Late Holocene linkages between decade–century scale climate variability and productivity at Lake Tanganyika, Africa

Microlaminated sediment cores from the Kalya slope region of Lake Tanganyika provide a near-annually resolved paleoclimate record between ∼∼2,840 and 1,420 cal. yr B.P. demonstrating strong linkages between climate variability and lacustrine productivity. Laminae couplets comprise dark, terrigenous-dominated half couplets, interpreted as low density underflows deposited from riverine sources during the rainy season, alternating with light, planktonic diatomaceous ooze, with little terrigenous component, interpreted as windy/dry season deposits. Laminated portions of the studied cores consist of conspicuous dark and light colored bundles of laminae couplets. Light and dark bundles alternate at decadal time scales. Within dark bundles, both light and dark half couplets are significantly thinner than within light bundles, implying slower sediment accumulation rates during both seasons over those intervals.Time series analyses of laminae thickness patterns demonstrate significant periodicities at interannual–centennial time scales. Longer time scale periodicities (multidecadal to centennial scale) of light and dark half couplet thicknesses are coherent and in some cases are similar to solar cycle periods on these time scales. Although laminae thickness cycles do not strongly covary with the actual Δ¹⁴C record for this same time period, two large Δ¹⁴C anomalies are associated with substantial decreases in both light and dark laminae thickness. In contrast to the multidecadal– centennial time scale, significant annual to decadal periodicities, which are broadly consistent with ENSO/PDO forcing and their impact on East African climate, are not coherent between light and dark half couplets. The coherency of light–dark couplets at decadal–centennial time scales, but not at shorter time scales, is consistent with a model of a long-term relationship between precipitation (recorded in wet season dark laminae thickness) and productivity (light laminae thickness), which is not manifest at shorter time scales. We hypothesize that this coupling results from long-term recharging of internal nutrient loading during wet periods (higher erosion of soil P) and reduced loading during drought intervals. The relationship is not expressed on short time scales during which the dominant control on productivity is wind-driven, dry season upwelling, which is uncorrelated with wet-season precipitation. Our record greatly extends the temporal record of this quasi-periodic behavior throughout the late Holocene and provides the first evidence linking decade- to century-scale episodes of enhanced productivity to enhanced precipitation levels and nutrient recharge in a productive tropical lake.     

The Port Mouton Shear Zone: intersection of a regional fault with a crystallizing granitoid pluton

The peraluminous tonalite–monzogranite Port Mouton Pluton is a petrological, geochemical, structural, and geochronological anomaly among the many Late Devonian granitoid intrusions of the Meguma Lithotectonic Zone of southern Nova Scotia. The most remarkable structural feature of this pluton is a 4-km-wide zone of strongly foliated (040/subvertical) monzogranites culminating in a narrow (10–30 m), straight, zone of compositionally banded rocks that extends for at least 3 km along strike. The banded monzogranites consist of alternating melanocratic and leucocratic compositions that are complementary to the overall composition of that part of the pluton, suggesting an origin by mineral–melt and mineral–mineral sorting. Biotite and feldspar are strongly foliated in the plane of the compositional bands. These compositional variations and foliations originated by a process of segregation flow during shearing of the main magma with a crystallinity of 55–75%. Subsequent minor brittle fracturing of feldspars, twinning of microcline, development of blocky sub-grains in quartz, and kinking of micas demonstrate overprinting by a high-temperature deformation straddling the monzogranite solidus. Small folds and late sigmoidal dykes indicate dextral movement on the shear zone. This Port Mouton Shear Zone (PMSZ) is approximately co-linear with the only outcrops of Late Devonian mafic intrusions in the area, two of which are syn-plutonic with well-developed mingling textures in the marginal tonalite of the Port Mouton Pluton. Also closely co-linear with the mafic intrusions are a granitoid dyke that extends well beyond the outer contact of the Port Mouton Pluton, a swarm of large aligned angular xenolithic slabs, a zone of thin wispy schlieren banding, a large Be-bearing pegmatite, and a breccia pipe with abundant garnetiferous metapelitic xenoliths. In various ways, the shear zone may control all of these features. The Port Mouton Shear Zone is parallel to many other NE-trending faults and shear zones in the northern Appalachians, probably related to the docking of the Meguma Zone along the Cobequid–Chedabucto Fault system.     

