河北秦皇岛斑鬣狗巢穴(灵仙洞)及斑鬣狗的集群死亡与埋藏

河北省秦皇岛灵仙洞发现了一批最后斑鬣狗化石,标本达上千件,至少代表了30个不同个体,包括3具骨架(其中骨架Ⅰ是世界上迄今所发现最完整的1具),还发现了一些其他哺乳动物化石,共计26属27种.根据动物群组成、地质地貌以及堆积物的综合分析判断,它的时代可能属于中更新世晚期至晚更新世早期.动物群的生态组合反映当时处于一个温热偏干、半封闭或开阔的山间草原而周边山上有树林的生态环境.标本(尤其是完整骨架)的保存为典型的原地埋藏,死后未受到包括斑鬣狗自身在内的动物干扰和破坏.斑鬣狗在动物群中占绝对优势以及幼年个体和粪化石的发现,表明灵仙洞是一处斑鬣狗族群的巢穴.与其他斑鬣狗巢穴不同的是:斑鬣狗的猎物稀少,鲜见斑鬣狗的活动痕迹,尤其是幼年斑鬣狗啃咬形成的特定产物“nibbling sticks”,这说明灵仙洞既非用于猎物遗骸的储藏,也非用于幼崽的抚养,而是一处共用巢穴,同时也表明灵仙洞的骨骼聚集与埋藏有着特定的成因和机理.     

Use of phytoplankton species indicators to track the origin of phytoplankton blooms in Willapa Bay, Washington

We focus on the question of whether high phytoplankton production events observed in a United States Pacific Northwest estuary consist of estuarine species blooms fueled by oceanic nutrient input or reflect offshore oceanic blooms that have advected into the estuary. Our approach is to use certain phytoplankton species as indicators associated with water mass origin, either estuarine or oceanic, to help resolve this question in Willapa Bay, Washington. We used species analysis and primary production data from 10 selected dates in May–September of 1998 and 1999, representing periods of high through low productivity. Out of 108 phytoplankton species identified from Willapa Bay, nine were selected and tested as indicators of oceanic species, six as estuarine, and two as surf zone. Our test results demonstrated the oceanic and estuarine species to be satifactory indicators of source waters. The prevalence of these species indicators in our samples revealed that the highest primary production and the appearance ofPseudo-nitzschia spp. were associated with oceanic intrusions of phytoplankton biomass into Willapa Bay. While the largest blooms were oceanic in origin, numerous medium-sized production events were from either oceanic, surf zone, or estuarine sources, indicating a complex situation.     

Crustal structure of the Lofoten–Vesterålen continental margin, off Norway

By compiling wide-angle seismic velocity profiles along the 400-km-long Lofoten–Vesterålen continental margin off Norway, and integrating them with an extensive seismic reflection data set and crustal-scale two-dimensional gravity modelling, we outline the crustal margin structure. The structure is illustrated by across-margin regional transects and by contour maps of depth to Moho, thickness of the crystalline crust, and thickness of the 7+ km/s lower crustal body. The data reveal a normal thickness oceanic crust seaward of anomaly 23 and an increase in thickness towards the continent–ocean boundary associated with breakup magmatism. The southern boundary of the Lofoten–Vesterålen margin, the Bivrost Fracture Zone and its landward prolongation, appears as a major across-margin magmatic and structural crustal feature that governed the evolution of the margin. In particular, a steeply dipping and relatively narrow, 10–40-km-wide, Moho-gradient zone exists within a continent–ocean transition, which decreases in width northward along the Lofoten–Vesterålen margin. To the south, the zone continues along the Vøring margin, however it is offset 70–80 km to the northwest along the Bivrost Fracture Zone/Lineament. Here, the Moho-gradient zone corresponds to a distinct, 25-km-wide, zone of rapid landward increase in crustal thickness that defines the transition between the Lofoten platform and the Vøring Basin. The continental crust on the Lofoten–Vesterålen margin reaches a thickness of 26 km and appears to have experienced only moderate extension, contrasting with the greatly extended crust in the Vøring Basin farther south. There are also distinct differences between the Lofoten and Vesterålen margin segments as revealed by changes in structural style and crustal thickness as well as in the extent of elongate potential-field anomalies. These changes may be related to transfer zones. Gravity modelling shows that the prominent belt of shelf-edge gravity anomalies results from a shallow basement structural relief, while the elongate Lofoten Islands belt requires increased lower crustal densities along the entire area of crustal thinning beneath the islands. Furthermore, gravity modelling offers a robust diagnostic tool for the existence of the lower crustal body. From modelling results and previous studies on- and off-shore mid-Norway, we postulate that the development of a core complex in the middle to lower crust in the Lofoten Islands region, which has been exhumed along detachments during large-scale extension, brought high-grade, lower crustal rocks, possibly including accreted decompressional melts, to shallower levels.     

