Scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry for quick detection of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in environmental water samples

Detection of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria has largely been dependent on targeted gene sequencing technology or traditional cell cultivation, which usually takes from days to months to carry out. This clearly does not meet the requirements of analysis for time-sensitive samples and/or complicated environmental samples. Since energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) can be used to simultaneously detect multiple elements in a sample, including sulfur, with minimal sample treatment, this technology was applied to detect sulfur-oxidizing bacteria using their high sulfur content within the cell. This article describes the application of scanning electron microscopy imaging coupled with EDS mapping for quick detection of sulfur oxidizers in contaminated environmental water samples, with minimal sample handling. Scanning electron microscopy imaging revealed the existence of dense granules within the bacterial cells, while EDS identified large amounts of sulfur within them. EDS mapping localized the sulfur to these granules. Subsequent 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that the bacteria detected in our samples belonged to the genus Chromatium, which are sulfur oxidizers. Thus, EDS mapping made it possible to identify sulfur oxidizers in environmental samples based on localized sulfur within their cells, within a short time (within 24 h of sampling). This technique has wide ranging applications for detection of sulfur bacteria in environmental water samples.     

走滑断裂活动导致地应力解耦的机理研究——以龙门山断裂带东北段为例

2008年汶川MS8.0地震后,沿龙门山断裂带系列水压致裂地应力测量结果表明,断裂带东北段(茂县-绵竹连线东北侧)北川、平武及广元等地浅表层最大主应力方向与区域应力场相比发生了25°~69°不等的偏转,亦称地应力解耦。初步分析认为,龙门山断裂带东北段的右旋走滑活动直接导致了区域内最大主应力方向的解耦,且最大主应力方位向偏转角度与断裂右旋走滑活动量正相关。为合理解释这一现象,探讨走滑断裂活动导致地应力解耦的机理,本文采用二维有限元数值模拟方法,选取汶川MS8.0地震断裂(龙门山中央断裂)上的同震右旋走滑位移作为边界条件,首先模拟了龙门山断裂带东北段右旋走滑活动产生的扰动应力特征,之后结合断裂带附近典型钻孔地应力测量结果,叠加该扰动应力作用,从力学机理上深入剖析断裂右旋走滑活动产生的扰动应力对区域应力场(或初始应力场)的影响,并对其附近不同构造部位最大主应力方向偏转现象进行定量解释。初步结果表明：1) 走滑断裂活动导致地应力解耦主要是通过断裂滑动产生的扰动应力对区域应力场的附加影响实现的;2) 在固定的断裂活动长度和摩擦强度情况下,走滑断裂活动导致区域最大主应力方向偏转角度基本与活动断裂走滑位移量呈正比;3) 受汶川MS8.0地震影响,龙门山断裂带大致以茂县-绵竹为界,西南侧的宝兴-映秀-汶川一带最大主应力方向偏转角度很小,基本与区域应力场一致,而东北侧的北川-平武-广元一带则发生角度不等的偏转,3个地区最大主应力方向平均偏转角度分别为65°、56°和29°,该角度与龙门山断裂带东北段同震右旋走滑位移量呈正相关。     

鄂尔多斯地块南缘地应力测量研究

利用水压致裂法得到的地应力测试数据对鄂尔多斯地块南缘地壳浅部地应力分布规律及断层活动性进行研究。结果表明:（1）两个水平主应力随深度线性增长,应力梯度分别为0.032和0.021,在测量深度域内水平和垂直应力的关系为S_H > S_h > S_V,该应力状态有利于断层发生逆断层活动,与1556年华山大地震的发震正断层的性质不同;（2）研究区的最大水平主应力方向为北南-北北西向,与区域速度矢量场方向一致,与其他资料解译的区域构造应力方向有一些差异,主要是受鄂尔多斯地块周缘断层活动的影响;（3）利用Mohr-Coulomb准则及Byerlee定律,摩擦系数取0.6~1.0,对研究区的地应力状态进行分析,发现鄂尔多斯地块南缘的测点未达到或超过地壳破裂极限状态,不存在断层失稳或地震等其他形式的地壳活动,处于较稳定地壳应力状态;（4）实测数据为该区补充了新的地应力测量资料,研究结果为该区工程设计及建设、构造应力场数值模拟提供了边界条件,对于该区地质灾害评价、地壳稳定性以及大陆动力学的研究具有重要意义。      

中国西北干旱区湖泊沉积物中有机质碳同位素组成的环境意义--以民勤盆地三角城古湖泊为例

通过对中国西北干旱区石羊河流域民勤盆地三角城古湖泊沉积物有机质碳同位素组成(^δ13Corg)分析,表明末次冰期与全新世时气候和植被有明显的差异,末次冰期^δ13Corg总体偏轻(-30‰～-25‰),而全新世碳同位素组成则有较大的变化,在早全新世碳同位素组成有多次短期快速变重(-10‰左右)的变化,中全新世碳同位素组成总体偏重(-20‰～-10‰),晚全新世碳同位素组成偏轻(-25‰左右)。分析表明湖泊沉积物有机质碳同位素组成反映了陆生C₃植物和湖泊内源水生植物变化的关系,末次冰期以来西北干旱区C₄植物不发育,偏重的有机质碳同位素值与C₄植物无关。从沉积物中有机质组分、元素等分析表明,末次冰期时主要以河流相沉积为主,湖泊中有机质主要来源于上游祁连山的陆生C₃植物,有机碳含量较低,表明当时的上游的陆生植被不繁盛,区域气候较干冷;从全新世开始,三角城古湖泊开始形成,沉积物中碳同位素组成偏重的有机质主要来源于湖泊中的沉水植物,此时湖泊水体较大,湖泊生产力较高。而沉积物中有机质碳同位素组成偏轻时期的有机质主要来源于挺水植物、陆生C₃植物,较低的有机碳含量说明该时期陆生植被不发育,气候较干冷,湖泊水体较小     

