AN ANALYTICAL SCHEME FOR CHONDRITIC METEORITES

A chemical scheme is reported for the analysis of chondritic materials and results are presented for the Cocklebiddy meteorite. Analytical problems associated with chondrite inhomogeneity including phase leaching selectivity and the completeness of individual phase attack are considered. Data obtained by this method can be used to classify chondrites according to the accepted weight and molar ratio methods (Van Schmus and Wood, 1967: Wasson, 1974) The analytical scheme uses selective leaching techniques to determine, in each sample, the chemical composition of metallic, sulphide and silicate phases. Elemental concentrations are obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry, flame photometry, spectrophotometry or titration techniques, and the total sample average compositions are determined on fully oxidised specimens by XRF     

Tidally incised valleys on tropical carbonate shelves: An example from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The formation of incised valleys on continental shelves is generally attributed to fluvial erosion under low sea level conditions. However, there are exceptions. A multibeam sonar survey at the northern end of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, adjacent to the southern edge of the Gulf of Papua, mapped a shelf valley system up to 220 m deep that extends for more than 90 km across the continental shelf. This is the deepest shelf valley yet found in the Great Barrier Reef and is well below the maximum depth of fluvial incision that could have occurred under a − 120 m, eustatic sea level low-stand, as what occurred on this margin during the last ice age. These valleys appear to have formed by a combination of reef growth and tidal current scour, probably in relation to a sea level at around 30–50 m below its present position.

Tidally incised depressions in the valley floor exhibit closed bathymetric contours at both ends. Valley floor sediments are mainly calcareous muddy, gravelly sand on the middle shelf, giving way to well-sorted, gravely sand containing a large relict fraction on the outer shelf. The valley extends between broad platform reefs and framework coral growth, which accumulated through the late Quaternary, coincides with tidal current scour to produce steep-sided (locally vertical) valley walls. The deepest segments of the valley were probably the sites of lakes during the last ice age, when Torres Strait formed an emergent land-bridge between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Numerical modeling predicts that the strongest tidal currents occur over the deepest, outer-shelf segment of the valley when sea level is about 40–50 m below its present position. These results are consistent with a Pleistocene age and relict origin of the valley.

Based on these observations, we propose a new conceptual model for the formation of tidally incised shelf valleys. Tidal erosion on meso- to macro-tidal, rimmed carbonate shelves is enhanced during sea level rise and fall when a tidal, hydraulic pressure gradient is established between the shelf-lagoon and the adjacent ocean basin. Tidal flows attain a maximum, and channel incision is greatest, when a large hydraulic pressure gradient coincides with small channel cross sections. Our tidal-incision model may explain the observation of other workers, that sediment is exported from the Great Barrier Reef shelf to the adjacent ocean basins during intermediate (rather than last glacial maximum) low-stand, sea level positions. The model may apply to other rimmed shelves, both modern and ancient.     

Laboratory wave reflection analysis using co-located gages

Most coastal and ocean engineering laboratories employ techniques that use two or three spatially separated wave gages to estimate reflection of irregular waves in two-dimensional wave flumes. This paper presents a frequency domain method for separating incident and reflected wave spectra from co-located gages (gages located on the same vertical line). The technique is based on linear wave theory, and it can be applied to time series of sea surface elevation and horizontal water velocity collected in a vertical array, or it can be used with horizontal and vertical water velocity time series collected at the same point in the water column. Application of the method is limited to those frequencies showing good coherence between time series signals. Outside the range of good coherence, gross inaccuracies occur.The utility of the co-located gage method is illustrated using water velocity data collected in a wave flume with a laser Doppler velocimeter, and the method is validated for the case of complete reflection by a vertical wall. Side-by-side comparison to the spatially-separated wave gage method of Goda and Suzuki (1976) exhibited close agreement for a variety of irregular wave trains being weakly reflected by a mild sloping beach. The co-located gage method is useful in situations where there are spatial variations in the wavelength, such as on a mildly sloping bottom, or in the region close to highly reflective structures where errors arising from spatial variations in characteristic wave parameters would corrupt estimates made using the spatially-separated wave gage method.     