Chronology of late Holocene climatic events in the northern North Atlantic based on AMS 14C dates and tephra markers from the volcano Hekla,Iceland

A combination of AMS¹⁴C dating and tephrochronology has been used to date late Holocene oceanographic events in a 335 cm marine record, covering about 4600 cal. yr with sedimentation rates exceeding 80 cm 1000 yr⁻¹. The core site is located 50 km offshore on the northern Icelandic shelf. Tephra markers from Iceland serve to correlate the marine and terrestrial records. Especially notable is the presence of three geochemically correlated tephra markers from the Icelandic volcano Hekla (Hekla 4, Hekla 3 and Hekla 1104). Benthic and planktonic foraminiferal abundance and distribution as well as the petrography of the sand fraction of the muddy shelf sediments are used as palaeoceanographic proxies. The foraminiferal assemblages reflect a general cooling trend during the last 4600 yr. A marked drop in sea‐surface temperatures is registered at about 3000 cal. yr BP, corresponding to the level of the Hekla 3 tephra. There is faunal indication of temperature amelioration during the Medieval Warm Period and a cooling again during the Little Ice Age. Periods of ice rafting events are indicated by ice rafted debris (IRD) concentrations, e.g. at around 3000 cal. yr BP and during the Little Ice Age. The former event occurred just prior to the deposition of the Hekla 3 tephra marker, the largest Holocene Hekla eruption. A correlation with terrestrial climatic events in Iceland is presented. A standard marine reservoir correction of 400 ¹⁴C yr appears to be reasonable, at least during periods with high influence of water masses from the Irminger Current on the northern Icelandic shelf. An increase to ca. 530 ¹⁴C yr may have occurred, however, when water masses derived from the East Greenland Current were dominant in the area. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vegetation and peat accumulation steer Holocene tidal–fluvial basin filling and overbank sedimentation along the Old Rhine River,The Netherlands

In the transformation from tidal systems to freshwater coastal landscapes, plants act as eco-engineering species that reduce hydrodynamics and trap sediment, but nature and timing of the mechanisms of land creation along estuaries remains unclear. This article focuses on the Old Rhine estuary (The Netherlands) to show the importance of vegetation in coastal landscape evolution, predominantly regarding tidal basin filling and overbank morphology. This estuary hosted the main outflow channel of the river Rhine between ca 6500 to 2000 cal bp , and was constrained by peat during most of its existence. This study reconstructs its geological evolution, by correlating newly integrated geological data and new field records to varying conditions. Numerical modelling was performed to test the inferred mechanisms. It was found that floodbasin vegetation and resulting organic accumulation strongly accelerated back-barrier infill, by minimizing tidal influence. After tidal and wave transport had already sufficiently filled the back-barrier basin, reed rapidly expanded from its edges under brackish conditions, as shown by diatom analysis and datings. Reed growth provided a positive infilling feedback by reducing tidal flow and tidal prism, accelerating basin infilling. New radiocarbon dates show that large-scale crevassing along the Old Rhine River – driven by tidal backwater effect – only started as nutrient-rich river water transformed the floodbasin into an Alder carr in a next phase of estuary evolution. Such less dense vegetation promotes crevassing as sediments are more easily transported into the floodbasin. As river discharge increased and estuary mouth infilling progressed, crevasse activity diminished around 3800 to 3000 cal bp , likely due to a reduced tidal backwater effect. The insights from this data-rich Holocene study showcase the dominant role that vegetation may have in the long-term evolution of coastal wetlands. It provides clues for effective use of vegetation in vulnerable wetland landscapes to steer sedimentation patterns to strategically adapt to rising water levels.     

Sources of Inaccuracy in Boron Isotope Measurement Using LA-MC-ICP-MS

Laser ablation multi-collector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) has become a valuable tool for the in situ measurement of the boron isotope composition of geological samples at high (tens to hundreds of μm) spatial resolution. That said, this application suffers from significant analytical challenges. We focus in this study on the underlying processes of two of the main causes for inaccuracies using this technique. We provide empirical evidence that not only Ca ions (Sadekov et al. 2019, Standish et al. 2019, Evans et al. 2021) but also Ar ions, that are reflected within the flight tube of the mass spectrometer, are the source for previously reported issues with spectral baselines. We also address the impact of plasma conditions on the instrumental mass fractionation as a source for matrix- and mass-load-related analytical biases. Comparing experimental data with the results of a dedicated release and diffusion model (RDM) we estimate that a close to complete (~ 97%) release of boron from the sample aerosol is needed to allow for consistently accurate LA boron isotope measurement results without the need for corrections.     