中国地裂缝的发育特征及成因机制研究 ——以汾渭盆地、河北平原、苏锡常平原为例

地裂缝的发育特征及成因机制研究是正确认识地裂缝的关键一环,也是科学防灾减灾的必要前提。本文吸收了汾渭盆地、河北平原、苏锡常平原在近年里涌现出的一系列重要成果,并以这三地为例,分析总结了中国地裂缝的发育特征和成因机制。文章最后还对地裂缝分析研究方法的最新进展进行了梳理和介绍。研究结果表明:①中国地裂缝以汾渭盆地、河北平原以及苏锡常平原的最为典型,三地地裂缝的空间分布受地质构造和古地理因素作用和影响,各具特点;②中国地裂缝的形成发育既受控于地质条件,又与抽水活动动态响应,不同成因的地裂缝在几何形态上具有不同表现;③"断层蠕滑"和"抽水活动"是主导中国地裂缝形成的最基本和最重要的两种动力条件,相应的两种成因机制分别在构造活动较强的地区和地下水超采的地区应用良好。     

New Discovery of Neocalamites from the Upper Triassic Daheba Formation in West Qinling,Northwest China

正Objective Neocalamites is a common plant fossil from the Triassic to the Middle Jurassic. Neocalamites fossils are commonly found in coal-bearing sedimentary rocks of Rhaetian stage from South China and the Yanchang Group from North China(Mei and Liu, 2017). Moreover, the fossils also distribute in the Late Triassic such as the Babaoshan Group in Dulan and Darigemole Group in Gangcha of Qinghai Province, the Haojiagou Formation in Turpan and     

中国东北地区中新生代岩浆岩中氮及其同位素组成

通过真空热解法分析中国东北地区中新生代以来形成的碱性玄武岩和基性侵入岩中氮含量及其同位素组成的差异，结果表明喷出岩和侵入岩中流体组分在岩浆的上升侵入过程中有不同的表现形式，喷出岩与围岩有较少的混染作用发生。碱性玄武岩包裹体中氮含量较低，为1．91－14．01μL/ g，δ^15N为－22．6‰～-1.8‰。侵入岩包裹体中氮含量为25．39－731.30μL/g,δ^15N为＋0．7‰～ 20.9‰。碱性玄武岩中N2含量和氮同位素组成可能部分代表了上地幔流体的特征，脱气作用造成同位素值有较大变化；而侵入岩中的N2含量和氮同位素组成更多地反映了地壳中含氮物质浓度及同位素组成特征。     

Study on Modern Plant C－13 in Western China and Its Significance

Organic carbon isotopic composition(δ^13C) is one of the important proxies in paleoenvironment studies.In this paper modern plant δ^13C in the arid areas of China and Tibetan Plateau is studied.It is found that most terrestrial plant species in western China are C3 plants with δ^13C values ranging from -32.6‰ to -23.2‰ and only few species are C4 plants with δ^13C values from -16.8‰ to -13.3‰.The δ^13C is closely related to precipitation (or humidity),i.e., light δ^13C is related to high precipitation(or humid climate),while heavy δ^13C to low precipitation (or dry climate),but there is almost no relation between plant δ^13C and temperature.Submerged plants have δ^13C values ranging from -22.0‰ to -12.7‰,like C4 plants,while merged plants have δ^13C values ranging from -28.1‰ to -24.5‰，like C3 C4 plants,while marged plants have δ^13C values ranging from -28.1‰ to -24.5‰,like C3 plants.It can then be concluded that organic δ^13C variations in terrestrial sediments such as loeas and soil in western China can indicate precipitation changes,but those in lake sediments can reflect organic sources and the productivity of different types of aquatic plants.     

An ostracod-conductivity transfer function for Tibetan lakes

About 145 freshwater to hypersaline lakes of the eastern Tibetan Plateau were investigated to develop a transfer function for quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstructions using ostracods. A total of 100 lakes provided sufficient numbers of ostracod shells. Multivariate statistical techniques were used to analyse the influence of a number of environmental variables on the distributions of surface sediment ostracod assemblages. Of 23 variables determined for each site, 19 were included in the statistical analysis. Lake water electrical conductivity (8.2%), Ca% (7.6%) and Fe% (4.8%, ion concentrations as % of the cations) explained the greatest amounts of variation in the distribution of ostracod taxa among the 100 lakes. Electrical conductivity optima and tolerances were calculated for abundant taxa. A transfer function, based on weighted averaging partial least squares regression (WA-PLS), was developed for electrical conductivity (r ² = 0.71, root-mean-square-error of prediction [RMSEP] = 0.35 [12.4% of gradient length], maximum bias = 0.64 [22.4% of gradient length], as assessed by leave-one-out cross-validation) based on 96 lakes. Our results show that ostracods provide reliable estimates of electrical conductivity and can be used for quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstructions similarly to more commonly used diatom, chironomid or pollen data.