Life's origin: the cosmic, planetary and biological processes

From elements formed in interstellar furnaces to humans peering back at the stars, the evolution of life has been a long, intricate and perhaps inevitable process. Life as we know it requires a planet orbiting a star at just the right distance so that water can exist in liquid form. It needs a rich supply of chemicals and energy sources. On Earth, the combination of chemistry and energy generated molecules that evolved ways of replicating themselves and of passing information from one generation to the next. Thus, the thread of life began. This chart traces the thread, maintained by DNA molecules for much of its history, as it weaves its way through the primitive oceans, gaining strength and diversity along the way. Organisms eventually moved onto the land, where advanced forms, including humans, ultimately arose. Finally, assisted by a technology of its own making, life has reached back out into space to understand its own origins, to expand into new realms, and to seek other living threads in the cosmos.     

Time travel and chemical evolution: a look at the outer solar system

Many space scientists think that the chemical conditions today on planets and moons of the outer solar system are similar to conditions on Earth soon after it formed. If so, we can learn much about the chemistry that led to life on this planet. We can also speculate about exotic habitats that might have given rise to other types of life. And if we are able to discern the chemical reactions now occurring in the outer solar system, we may be able to extrapolate these rules to other solar systems, and so define the habitable zones around other stars where the potential for life is high.     

The responses of different ethnic groups in the Sudan to rural-urban migration

The ethnic identities of the various population groups in the Sudan are a product of their specific natural and social environments. The migration of these groups to the towns, especially to Greater Khartoum, involves a drastic change of cultural norms and values. However, the capability of change and the subsequent results are strongly conditioned by the specific background of each ethnic group and by the conditions in its area of origin. This is being proved by a comparative study on three ethnic groups in the Sudan: the Nuba, the Zaghawa and the Hadandawa.     

Identification of the interstellar cyanomethyl radical (CH2CN) in the molecular clouds TMC-1 and Sagittarius B2

We report the astronomical identification of the cyanomethyl radical, CH2CN, the heaviest nonlinear molecular radical to be identified in interstellar clouds. The complex fine and hyperfine structures of the lowest rotational transitions at about 20.12 and 40.24 GHz are resolved in TMC-1, where the abundance appears to be about 5 x 10(-9) relative to that of H2. This is significantly greater than the observed abundance of CH3CN (methyl cyanide) in TMC-1. In Sgr B2 the hyperfine structure is blended in the higher frequency transitions at 40, 80, and 100 GHz, although the spin-rotation doubling is clearly evident. Preliminary searches in other sources indicate that the distribution of CH2CN is similar to that for such carbon chain species as HC3N or C4H.     

南极威尔克斯地SGR钻孔处雪冰转化过程中的密度变化特征

本文着重描述了SGR钻孔处冰盖上的积雪在密实化过程中的特征变化,并对该过程进行了分段的和全面的回归分析.结果表明,冰盖密度随深度增大,但增长幅度随深度减小.作者提出密度变化减小度的概念.计算得出的所研究冰芯钻取点的密度变化减小度为-0.15kg/m~3·m~2,粒雪成冰前的密实速率平均值为4.08kg/m~3·a.本文得到的冰盖密度变化“临界点”与以往报道的有所不同.分析这一现象时,作者强调当积雪还在活动层时冰盖温度的影响,并以此解释密度剖面的异常变化以及离差的回升.特别指出,积雪的密度变化具有气候学意义,它在一定程度上能够反映出积雪形成及变化过程中气候变化的某些信息.本文由密度变化确定的钻孔点雪冰转化深度为50米.     

高能偏振能量色散X射线荧光光谱仪应用现状和进展

对高能偏振能量色散X射线荧光光谱仪基本特点及其用于环境、生物、地质样品中痕量元素的分析和RoSH检测等领域的应用现状予以介绍,并对二次靶与滤光片在痕量元素分析中的应用作了探讨。     

跨孔电阻率法有限元数值模拟及反演

油气资源和矿产资源勘探中,常需要较大的勘探深度和较高的深部分辨能力.充分利用现有钻孔的井地或跨孔电阻率成像技术适应这种要求,但引起的视电阻率响应复杂,从而给资料的正确处理与解释带来一定的困难,为此有必要通过正演数值模拟和反演相结合的手段,对理论模型井地或跨孔装置的响应异常规律进行研究.文章通过设计一个典型地质模型,利用Ansys有限元软件对模型进行2D跨孔电阻率法有限元正演计算,并将模拟的响应视电阻率作为反演的输入,结合平滑约束最小二乘反演,分析了异常特征和分布规律.     

The Nordic geological surveys： Geology for society in practice

Since the mid-nineteenth century., when the first of the Nordic Geological Surveys were established, they have generated a substantial amount of information on the Earth＇s crust, its natural resources, its processes, and on the geological history of Nordic areas. The collective mission of the geological surveys is to carry out ＂Geology for Society＂, by doing research and providing services, and by making geological information and data easily accessible to all the varied end users in industry, government agencies, government institutes, public administrations, technical offices, academia and research institutes, as well as for private individuals. The present paper gives a brief overview of a few, selected, research areas and projects currently undertaken by the Nordic geological surveys. These serve as practical examples of how the Nordic geological surveys address important societal problems and challenges that require geological input for their solution.     

Geological research at the Natural History Museum of Moscow University, 1759-1930 （in Russian）

In 2006, the Moscow publishing house Nauka （Science） published a 246-page book by Zoya A. Bessudnova entitled Geological Research at the Natural History. Museum of Moscow University, 1759-1930 as No. 32 in its series ＂Sketches on the History of Geological Knowledge＇. The author is a geologist and Senior Researcher in the Department for the History of Geology of the Vernadsky State Geological Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and a member of the International Commission on the History of Geological Sci- ences （INHIGEO）.     

天山乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川积累区气溶胶和表层雪中可溶性矿物粉尘的变化特征及相互关系——以Ca2+、Mg2+为例

对天山乌鲁木齐河源1号冰川(以下简称1号冰川)积累区海拔4 130 m处12个月、每周1次的气溶胶和表层雪样品进行了分析.结果表明,1号冰川气溶胶与表层雪中Ca2 、Mg2 的平均浓度均在夏季最高,冬季最低.气溶胶中Ca2 、Mg2 浓度变化规律极其相似,二者在一年内出现两次峰值,第1次出现在春季,第2次出现在夏末秋初.表层雪中这两种离子浓度变化趋势也相似,峰值均出现在夏季,且Ca2 浓度峰值的出现稍早于Mg2 ,二者浓度在冬季都有所升高,尤其Ca2 更为显著.气溶胶和表层雪中对应离子间在整体变化趋势上较为相似,且在日时间尺度上的对应关系有显著的特点.相应离子的对应关系,可能受粉尘微粒的溶解、离子的清除比率、离子的淋溶强弱等性质的影响.