Therapeutic waters in the Polish geological and mining law

The Polish legislation gives groundwaters declared as curative ones a high rank of basic minerals or, in well-defined cases, of common minerals. Both kinds of minerals are subject of mining law regulations. This explains the use of the word deposit which, in the case of groundwaters, often does not reflect reality.     

PGE fractionation in seafloor hydrothermal systems: examples from mafic- and ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal fields at the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The distribution of platinum group elements (PGEs) in massive sulfides and hematite–magnetite±pyrite assemblages from the recently discovered basalt-hosted Turtle Pits hydrothermal field and in massive sulfides from the ultramafic-hosted Logatchev vent field both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was studied and compared to that from selected ancient volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits. Cu-rich samples from black smoker chimneys of both vent fields are enriched in Pd and Rh (Pd up to 227 ppb and Rh up to 149 ppb) when compared to hematite–magnetite-rich samples from Turtle Pits (Pd up to 10 ppb, Rh up to 1.9 ppb). A significant positive correlation was established between Cu and Rh in sulfide samples from Turtle Pits. PGE chondrite-normalized patterns (with a positive Rh anomaly and Pd and Au enrichment), Pd/Pt and Pd/Au ratios close to global MORB, and high values of Pd/Ir and Pt/Ir ratios indicate mafic source rock and seawater involvement in the hydrothermal system at Turtle Pits. Similarly shaped PGE chondrite-normalized patterns and high values of Pd/Pt and Pd/Ir ratios in Cu-rich sulfides at Logatchev likely reflect a similar mechanism of PGE enrichment but with involvement of ultramafic source rocks.     

Determining effective wellbore permeability from a field pressure test: a numerical analysis of detection limits

We propose a simple pressure test that can be used in the field to determine the effective permeability of existing wellbores. Such tests are motivated by the need to understand and quantify leakage risks associated with geological storage of CO₂ in mature sedimentary basins. If CO₂ is injected into a deep geological formation, and the resulting CO₂ plume encounters a wellbore, leakage may occur through various pathways in the “disturbed zone” surrounding the well casing. The effective permeability of this composite zone, on the outside of the well casing, is an important parameter for models of leakage. However, the data that exist on this key parameter do not exist in the open literature, and therefore specific field tests need to be done in order to reduce the uncertainty inherent in the leakage estimates. The test designed and analyzed herein is designed to measure effective wellbore permeability within a low-permeability caprock, bounded above and below by permeable reservoirs, by pressurizing the reservoir below and measuring the response in the reservoir above. Alternatively, a modified test can be performed within the caprock without directly contacting the reservoirs above and below. We use numerical simulation to relate pressure response to effective well permeability and then evaluate the range of detection of the effective permeability based on instrument measurement error and limits on fracture pressure. These results can guide field experiments associated with site characterization and leakage analysis.     

Geology and petrography of the Nagar Parkar igneous complex,southeastern Sindh,Pakistan: The Kharsar body

Kharsar hill is one of many granitic plutons comprising the Nagar Parkar igneous complex. The eastern part of the hill is occupied by grey-pink granite (earlier) and the western part by pink granite (later). They are composed of perthite, quartz, and plagioclase, with minor opaque oxide, biotite, titanite, local amphibole, and secondary chlorite, epidote, leucoxene/titanite. The pink granite is characterized by the presence of mafic clots. Both the granitoids are intruded by microgranite/aplite, and porphyritic mafic and rhyolite dykes, locally in swarms. These are abundant in a NE trending 200 m wide zone cutting the entire granite hill. The dykes may extend over 1 km in length and >10 m in thickness, but most are < 100 m in length. The felsic dykes are of several generations; some are associated with the two varieties of granite, others are contemporaneous with the rhyolite and mafic dykes. The mafic dykes can be grouped into two types one of which contains hornblende and the other augite as the principal mafic mineral. Major element analyses suggest that the granitic rocks are metaluminous. The Kharsar granites, like the others in Nagar Parkar, may be an extension of the Malani igneous suite of Rajasthan. The occurrence of bimodal mafic-felsic dykes and petrographic variation in the mafic dykes are briefly discussed.