Image analysis applied to quantitative evaluation of chromatic impact generated by open-pit quarries and mines

One of the most important environmental impacts resulting from opencast mining, and especially quarries, is the visual impact. Evaluation of this impact considers two aspects: first, the area occupied by the quarry as seen by an observer from a specific place, and, second, the chromatic contrast existing between landscape and exploitation. In this study we develop a methodology to assess the chromatic impact in an objective and comparable form. To assess this impact we developed a method based on image analysis that allows us to obtain from a picture or image its equivalent as a function of chromatic impact, according to the sensibility of the human eye to different wavelengths. The methodology was applied to the Martinenca limestone quarry (Alcanar, Tarragona) and to Cerro Kori Kollo mine, La Joya district (Bolivia).     

加卸载响应比(LURR)理论的实验研究

利用大尺度岩石试件破坏声发射实验，对加卸载响应比(Load/Unload Response Ratio)理论进行了实验研究。实验采用的加载条件力求能够模拟地下岩石的复杂受力过程。在加载过程中，岩石试件内部出现的损伤用声发射技术进行了记录。实验数据经过分析之后所得的结论与加卸载响应比理论预测的结果相符合。把加卸载响应比值Y的变化情况与声发射事件定位的过程相对比，也可以进一步看出岩石材料内部的损伤发展过程与加卸载响应比Y值的变化具有一致性。而高Y值的异常情况出现，又是在材料发生最终破坏之前，所以，可以用加卸载响应比理论定量地分析岩石试件损伤演化情况，从而对岩石材料的破坏及地震做出预测。实验结果再一次验证了加卸载响应比理论。     

Little Ice Age subsidence and post Little Ice Age uplift at Juneau, Alaska, inferred from dendrochronology and geomorphology

Application of dendrochronology and geomorphology to a recently emerged coastal area near Juneau, Alaska, has documented a Little Ice Age (LIA) sea-level transgression to 6.2 m above current sea level. The rise in relative sea level is attributed to regional subsidence and appears to have stabilized by the mid 16th century, based on a sea-cliff eroded into late-Pleistocene glaciomarine sediments. Land began emerging between A.D. 1770 and 1790, coincident with retreat of regional glaciers from their LIA maximums. This emergence has continued since then, paralleling regional glacier retreat. Total Juneau uplift since the late 18th century is estimated to be 3.2 m. The rate of downward colonization of newly emergent coastline by Sitka spruce during the 20th century closely parallels the rate of sea-level fall documented by analysis of local tide-gauge records (1.3 cm/yr). Regional and Glacier Bay LIA loading and unloading are inferred to be the primary mechanisms driving subsidence and uplift in the Juneau area. Climate change rather then regional tectonics has forced relative sea-level change over the last several hundred years.     

外资：发展中国家城市化的新动力：珠江三角洲个案研究

城市化的研究历来都偏重于内力的营造，例如区域经济的不同发展步伐，乡村－市的人口流动，政府的地区性经济政策以及新城市的建设等。在资本、人力、技术和市场走向“全球化”的情况下，新的国际分工自１９８０年以来已成为一些发展中国家和地区的人口及经济活动急剧增长与集中的主要动力。本文对这一类型城市化的特点和空间形态作出了概括性的描述。     

Effect of temperature on embryonic and larval development of bream (Abramis brama L.)

