologic approaches. Although characterization of preferential flowpaths does not usually characterize the majority of other travel times occurring in the groundwater system (e.g., center of plume mass; tail of the breakthrough curve), virus approaches can trace very short times of transport, and thus can fill an important gap in our current hydrogeology toolbox.     

Ecosystem Modeling Adds Value to a South African Climate Forecast

Livestock production in South Africa is limited by frequent droughts. The South African Weather Service produces climate forecasts estimating the probability of low rainfall three and six months into the future. We used the ecosystem model SAVANNA applied to five commercial farms in the Vryburg region of the North-West Province, and five communal areas within the Province, to assess the utility of a climate forecast in refining drought coping strategies. Rainfall data from 1970 to 1994 were modified to represent a drought (225 mm of rainfall) in 1977/1978, and used in simulations. In a simulation on an example commercial farm we assumed a forecast was available in 1977 portending an upcoming drought, and that the owner sold 490 cattle and 70 sheep prior to the drought. Over the simulation period, the owner sold 31% more cattle when the forecast was used,versus when the forecast was ignored. Populations of livestock on both commercial and communal farms recovered more quickly following the drought when owners sold animals in response to the forecast. The economic benefit from sales is being explored using optimization techniques. Results and responses from South African livestock producers suggest that a real-time farm model linked with climate forecasting would be a valuable management tool.     

Using a Cloud to Replenish Parched Groundwater Modeling Efforts

Groundwater models can be improved by introduction of additional parameter flexibility and simultaneous use of soft-knowledge. However, these sophisticated approaches have high computational requirements. Cloud computing provides unprecedented access to computing power via the Internet to facilitate the use of these techniques. A modeler can create, launch, and terminate “virtual” computers as needed, paying by the hour, and save machine images for future use. Such cost-effective and flexible computing power empowers groundwater modelers to routinely perform model calibration and uncertainty analysis in ways not previously possible.     

实现纤维素生物质能源的可持续发展(英文)

生物质是一种丰富易得的清洁能源,具有大幅减少温室气体排放的潜力。与以玉米及其他谷物为原料的生物质能源生产技术相比,由于纤维生物能源生产消耗的化石能源较少(化石能源与碳的比值低)而备受关注。然而,生物燃料生产系统并非简单,受到多种因素的影响,如能量供应、农村的经济发展水平、土地和生态系统的保护、温室气体减排的可能性以及社会培训等。本文简要综述生物质能源开发的经济与环境影响。根据区域气候和生态条件,不同地区具有各自的生物质种类或能源作物的优化组合。在不久的将来,生物质能源开发的生物技术所面临的挑战包括:生物质形成与细胞壁分解过程的认识与操控,生物质预处理技术,糖产量高的植物变种的选育,用于纤维素降解的酶和微生物的大规模筛选与选育等。除强调生物质能源开发的环境安全和公共健康的重要性之外,生物质能开发还需要解决生命周期评价(LCA)、可持续性的标准和指标的建立等问题。