Sex change and morphological transitions in a marine ectoparasite

The fitness of parasitic organisms is strongly driven by their ability to infect potential hosts. Although transmission to a host organism is a key component to the parasitic lifestyle, surviving and reproducing within a host poses additional challenges. Cymothoa excisa is a parasitic isopod that infects Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus, along the Texas coast and has evolved mechanisms to successfully survive and reproduce within its host. Cymothoa excisa is known to exhibit sex‐change strategies but limited information exists on morphological changes, reproductive output and the timing at which sex change becomes optimal. This study collected Atlantic croaker during a 22‐month survey period and identified parasite prevalence and intensity in the host fish population. Infection rates were constant throughout the year at 19.88% and intensity increased through the season up to a maximum of four parasites. Following collection, isopod morphological parameters were quantified for each life stage (including female, transitional, male and juvenile), identifying shape and size transitions through ontogeny and sex change. Transitional C. excisa isopods only occurred when only one isopod was present in a fish, suggesting that isopods change sex from male to female if they are the first to recruit to an uninfected host. As isopods transition to females they have a large increase in size, legs, and pleotelson (which influence fecundity and anchoring ability), whereas the gonopod, eyes and uropod show a reduction (which are no longer needed for swimming and finding hosts). Data suggest that C. excisa sex change is related to the timing of infection and brood size increases with female size and host size. Therefore, it would be advantageous to be the first isopod to infect a host, as it could change into a female and increase reproductive potential. We discuss hypotheses that could explain the mating behavior of parasitic isopods.     

Environmental tolerance of Caprella mutica: implications for its distribution as a marine non-native species

Physiological tolerances limit the distribution of marine species, with geographical ranges being set by environmental factors, such as temperature and salinity, which affect the rates of vital processes and survival of marine ectotherms. The physiological tolerances of the non-native marine amphipod Caprella mutica were investigated in laboratory experiments. Adult C. mutica were collected from a fish farm on the west coast of Scotland and exposed to a range of temperatures and salinities for 48 h. C. mutica were tolerant of a broad range of temperature and salinity conditions, with 100% mortality at 30 degrees C (48 h LT50, 28.3+/-0.4 degrees C), and salinities lower than 16 (48 h LC50, 18.7+/-0.2). Although lethargic at low temperatures (2 degrees C), no mortality was observed, and the species is known to survive at temperatures as low as -1.8 degrees C. The upper LC(50) was greater than the highest salinity tested (40), thus it is unlikely that salinity will limit the distribution of C. mutica in open coastal waters. However, the species will be excluded from brackish water environments such as the heads of sea lochs or estuaries. The physiological tolerances of C. mutica are beyond the physical conditions experienced in its native or introduced range and are thus unlikely to be the primary factors limiting its present distribution and future spread.     

Thermal evolution of Kuiper belt objects, with implications for cryovolcanism

We investigate the internal thermal evolution of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs), small (radii <1000 km), icy (mean densities ) bodies orbiting beyond Neptune, focusing on Pluto's moon Charon in particular. Our calculations are time-dependent and account for differentiation. We review evidence for ammonia hydrates in the ices of KBOs, and include their effects on the thermal evolution. A key finding is that the production of the first melt, at the melting point of ammonia dihydrate, ≈176 K, triggers differentiation of rock and ice. The resulting structure comprises a rocky core surrounded by liquids and ice, enclosed within a >100-km thick undifferentiated crust of rock and ice. This structure is especially conducive to the retention of subsurface liquid, and bodies the size of Charon or larger (radii >600 km) are predicted to retain some subsurface liquid to the present day. We discuss the possibility that this liquid can be brought to the surface rapidly via self-propagating cracks. We conclude that cryovolcanism is a viable process expected to affect the surfaces of large KBOs including Charon.     

Reconstructed droughts for the southeastern Tibetan Plateau over the past 568 years and its linkages to the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean climate variability

We present a Palmer Drought Severity Index reconstruction (r = 0.61, P < 0.01) from 1440 to 2007 for the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, based on tree rings of the forest fir (Abies forrestii). Persistent decadal dry intervals were found in the 1440s–1460s, 1560s–1580s, 1700s, 1770s, 1810s, 1860s and 1980s, and the extreme wet epochs were the 1480s–1490s, 1510s–1520s, 1590s, 1610s–1630s, 1720s–1730s, 1800s, 1830s, 1870s, 1930s, 1950s and after the 1990s. Comparisons of our record with those identified in other moisture related reconstructions for nearby regions showed that our reconstructed droughts were relatively consistent with those found in other regions of Indochina, suggesting similar drought regimes. Spectral peaks of 2.3–5.5 years may be indicative of ENSO activity, as also suggested by negative correlations with SSTs in the eastern equatorial and southeastern Pacific Ocean. Significant multidecadal spectral peaks of 29.2–40.9 and 56.8–60.2 years were identified. As indicated by the spatial correlation patterns, the decadal-scale variability may be linked to SST variations in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.     