A culture-dependent survey of thermophilic bacteria from hot springs in Xiamen area in China

Microbes are believed to play important roles in ecosystem function in many environments. The hot springs of Xiamen Island are close to the Xiamen Sea, and may have some characteristics different from those of inland hot springs. Microbes living in the hot springs of Xiamen may have new characteristics. However, little is known about microbial communities of hot springs close to the Xiamen Sea. A culturedependent survey of microbial population in the Xiamen hot springs was performed by using an approach combining total cellular protein profile identification and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. A total of 328 isolates of bacteria were obtained from liquid and sediment samples from the Xiamen hot springs, including neutrophilic thermophilic bacteria and moderately thermophilic acidophiles. Neutrophilic thermophilic bacteria, which grow at a temperature range of 55—90℃ including Rhodothermus marinus (Strain 1), Thermus thermophilus (Strain 2), Thermus thiopara (Strain 3), Geobacillus stearothermophilus (Strain 4), Geobacillus thermoleovorans (Strain 5), and Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes (Strain 6), were recovered by 2216E plates. Moderately thermophilic acidophiles, which can grow at temperatures above 50℃ and a pH range of 1.8—3.5 such as Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris (Strain 8), Sulfobacillus acidophilus (Strain 9), and Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans (Strain 10), were isolated on selective solid medium containing sulfur and Fe2+. Among these strains, Rhodothermus marinus, Thermus thermophilus and Geobacillus stearothermophilus are not only thermophiles, but also halophiles. One bacterium strain (Strain 6) shared 99% nucleotide sequence homology with Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, but was quite different from Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes in biological characteristics, suggesting that it may represent a novel thermophilic species. Results indicated that various species of neutrophilic thermophiles and moderately thermophilic acidophiles were widely distributed in the Xiamen hot springs and that Rhodothermus marinus and Thermus thermophilus dominated the cultivable microbial community.     

Hydrological characteristics of vegetated river flows: a laboratory flume study

Abstract

Laboratory flume experiments were undertaken to measure the vertical profiles of mean flow velocity for three different flow discharges and four different stem densities of Hydrilla verticillata. The data were used to calculate three parameters, namely Manning's roughness coefficient, the Reynolds number and the Froude number. In addition, empirical equations were obtained for the vertical distribution of measured flow velocity within the transitional zone and above the plant canopy. The results show that: (a) the vertical distribution of measured flow velocity exhibits three zone profiles; (b) Manning's roughness coefficient decreases with increasing depth-averaged flow velocity; (c) the relationship between Manning's roughness coefficient and the depth-averaged flow velocity is within the smooth left inverse curve; (d) Manning's roughness coefficient significantly changes with increasing density of Hydrilla; (e) the Froude number is independent of the density of Hydrilla; and (f) both the Reynolds number and the Froude number increase with increasing depth-averaged flow velocity.

Citation Shi, J.Z., Li, Y.-H., Hughes, J.M.R., and Zhao, M., 2013. Hydrological characteristics of vegetated river flows: a laboratory flume study. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (5), 1047–1058.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz     

南海中北部陆缘横波速度结构及其构造意义

纵横波联合勘探可以得到更多关于岩石圈层岩性、物性等介质属性方面的信息,有效提高地壳物质组成的约束性.在纵波速度结构模型的基础上,通过射线追踪和走时拟合对OBS2006-3地震剖面径向分量的转换震相进行了横波速度结构模拟.结果表明:沉积层1、沉积层2的横波速度分别为0.7~0.9 km/s和1.6~1.7 km/s,波速比由2.64~3.16变化到2.41左右,较高的波速比表明沉积层固结程度不高;中生代沉积层横波速度由浅部的2.6 km/s增大到3.0 km/s,波速比为1.74~1.80;地壳中波速比为1.74~1.82,表明该剖面地壳为陆壳性质;下地壳高速层的横波速度为4.0~4.2 km/s,纵横波速比为1.73~1.78,揭示高速层的物质组成为铁镁质的基性岩,推断其与海底扩张停止之后的岩浆底侵作用有关.     

