Tillage and farm manure affect root growth and nutrient uptake of wheat and rice under semi-arid conditions

Tillage systems affect soil properties, crop growth and nutrient uptake under various agro-ecological conditions. The uptake of water and nutrients are largely dependent on the root systems of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). The application of manure has direct influence on the nutrient uptake by the crop plants. A 2 year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of tillage and farm manure on root growth by measuring the root length density on a sandy clay loam (Typic calciargid soil). Three tillage systems were used; (i) minimum tillage (MT), (ii) deep tillage (DT) and (iii) conventional tillage (CT). Three farm manure levels were used; (i) FM₀ (only chemical fertilizers), (ii) FM₁₅ (farm manure at 15 Mg ha^?1) and (iii) FM₃₀ (farm manure at 30 Mg ha^?1). The incorporation of farm manure into soil markedly improved the root length density (RLD) of both wheat and rice crops. For wheat, the application of FM₃₀ increased RLD by 16% and 9% in cases of deep tillage and minimum tillage, respectively. For rice, the increase in RLD at the same farm manure rate (FM₃₀) was 13% and 17%, during first and second year, respectively. Averaged across tillage, the trend of RLD for both wheat and rice was DT > CT > MT. The incorporation of FM has increased the uptake of N, P and K significantly (P < 0.05), thereby increasing the agronomic parameters. The manure may be used to ameliorate the deleterious effects of tillage for sustainable crop yield.     

Aerospectrometric and aeromagnetic characteristics associated Nb–Ta–Sn mineralization, G. Nuweibi albite granite Central Eastern Desert, Egypt

A geophysical signature associated with Nb–Ta–Sn mineralization of G. (G. : abbreviation to word Gebel which means mountain in Arabic) Nuweibi area, located the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt is presented. This signature was established by an integration of airborne gamma ray spectrometric and magnetic data. Variations seen in the gamma ray spectrometric data are used as a base to study the three granitic suites: younger-, albite-, and older granites in G. Nuweibi area. Graphical techniques such as frequency histograms and box-plots are used to visualize the shape of the distribution and determine the anomaly thresholds of the three radioelements eU, eTh, and K% data in these granitic suites. The box-plot graphical representations and calculations made on data sets indicate that no samples have eU values above the thresholds, i.e., no outliers representing values of the box-plots. Nuweibi albite granite is associated with a gamma ray response that includes the strongest eU, eTh, K%, and eTh/K ratio anomalies in the study area. K–eTh plot shows that the albite granite has a higher eTh concentration than the older and younger granites. The increase in K concentration and raise in Th/K ratio of Nuweibi albite granite points to unusual geological processes leading to mineralization and reflects the highly fractionated nature of the magma which results in thorium enrichment. This also reflects that K alteration associated with Nb–Ta–Sn mineralization is both poorly focused spatially and very much weaker than observed in any other mineralizing districts. The distribution of magnetic sources and their locations and depths in the study region are determined by Euler deconvolution and analytical signal techniques. Good clustering of Euler solutions were obtained using SI?=?0.5 and SI?=?1.0 for most of the features in the area under consideration. The solutions obtained have shown magnetic sources which can be related to the impact structure whose depths varies between ground surface to 1.66 km. The analytical signal revealed that the metamorphosed basic rocks (mainly olivine metagabbro), serpentinite and dyke bodies are the main sources of high magnetic anomalies, particularly within the area east G. Nuweibi region.     

Calanoid copepod resting egg abundance and hatching success in the sediment of the Seine estuary (France)

Benthic, viable resting eggs of calanoid copepods were found for the first time in the Seine estuary (France) during July 2008. Vertical distribution of the resting eggs in the sediment was determined up to 10 cm depth. Hatching success of the eggs extracted from different 1-cm thick sediment layers was experimentally tested immediately after extraction and after a long refractory phase (i.e. 11 months) of storage at low temperature (4–5 °C). The hatching success of resting eggs obtained immediately after sediment incubation was lower (0.72%) than the value observed after 11 months (4.50%) with an overall hatching success of 2.37%. The marine, calanoid copepod Temora longicornis was the primary species to hatch from the eggs; however, the estuarine calanoid copepod Eurytemora affinis also hatched from resting eggs. The mean abundance of eggs found in sediment (1.42 × 10⁶ eggs m⁻²) was comparable to that reported for other marine and estuarine calanoid copepods. The Seine estuary sediment had a high variability of egg abundance (between 0.14 and 8.10 × 10⁷ eggs m⁻³) suggesting that the hydrodynamics of this macrotidal estuary are likely responsible for this variability. Significant sediment resuspension occurs in the Seine estuary during flood periods and spring tides leading to resting eggs to contribute along the year to the nauplii recruitment of calanoid copepods. On average, around 400,000 nauplii m⁻³ month⁻¹ of the main calanoid copepods can emerge from the surface layer sediment in the Seine estuary, suggesting that resting eggs could play an important role in the population dynamics of key calanoid copepods in the Seine estuary.     