Shoshonitic lamprophyre dykes and their relation to mesothermal Au---Sb veins at Hillgrove, New South Wales, Australia

The Hillgrove mineral field, in the southern part of the New England Orogen of northeastern New South Wales, Australia, contains numerous mesothermal Au---Sb vein systems. Calc-alkaline (shoshonitic) lamprophyre (CAL) dykes are also associated with mineralisation with dilational lode structures acting as conduits for dyke intrusion, which has occurred before and after major quartz-stibnite veining. Dykes include minette and vogesite compositions and were emplaced in the late Permian (247–255 Ma), at the same time as regionally extensive I-type magmatism in the New England Orogen. Least-altered dykes are enriched in Mg, K, Ba, Rb, Sr, Zr, Th, Cr and Ni relative to I-type intrusives although chemical affinities are evident between lamprophyres and the more mafic members of the high-K Moonbi Plutonic Suite.

Hillgrove lamprophyres are commonly enriched in Sb, As, Hg, Au, W and Bi with respect to average CAL compositions. Evidence indicates this is most likely due to contamination of magma during intrusion through mineralised structures, rather than a primary magmatic feature. Partially resorbed xenocrystic stibnite occurs in dykes which have intruded lode structures, probably facilitated by the low melting point of stibnite (550°C) and its incorporation into the magma. Carbon and oxygen isotopic data from carbonates in least-altered, post-lode lamprophyres are indistinguishable from carbonate in altered dykes and veins, implying that hydrothermal interaction continued after dyke intrusion. Although it is unlikely that lamprophyre dykes have been a direct source for mineralisation at Hillgrove, the close temporal and spatial relation of dykes, mesothermal Au---Sb veins and I-type intrusions are interpreted to be manifestations of the post-collisional setting and influx of mantle-derived heat and partial melts into the New England Orogen during the late Permian.     

La limite Pliocène-Pleistocène en Bretagne

The end of the Pliocene transgression is represented in Brittany, above sands and gravels, by clay or sandy clay containing an estuarian plankton and sometimes shells of molluses.
New borings at Pont-Rouz in Quemperven (Brittany) permit a biostratigraphical study, by means of pollen analysis, of the period corresponding to the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition. In the lower part of the deposit, rich in Ostrea shells, many floral element characteristics of the Reuver-clay are present: Sequoia, Taxodium, Sciadopitys , in relatively high percentages, Nyssa, Symplocos, Liquidambar , sporadically. The 'Tertiary' elements disappear in the upper part of the clay when other relicts like Tsuga, Pterocarya , and Carya are still present. Thus the Reuverian-Praetiglian boundary can be traced in the littoral sequence of Pont-Rouz. As in the Netherlands, the deterioration of the climate is clearly indicated by a sudden increase of Graminaceae pollen. A same evolution of the flora can be noticed at Mernel and Saint-Jean-la-Poterie, also in grey clay, along the river system of the Vilaine.
The Upper-Pliocene transgression has followed the same river system as the present one. The estuarian sediments lie in Brittany between 55 and 30 metres above zero NGF. The maximum of the transgression is situated in the Reuverian at La Salle, near Pont-Rouz, at 55 m (NGF). The post-Pliocene regression begins with the Praetiglian and continues in the Lower Pleistocene.     

Preparations for a new absolute determination of gravity at the National Physical Laboratory Teddington

The proposed method involves the timing of the flight of a ball projected upwards and allowed to rise and fall freely under gravity and the principle, the advantages and the difficulties of the method are discussed. Means of locating a ball in flight to i μ are considered and the results of some studies of the adopted scheme are given. The probable layout of the apparatus is outlined.     