Influence of water temperature on embryonic and larval development of bream (Abramis brama L.) was stdied. Eggs of bream were incubated at eight constant water temperatures between 13.2 and 26.8°C. The temperature of 21.1°C gave highest hatching success, with no abnormalities in the eleutheroembryos and lowest mortality observed between eyed egg stage and the time of hatching. Developmental rate increased with increasing temperature. Duration of embryonic development (y; hours) decreased with increasing incubation temperature (x; °C) according to the formula: y=910.1−65.88 x+1.318 x². Larvae were reared at eight constant temperatures ranging from 13.5 to 34.0°C. The instantaneous growth rate in wet weight increased with increasing test temperature from 13.5 to 29.9°C, and then decreased at higher temperatures. Individual growth of fish and biomass production rate were highest at 27.9°C. This temperature is considered optimal when food availability and photoperiod are no limiting factors.     

The Singapore River thematic zone: sustainable tourism in an urban context

This paper explores the concept of sustainable tourism and how it applies to urban destinations such as Singapore. As tourism is an important industry in Singapore, in terms of employment, business activity and an income generator, the Singapore Tourism Board is continuously looking at potential avenues to make Singapore a competitive destination. We examine the use of thematic zones in Singapore as a strategy to achieve its ambition of becoming a tourism capital of the world. By focusing on a case study of the Singapore River thematic zone (one of the 11 thematic zones identified by the Singapore Tourism Board), we assess the viability of thematic zones in ensuring sustainable urban tourism. The paper closes with some theoretical reflections and policy implications arising from our key findings.     

6: Classification of VMS deposits: Lessons from the South Uralides

VMS deposits of the South Urals developed within the evolving Urals palaeo-ocean between Silurian and Late Devonian times. Arc-continent collision between Baltica and the Magnitogorsk Zone (arc) in the south-western Urals effectively terminated submarine volcanism in the Magnitogorsk Zone with which the bulk of the VMS deposits are associated. The majority of the Urals VMS deposits formed within volcanic-dominated sequences in deep seawater settings. Preservation of macro and micro vent fauna in the sulphide bodies is both testament to the seafloor setting for much of the sulphides but also the exceptional degree of preservation and lack of metamorphic overprint of the deposits and host rocks. The deposits in the Urals have previously been classified in terms of tectonic setting, host rock associations and metal ratios in line with recent tectono-stratigraphic classifications. In addition to these broad classes, it is clear that in a number of the Urals settings, an evolution of the host volcanic stratigraphy is accompanied by an associated change in the metal ratios of the VMS deposits, a situation previously discussed, for example, in the Noranda district of Canada.Two key structural settings are implicated in the South Urals. The first is seen in a preserved marginal allochthon west of the Main Urals Fault where early arc tholeiites host Cu–Zn mineralization in deposits including Yaman Kasy, which is host to the oldest macro vent fauna assembly known to science. The second tectonic setting for the South Urals VMS is the Magnitogorsk arc where study has highlighted the presence of a preserved early forearc assemblage, arc tholeiite to calc-alkaline sequences and rifted arc bimodal tholeiite sequences. The boninitc rocks of the forearc host Cu–(Zn) and Cu–Co VMS deposits, the latter hosted in fragments within the Main Urals Fault Zone (MUFZ) which marks the line of arc-continent collision in Late Devonian times. The arc tholeiites host Cu–Zn deposits with an evolution to more calc-alkaline felsic volcanic sequences matched with a change to Zn–Pb–Cu polymetallic deposits, often gold-rich. Large rifts in the arc sequence are filled by thick bimodal tholeiite sequences, themselves often showing an evolution to a more calc-alkaline nature. These thick bimodal sequences are host to the largest of the Cu–Zn VMS deposits.The exceptional degree of preservation in the Urals has permitted the identification of early seafloor clastic and hydrolytic modification (here termed halmyrolysis sensu lato) to the sulphide assemblages prior to diagenesis and this results in large-scale modification to the primary VMS body, resulting in distinctive morphological and mineralogical sub-types of sulphide body superimposed upon the tectonic association classification.It is proposed that a better classification of seafloor VMS systems is thus achievable using a three stage classification based on (a) tectonic (hence bulk volcanic chemistry) association, (b) local volcanic chemical evolution within a single edifice and (c) seafloor reworking and halmyrolysis.