The geometric configuration of the newly discovered Abu Deleig sedimentary sub-basin,Central Sudan,using remote sensing,structural analysis,and geophysical survey

Abu Deleig area is a transitional area between the Butana basement terrain to the east; and the Khartoum and Shendi sedimentary basins to the west and northwest directions, respectively. The existence of sedimentary basins within this region of Sudan was previously unknown. Landsat images have been used for delineation of lineaments and drainage system, followed by a structural analysis and geophysical investigations including gravity and resistivity methods. The interpretation of the remotely sensed data revealed that the drainage pattern is structurally controlled. The structural analysis defined the trends of the shear and tensional fractures. The structural analysis revealed that Wadi Al Hawad is the southern continuation of the Keraf Shear Zone. The related minor fractures in a NE–SW direction exhibit normal faults governing the geometry of the Abu Deleig sub-basin. The geophysical investigations confirmed the findings of structural analysis and portrayed the subsurface geometry of the sub-basin. The newly discovered sub-basin has a prism-like shape with its apex occurring at Abu Deleig town and extends to 40 km in NW direction. The depth to the basement increases from 20 m at Abu Deleig in step form to more than 300 m, where it is linked with the Shendi Basin in the northwestern part. The results of this study, however, did not confirm any link of Abu Deleig sub-basin with Atbara Basin to the NE or Khartoum Basin to the west as have been previously suggested.     

Pairwise comparisons to reconstruct mean temperature in the Arctic Atlantic Region over the last 2,000 years

Existing multi-proxy climate reconstruction methods assume the suitably transformed proxy time series are linearly related to the target climate variable, which is likely a simplifying assumption for many proxy records. Furthermore, with a single exception, these methods face problems with varying temporal resolutions of the proxy data. Here we introduce a new reconstruction method that uses the ordering of all pairs of proxy observations within each record to arrive at a consensus time series that best agrees with all proxy records. The resulting unitless composite time series is subsequently calibrated to the instrumental record to provide an estimate of past climate. By considering only pairwise comparisons, this method, which we call PaiCo, facilitates the inclusion of records with differing temporal resolutions, and relaxes the assumption of linearity to the more general assumption of a monotonically increasing relationship between each proxy series and the target climate variable. We apply PaiCo to a newly assembled collection of high-quality proxy data to reconstruct the mean temperature of the Northernmost Atlantic region, which we call Arctic Atlantic, over the last 2,000 years. The Arctic Atlantic is a dynamically important region known to feature substantial temperature variability over recent millennia, and PaiCo allows for a more thorough investigation of the Arctic Atlantic regional climate as we include a diverse array of terrestrial and marine proxies with annual to multidecadal temporal resolutions. Comparisons of the PaiCo reconstruction to recent reconstructions covering larger areas indicate greater climatic variability in the Arctic Atlantic than for the Arctic as a whole. The Arctic Atlantic reconstruction features temperatures during the Roman Warm Period and Medieval Climate Anomaly that are comparable or even warmer than those of the twentieth century, and coldest temperatures in the middle of the nineteenth century, just prior to the onset of the recent warming trend.     

Sunspots: An overview

Sunspots are the most readily visible manifestations of solar magnetic field concentrations and of their interaction with the Sun's plasma. Although sunspots have been extensively studied for almost 400 years and their magnetic nature has been known since 1908, our understanding of a number of their basic properties is still evolving, with the last decades producing considerable advances. In the present review I outline our current empirical knowledge and physical understanding of these fascinating structures. I concentrate on the internal structure of sunspots, in particular their magnetic and thermal properties and on some of their dynamical aspects. Received 27 September 2002 / Published online 3 March 2003     

Seismicity assessment of Fukushima region,fault kinematics and calculation of PGA value for Idosawa fault in Hamadori area,Japan

Natural Hazards - In depth assessment of seismicity distribution for a particular region like Fukushima, prefecture is key towards reliable seismic hazard analysis for the area. Assessment of...     