Deep Natural Gas Resources

From a geological perspective, deep natural gas resources generally are defined as occurring in reservoirs below 15,000 feet, whereas ultradeep gas occurs below 25,000 feet. From an operational point of view, deep may be thought of in a relative sense based on the geologic and engineering knowledge of gas (and oil) resources in a particular area. Deep gas occurs in either conventionally trapped or unconventional (continuous-type) basin-center accumulations that are essentially large single fields having spatial dimensions often exceeding those of conventional fields.Exploration for deep conventional and continuous-type basin-center natural gas resources deserves special attention because these resources are widespread and occur in diverse geologic environments. In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that 939 TCF of technically recoverable natural gas remained to be discovered or was part of reserve appreciation from known fields in the onshore areas and state waters of the United States. Of this USGS resource, nearly 114 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of technically recoverable gas remains to be discovered from deep sedimentary basins. Worldwide estimates of deep gas also are high. The U.S. Geological Survey World Petroleum Assessment 2000 Project recently estimated a world undiscovered conventional gas resource outside the U.S. of 844 Tcf below 4.5 km (about 15,000 feet).Less is known about the origins of deep gas than about the origins of gas at shallower depths because fewer wells have been drilled into the deeper portions of many basins. Some of the many factors contributing to the origin and accumulation of deep gas include the initial concentration of organic matter, the thermal stability of methane, the role of minerals, water, and nonhydrocarbon gases in natural gas generation, porosity loss with increasing depth and thermal maturity, the kinetics of deep gas generation, thermal cracking of oil to gas, and source rock potential based on thermal maturity and kerogen type. Recent experimental simulations using laboratory pyrolysis methods have provided much information on the origins of deep gas.Technologic problems are among the greatest challenges to deep drilling. Problems associated with overcoming hostile drilling environments (e.g. high temperatures and pressures, and acid gases such as CO₂ and H₂S) for successful well completion, present the greatest obstacles to drilling, evaluating, and developing deep gas fields. Even though the overall success ratio for deep wells (producing below 15,000 feet) is about 25%, a lack of geological and geophysical information continues to be a major barrier to deep gas exploration.Results of recent finding-cost studies by depth interval for the onshore U.S. indicate that, on average, deep wells cost nearly 10 times more to drill than shallow wells, but well costs and gas recoveries differ widely among different gas plays in different basins.Based on an analysis of natural gas assessments, deep gas holds significant promise for future exploration and development. Both basin-center and conventional gas plays could contain significant deep undiscovered technically recoverable gas resources.     

Gold scavenged by bismuth melts: An example from Alpine shear-remobilizates in the Highiş Massif, Romania

Summary Gold mineralization occurs in the Şoimuş Ilii vein, the main Cu prospect in the Highiş Massif, Western Apuseni Mts., Romania. The Highiş Massif is part of the Highiş Biharia Shear Zone, a 320–300 Ma Variscan greenschist belt, with a 114–100 Ma Alpine overprint. In Highiş, phyllonites enclose an igneous core consisting of an Early Permian basic complex intruded by Middle Permian granitoids. The vein is hosted within basalt hornfels at its contact with the 264 Ma Jernova granite. Gold is not only present as native gold, but also as jonassonite (ideally AuBi₅S₄). The latter occurs as inclusions 1–30 μm in size in chalcopyrite; microanalysis gives the empirical formulae Au_1.02(Pb_0.47Bi_4.51)_4.98S_4. The two Au minerals are spatially associated with Bi–(Pb) sulfosalts (oversubstituted bismuthinite, cosalite) and sulfotellurides/selenides (ingodite, ikunolite and laitakarite) in blebs/patches, mainly hosted in chalcopyrite. This Au–Bi–Te association overprints an earlier, chalcopyrite-quartz assemblage, occurring as trails along discrete zones of brecciation that crosscut former mineral boundaries. Curvilinear and cuspate boundary textures within the blebs/patches suggest deposition in a molten form. Mineral associations in combination with phase relations indicate that the Au–Bi–Te association formed as a result of melting of pre-existing native Bi (and possibly sulfosalts) at 400 °C under sulfidation conditions. These melts incorporated Au, Pb, Te and S as they moved in the vein during shearing and were locked within dilational sites. Native Bi occurs as coarse aggregates along vein margins, but in the Au–Bi–Te association, it is present only as small droplets in shear gashes, never together with other Bi- and Au-minerals. The Bi-derived melts are part of an internal remobilizate which also includes chlorite and adularia. Minerals in the system Au–Bi–Te were deposited from a neutral low reducing fluid during Alpine shearing in the Early Cretaceous. The fluid also assisted solid-state mobilisation of chalcopyrite and cobaltite. This study illustrates the significant potential of Bi, a low melting-point chalcophile element (LMCE), to act as Au scavenger at temperatures as low as 400 °C.