Isotopic anomalies in organic nanoglobules from Comet 81P/Wild 2: Comparison to Murchison nanoglobules and isotopic anomalies induced in terrestrial organics by electron irradiation

Nanoglobules are a form of organic matter found in interplanetary dust particles and primitive meteorites and are commonly associated with ¹⁵N and D isotopic anomalies that are suggestive of interstellar processes. We report the discovery of two isotopically-anomalous organic globules from the Stardust collection of particles from Comet 81P/Wild 2 and compare them with nanoglobules from the Murchison CM2 meteorite. One globule from Stardust Cometary Track 80 contains highly aromatic organic matter and a large ¹⁵N anomaly (δ¹⁵N = 1120‰). Associated, non-globular, organic matter from this track is less enriched in ¹⁵N and contains a mixture of aromatic and oxidized carbon similar to bulk insoluble organic material (IOM) from primitive meteorites. The second globule, from Cometary Track 2, contains non-aromatic organic matter with abundant nitrile (CN) and carboxyl (COOH) functional groups. It is significantly enriched in D (δD = 1000‰) but has a terrestrial ¹⁵N/¹⁴N ratio. Experiments indicate that similar D enrichments, unaccompanied by ¹⁵N fractionation, can be reproduced in the laboratory by electron irradiation of epoxy or cyanoacrylate. Thus, a terrestrial origin for this globule cannot be ruled out, and, conversely, exposure to high-energy electron irradiation in space may be an important factor in producing D anomalies in organic materials. For comparison, we report two Murchison globules: one with a large ¹⁵N enrichment and highly aromatic chemistry analogous to the Track 80 globule and the other only moderately enriched in ¹⁵N with IOM-like chemistry. The observation of organic globules in Comet 81P/Wild 2 indicates that comets likely sampled the same reservoirs of organic matter as did the chondrite parent bodies. The observed isotopic anomalies in the globules are most likely preserved signatures of low temperature (<10 K) chemistry in the interstellar medium or perhaps the outer regions of the solar nebula. In other extraterrestrial samples, D isotopic anomalies, but not those of ¹⁵N, may be explained in part by exposure to ionizing electron radiation.     

Gold occurrence in Central Italy—the Ponte San Pietro mineralization

Gold mineralization related to a sulphide-bearing quartz vein within Triassic phyllites has been identified in a former study of an abandoned Cu–Zn–Pb mine in southern Tuscany–northern Latium. The vein-hosted mineral assemblage includes pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena, arsenopyrite, and tetrahedrite; the gold content reaches up to 20 ppm. The mineralization was related to fluids characterised by moderate temperatures and moderate salinities (5–15% NaCl equivalent) and represents the highest grade of Au in the ore deposits of southern Tuscany. The difference in the estimated values of Te of primary, L+V, pseudo-secondary L+V, secondary L+V fluids inclusions reflects different components present in the solutions.Based on these results one can conclude that euhedral quartz and pyrite deposition was related to fluids having variable salinity and chemical components.The origin of gold in Ponte San Pietro (PSP) deposit may be related to leaching of metapelites/phyllites derived from pelitic rocks containing some amount of sulphur-bearing organic matter; it is worthy noting that quartz–marcasite bearing lenses, interstratified in Triassic phyllites, contain significant amount of visible gold. The Co, Ni, Mn, as well as the δ³⁴S data, suggest a different origin for the phyllite-hosted marcasite, the PSP quartz-vein hosted pyrite, and for gold occurrences.     

Fahien reconsidered: Pleistocene exploitation of wild bananas and Holocene introduction of Musa cultivars to Sri Lanka

A recent publication on the phytolith assemblage at Fahien rockshelter, Sri Lanka (Premathilake and Hunt) is argued to represent: the exploitation of wild Musa acuminata and M. balbisiana during the Late Pleistocene; the introduction of edible diploid cultivars from the Southeast Asia–New Guinea region during the early to mid‐Holocene; the generation and cultivation of triploid banana hybrids on Sri Lanka before 6194–5994 cal bp ; and the subsequent spread of derived triploid cultivars to mainland India and westward to Africa. A careful review of the archaeobotanical research presented by Premathilake and Hunt, in the context of broader multidisciplinary evidence (agronomy, archaeobotany, genetics and linguistics) for the domestication and spread of banana cultivars, indicates that three main aspects of their argument are problematic: the lack of clarity in the characterization of banana domestication in the past; the methods used to discriminate phytoliths into banana taxa; and the promotion of Sri Lanka as a source region rather than a recipient of banana cultivars. Following reconsideration, the Fahien evidence is consistent with previous interpretations for the origins of diploid and significant triploid cultivars outside of Sri Lanka and dispersal to that island. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

重庆雾的天气成因

在对重庆雾进行天气学分类基础上，利用合成方法分析了几次典型辐射雾和雨雾的环流形势、流场特征以及雾的垂直环流结构，揭示出两类雾的形成原因。分析表明，辐射雾产生在经向环流背景下，中亚地区高压脊为主要影响系统；经向垂直剖面表现为青藏高原东侧的对流层中层有一发展完好的顺时针旋转的垂直经向环流，其前部的下沉气流顺着地形坡地下滑时在四川盆地强迫出一个逆时针旋转的垂直环流，使重庆附近低层的下沉气流得到加强；夜间辐射降温明显，并有贴地逆温存在，大气层结较稳定。雨雾发生在亚洲地区经向环流相对较弱的背景下，青藏高原低压槽和地面冷锋为主要影响系统；垂直环流结构表现为高空低压槽发展东移时在四川盆地诱生一逆时针旋转的垂直环流，其东侧的上升支正好与地面弱冷空气入侵四川盆地时形成的顺时针旋转的垂直环流的上升支相耦合，使重庆附近上升气流加强，地面附近暖湿气流较活跃，明显增湿过程对雨雾形成起到重要作用。     

上海地区台风倒槽暴雨分析

本文通过五次个例的对比分析,指出边界层东北急流对长江三角洲台风倒槽的重要作用.同时还得出,那里存在两种类型的台风倒槽暴雨,它们在一些方面有明显的不同.     