Basin shape and sediment architecture in the Gun Supersequence: A strike‐slip model for Pb–Zn–Ag ore genesis at Mt Isa

Sequence‐stratigraphic correlations provide a better understanding of sediment architecture in the Mt Isa and lower McNamara Groups of northern Australia. Sediments record deposition in a marine environment on a broad southeast‐facing ramp that extended from the Murphy Inlier in the northwest to the Gorge Creek, Saint Paul and Rufous Fault Zones in the southeast. Depositional systems prograded in a southeasterly direction. Shoreline siliciclastic facies belts initially formed on the western and northern parts of the ramp, deeper water basinal facies occurred to the east and south. The general absence of shoreline facies throughout the Mt Isa Group suggests that depositional systems originally extended further to the east and probably crossed the Kalkadoon‐Leichhardt Block. Fourteen, regionally correlatable fourth‐order sequences, each with a duration of approximately one million years, are identified in the 1670–1655 Ma Gun Supersequence. Stratal correlations of fourth‐order sequences and attendant facies belts resolve a stratigraphic architecture dominated by times of paired subsidence and uplift. This architecture is most consistent with sinistral strike‐slip tectonism along north‐northeast‐oriented structures with dilational jogs along northwest structures as the primary driver for accommodation. Although reactivated during deformation, the ancestral northwest‐trending May Downs, Twenty Nine Mile, Painted Rocks, Transmitter, Redie Creek and Termite Range Fault Zones are interpreted as the principal synsedimentary growth structures. Sinistral strike‐slip resulted in a zone of long‐lived dilation to the north of the May Downs/Twenty Nine Mile and Gorge Creek Fault Zones and a major basin depocentre in the broad southeast‐facing ramp. Subordinate depocentres also developed on the northern side of the ancestral Redie Creek and Termite Range fault zones. Transfer of strike‐slip movement to the east produced restraining or compressive regions, localising areas of uplift and the generation of local unconformities. Northwest‐ and north‐northeast‐oriented magnetic anomalies to the south and west of Mt Isa, identify basement heterogeneities. Basement to the south and west of these anomalies is interpreted to mark intrabasin siliciclastic provenance areas in the Gun depositional system. Pb–Zn–Ag deposits of the Mt Isa valley are interpreted as occurring in a major basin depocentre in response to a renewed phase of paired uplift and subsidence in late Gun time (approximately 1656 Ma). This event is interpreted to have synchronously created accommodation for sediments that host the Mt Isa deposit, while focusing topographically and thermobarically driven basinal fluids into the zone of dilation.     

Fluid inclusion and carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotope study of the Polaris Mississippi Valley-type Zn–Pb deposit, Canadian Arctic Archipelago: implications for ore genesis

The Polaris deposit is one of the largest Mississippi Valley-type deposits in the world, with 22 million tonnes of ore at 14% Zn and 4% Pb contained in a single, compact orebody surrounded by dolomitized host rocks. Using detailed sampling of carbonates in the orebody and the dolostone halo, this paper aims to characterize the temporal and spatial evolution of the mineralizing system, and to understand the mechanisms that controlled the accumulation of this large, compact Zn–Pb deposit. Five types of dolomite have been distinguished, including three replacement (RD) and two pore-filling dolomites (PD). The paragenetic order is RD1, RD2, RD3, PD1, and PD2. Pore-filling calcite (PC) postdates all other minerals. In most cases, sulfides and dolomite did not co-precipitate, but sphalerite and galena largely overlap with RD3 and PD1. Various dolomites are dissolved or replaced by sulfide-precipitating fluids; sulfides in turn can be overgrown by dolomites. Colloform texture in sphalerite is widespread. Fluid inclusions were studied in RD3, PD1, PD2, sphalerite, and PC. The overall ranges of homogenization temperatures (T _h) and last ice-melting temperatures (T _m-ice) for fluid inclusions in dolomites and sphalerite are from 67 to 141 °C and from −46.7 to −27.0 °C, respectively, consistent with warm basinal brines with high salinities and Ca/Na ratios. Gas chromatographic analysis of these fluid inclusions indicates low concentrations of hydrocarbons (<0.06 mol%). C, O, and Sr isotopes were analyzed for all dolomites and PC, as well as for the fine-grained host limestone and early diagenetic calcite (SC–RC). The isotopic values of RD2, RD3, PD1, and PD2 cluster tightly and form largely overlapping domains. With respect to the host limestone, they are depleted in ¹⁸O, similar in δ¹³C, and slightly enriched in ⁸⁷Sr. There are no regular spatial variations for fluid inclusion and isotope data, indicating an overall geochemical homogeneity in the hydrothermal system. However, certain samples close to the fracture zones in the orebody with slightly elevated T _h and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values and depleted δ¹⁸O values suggest that the fracture zone was the conduit for the hot brines. Based on the geological and geochemical characteristics of the deposit, we propose that sulfide precipitation at Polaris was caused by mixing of a reduced, metal-rich, sulfur-poor fluid with a reduced, metal-poor, sulfur-rich fluid at the site of mineralization. The metal-carrying fluid ascended along fractures from below the deposit and was hotter than the host rocks, whereas the reduced sulfur-carrying fluid was delivered to the site of mineralization laterally and was in thermal equilibrium with the host rocks. This model can readily explain the dissolution of dolomite during sulfide precipitation and the abundance of colloform sphalerite, as well as the low concentrations of hydrocarbons in fluid inclusions. Accepted: 20 December 1999