南海海底地震仪异常数据的分析和处理

海底地震仪(Ocean Bottom Seismometer, OBS)数据处理至关重要,是获取深部地壳结构的基础与前提.2006年实施OBS2006-2测线时,有2台OBS(OBS03,OBS06)数据出现异常,无法使用.由于海上航次花费巨大,采集到的数据弥足珍贵.本文采用数据格式检查、邻近台站对比分析、重采样等方法,成功地对这2台OBS数据进行了解编处理,得到了这两个台站的综合地震记录剖面;利用上述方法对2011年实施的OBS973-3测线中的异常台站OBS03进行了分析处理,同样得到了OBS03台站的综合地震剖面;通过查看两次海上实验班报发现,OBS2006-2测线之OBS06与OBS973-3测线之OBS03内部Sedis编号相同,为同一台记录仪器,再一次验证上述处理方法正确可行;然后对OBS2006-2测线2个台站进行震相识别与走时拾取后,利用前人纵波速度模型开展了射线追踪与走时模拟.此次对异常OBS数据的重新处理工作,不仅为OBS探测提供了宝贵的数据处理经验,而且将提高OBS2006-2测线地壳结构的可靠性和约束性,具有重要的研究意义.     

适用于快速远程检测海水中氰化物的方法研究

建立了一种适用于海洋远程快速检测氰化物的检测方法,设计了一体化检测装置,未来可搭载到无人艇上实现自动快速检测。针对最佳检测条件进行了一系列优化,得到最佳检测条件:对于100 mL的待测样品,加入酒石酸固体1.5 g;用1～2滴浓度为150 g/L的碳酸钠溶液浸润苦味酸试纸;加热温度80℃,加热时间10min。在最佳检测条件下,检测检出限达0.3mg/L。该方法实现了适用于海水氰化钠的远程检测,大大提高了检测效率,无需人员进入污染现场,安全性高。可广泛用于海洋危化品泄漏、湖泊污染、现场应急筛选等场合的水体样品快速检测。     

The D-CIXS X-ray mapping spectrometer on SMART-1

The D-CIXS Compact X-ray Spectrometer will provide high quality spectroscopic mapping of the Moon, the primary science target of the ESA SMART-1 mission. D-CIXS consists of a high throughput spectrometer, which will perform spatially localised X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. It will also carry a solar monitor, to provide the direct calibration needed to produce a global map of absolute lunar elemental abundances, the first time this has been done. Thus it will achieve ground breaking science within a resource envelope far smaller than previously thought possible for this type of instrument, by exploiting two new technologies, swept charge devices and micro-structure collimators. The new technology does not require cold running, with its associated overheads to the spacecraft. At the same time it will demonstrate a radically novel approach to building a type of instrument essential for the BepiColombo mission and potential future planetary science targets.     

A submillimetre survey of the star formation history of radio galaxies

We present the results of the first major systematic submillimetre survey of radio galaxies spanning the redshift range 1< z <5. The primary aim of this work is to elucidate the star formation history of this sub class of elliptical galaxies by tracing the cosmological evolution of dust mass. Using SCUBA on the JCMT, we have obtained 850-μm photometry of 47 radio galaxies to a consistent rms depth of 1 mJy, and have detected dust emission in 14 cases. The radio galaxy targets have been selected from a series of low-frequency radio surveys of increasing depth (3CRR, 6CE, etc.), in order to allow us to separate the effects of increasing redshift and increasing radio power on submillimetre luminosity. Although the dynamic range of our study is inevitably small, we find clear evidence that the typical submillimetre luminosity (and hence dust mass) of a powerful radio galaxy is a strongly increasing function of redshift; the detection rate rises from ≃15 per cent at z <2.5 to ≳75 per cent at z >2.5, and the average submillimetre luminosity rises at a rate ∝(1+ z )³ out to z ≃4. Moreover, our extensive sample allows us to argue that this behaviour is not driven by underlying correlations with other radio galaxy properties such as radio power, radio spectral index, or radio source size/age. Although radio selection may introduce other more subtle biases, the redshift distribution of our detected objects is in fact consistent with the most recent estimates of the redshift distribution of comparably bright submillimetre sources discovered in blank field surveys. The evolution of submillimetre luminosity found here for radio galaxies may thus be representative of massive ellipticals in general.