重庆夏季旱涝的欧亚环流特征分析

计算了重庆地区夏季区域降水指数．采用相关、合成、奇异值分解等多种技术方法分析了重庆地区夏季旱涝的同期夏季和前期冬季欧亚环流特征,在此基础上定义了关键区环流指数．并分析了其对重庆地区夏季降水预报的指示意义。     

Statistical assessment of trends and oscillations in rainfall dynamics: Analysis of long daily Italian series

Since the 18th century systematic measurements of rainfall have been collected in Italy. The daily rainfall series observed in Milan (1835–2001), Genoa (1833–2000), Bologna (1813–2001) and Palermo (1797–1999) are examples of available long rainfall records. These data series can help analyzing the evolution of precipitation. The present paper deals with long term evolution of: (i) annual rainfall amount; (ii) annual number of rainy events; (iii) intensity of rainfall, (iv) inter-annual rainfall partitioning, i.e. the duration of wet and dry periods, and (v) maximum annual values of daily rainfall amount, duration of wet and dry periods. The evolution is studied analyzing the first two order statistics and the 30-year return period quantiles via moving window analysis. Confidence intervals are introduced to check the statistical significance of the estimated statistics and quantiles. The results are compared with those provided by the traditional Mann-Kendall test. The analysis shows how the annual precipitation exhibits a negative trend in the first half of 20th century, with a subsequent positive trend in northern Italy (Genoa, Milan and Bologna). Conversely, the dataset for Palermo (southern Italy) displays only a negative trend. Because the number of precipitation episodes is found to decrease in the investigated period, the average rain rate is significantly increasing especially in northern Italy. This is also associated with shorter duration of rain episodes with an evident effect on rainfall extremes. Dry periods tend to be longer with increasing variability. The Mann-Kendall test and its progressive form have shown to be well suited for monotonic trend, but the confidence interval analysis, introduced here, is more appropriate if oscillations are significant.     

The Impact of Vegetation Cover on Sahelian Drought Persistence

The sensitivity of the potential for convective precipitation to land surface characteristics in the West African Sudano-Sahelian zone is studied. Simulations are performed with a one-dimensional version of a mesoscale atmospheric model coupled to a detailed land surface model to investigate the influence of the land surface on rain infiltration, surface evapotranspiration, and their impact on the convective available potential energy. The simulations show that the presence of a densely vegetated surface acts as a catalyst in the hydrological cycle, creating a positive feedback and enhancing precipitation recycling. It is argued that this is due to the relation between the characteristic drying-out time of the soil and the return frequency of the rain-triggering African easterly waves.     

Relative optical mass functions for air, water vapour, ozone and nitrogen dioxide in atmospheric models presenting different latitudinal and seasonal conditions

Summary A study of the dependence features of the relative optical mass functions for air, water vapour, ozone and nitrogen dioxide on the apparent solar zenith angle was performed by calculating these optical parameters by means of the well-known computer code LOWTRAN 7 at several values of and for nine atmospheric models characterized by different latitudes and seasons. Moreover, other investigations were performed on the dependence features of (i) the relative optical air mass on the thermal characteristics of the low troposphere, (ii) the relative optical water vapour mass on the vertical distribution characteristics of absolute humidity in the troposphere, and (iii) the relative optical mass function for ozone and nitrogen dioxide on the shape characteristics of the vertical profiles of the two gaseous concentrations and the concentration peak altitudes. The results are compared with the values given by the two simple formulas proposed by Kasten (1966) for air and water vapour and the formulas defined by Young (1969) and Staehelin et al. (1995) for ozone and nitrogen dioxide. From this comparison, a wide set of correction factors were obtained which can be conveniently used in the analysis of multispectral sun-radiometric measurements for calculating, with a very high precision, the values of the four optical mass functions at all the angles in the 0° to 87° range, corresponding to the various latitudinal and seasonal conditions described by the nine atmospheric models.With 9 Figures     

基于SSA-MGF的BP神经网络多步预测模型

采用奇异谱分析（Singular Spectrum Analysis，SSA）方法对标准化样本序列进行准周期信号分量重建，将重建序列构造均值生成函数（Mean Generating Function．MGF）延拓矩阵作为输入因子，原样本序列作为输出因子，构建BP神经网络多步预测模型。通过实际建模并与逐步回归等方法进行对比预测试验，结果表明，基于SSA-MGF的BP神经网络多步预测模型预测效果优于其他3种模型，说明SSA的去噪及BP神经网络预报模型对于提高预测准确率是相对有效的，是一种具有较高应用价值的多步预测方法。