The impact of changing climate on phenology,productivity, and benthic–pelagic coupling in Narragansett Bay

The timing and magnitude of phytoplankton blooms have changed markedly in Narragansett Bay, RI (USA) over the last half century. The traditional winter–spring bloom has decreased or, in many years, disappeared. Relatively short, often intense, diatom blooms have become common in spring, summer, and fall replacing the summer flagellate blooms of the past. The annual and summer mean abundance (cell counts) and biomass (chl a) of phytoplankton appear to have decreased based on almost 50 years of biweekly monitoring by others at a mid bay station. These changes have been related to warming of the water, especially during winter, and to increased cloudiness. A significant decline in the winter wind speed may also have played a role. The changes in the phenology of the phytoplankton and the oligotrophication of the bay appear to have decreased greatly the quantity and (perhaps) quality of the organic matter being deposited on the bottom of the bay. This decline has resulted in a very much reduced benthic metabolism as reflected in oxygen uptake, nutrient regeneration, and the magnitude and direction of the net flux of N₂ gas. Based on many decades of standard weekly trawls carried out by the Graduate School of Oceanography, the winter biomass of bottom feeding epibenthic animals has also declined sharply at the mid bay station. After decades of relatively constant anthropogenic nitrogen loading (and declining phosphorus loading), the fertilization of the bay will soon be reduced during May–October due to implementation of advanced wastewater treatment. This is intended to produce an oligotrophication of the urban Providence River estuary and the Upper Bay. The anticipated decline in the productivity of the upper bay region will probably decrease summer hypoxia in that area. However, it may have unanticipated consequences for secondary production in the mid and lower bay where climate-induced oligotrophication has already much weakened the historically strong benthic–pelagic coupling.     

Increasing nutrient concentrations and the rise and fall of a coastal fishery; a review of data from the Nile Delta,Egypt

There is a conceptual basis, and some empirical evidence, that increasing nutrient loads to coastal waterbodies will initially increase ecosystem productivity up to a threshold, beyond which secondary productivity and fishery yields will decline. Here we have compiled data from the Egyptian and international literature for fish landings and inorganic nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) data from four large coastal lagoons (63–500 km²) on Egypt's Nile Delta to provide evidence for the initially positive, but then negative, response of fishery yields to increased nutrient supply across a very wide range of enrichment (up to 1 mM dissolved organic nitrogen, DIN). Taking the data from the four lagoons as an aggregate, fish landings increase with increased nutrients up to a peak in landings at approximately 100 μM DIN, beyond which there was an exponential decline in landings. It appears that pesticide and heavy metal contamination and overfishing played only minor roles in the lowered fishery yield at highest DIN concentrations. We do not have sufficient evidence about the specific mechanisms that led to the decline of the fishery, but suspect that some feature of eutrophication—low oxygen, for example, may have been involved.     

Corundum inclusions in diamonds—discriminatory criteria and a corundum compositional dataset

Mineral inclusions of corundum are reported from diamonds from alluvial deposits of tributaries of the Rio Aripuanã, Juina, Brazil. We present the first recorded occurrence of sapphire as an inclusion in diamond and expand on the database of ruby and white corundum inclusions. Ruby inclusions are found to occur both as isolated and touching grains with aluminous pyroxene and associated with ferropericlase. Mineral chemistry and phase relations place the origin of such ruby-bearing diamonds within the lower mantle at 770 km. Mineral associations indaving other corundum inclusions were not observed; hence, their depth of origin is less certain.

Compositions of corundum samples were characterised by electron and ion microprobe. Given the scarcity of literature data, corundum samples from a variety of other geological settings were also analysed. Samples comprised corundums associated with granitic emplacement, metasomatism, amphibolite-facies and granulite-facies rocks, gem and industrial synthetic origins and carmine-coloured corundums recovered from kimberlite drill cores.

In addition to variable amounts of Cr, Fe, Ti, Mg and Si, measurable quantities of other transition elements and high field strength elements were also detected. Corundums from similar geological settings show very similar compositions and are easily distinguishable from other settings. Irrespective of locality, rubies from Norwegian, Tanzanian and Kenyan amphibolite-facies rocks are compositionally indistinguishable. Additionally, corundums from metasomatised zones associated with contact metamorphism from Arizona and Japan were very similar, particularly characterised by unusually high abundance of mobile Zr and Nb (tens of ppm). All Juina inclusions are particularly distinguishable from other corundums by high concentrations of Ni (18–171 ppm weight), typically at least an order of magnitude enriched over the same corundum varietal types from elsewhere. Furthermore, the sapphire inclusion exhibited much larger ratios of Ga and Ge to HFSE elements compared to otherwise similar samples, and ruby inclusions are distinguished by high Mg/Fe ratios (0.27–1.56 by weight). Compositional differences between inclusions in diamonds and corundums from other settings in addition to corundum's physical and chemical durability suggest that with the employment of rapid identification tools such as energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and laser-ICPMS, corundum has promise as an indicator of diamond prospectivity.     

Rapidly crystallized garnet pyroxenite xenoliths possibly related to discrete nodules

Abundant small xenoliths in the Mzongwana kimberlite dike, Transkei, southern Africa, are predominantly pyroxenites composed of ilmenite, pyrope, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, rutile, and phlogopite; two of the xenoliths contain small amounts of Ti-rich amphibole near kaersutite in composition. A majority of the pyroxenites have polygonal granoblastic textures, but many have fasciculate, acicular and skeletal growths. The latter are believed to be the product of rapid crystallization because of similarities to textures of lunar and terrestrial volcanic rocks and quenched experimental charges. Segregations of garnet or ilmenite and pyroxene are common, and these are believed to have originated by crystallization from supersaturated magma. Pyroxenes in the rocks that appear to have crystallized most rapidly are richer in Al and Ti and the garnets are richer in Ti than comparable phases in the granoblastic rocks. The Mzongwana kimberlite is estimated to have a minimum depth of origin of 150 km by application of pyroxene thermobarometry to bronzite discrete nodules. The depth of crystallization of the pyroxenite xenoliths is believed to be near 100 km on the basis of comparison with phase relations determined by experiment. The pyroxenites appear to have crystallized from Ti-rich, olivine-free magma that was probably derived from a kimberlitic parent. A basaltic source (Karoo?), however, is not ruled out. Rapid crystallization of the pyroxenites at depth in the mantle may have occurred by intrusion in thin dikes some days prior to inclusion in erupting kimberlite. Alternatively, the kimberlite may have incorporated a pyroxenitic liquid, either derivative or unrelated, that crystallized through loss of volatiles and heat in contact with the expanding kimberlite vapor phase. The compositions of the minerals in the Mzongwana pyroxenites are similar to those of Fe-rich discrete nodules that occur in many other kimberlites. Perhaps the minerals in the pyroxenites and the discrete nodules have similar origins except that the Mzongwana pyroxenites crystallized more rapidly at shallower depths in the mantle.     

青藏高原南部雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩带的时空分布特征及地质意义

雅鲁藏布江缝合带是青藏高原上重要的缝合带之一,位于青藏高原南部,蛇绿岩是该带的主体。雅鲁藏布江缝合带按蛇绿岩的出露规模、岩石层序以及侵位时间,大致可以分为东段、中段和西段。在蛇绿岩出露规模上存在显著差异,东段规模较小,中段次之,西段最大,并且在西段分成两支蛇绿岩带;蛇绿岩岩石层序出露比较齐全的是中段日喀则和东段罗布莎,其他地方的蛇绿岩均被肢解,不能组成完整的蛇绿岩岩石剖面;在蛇绿岩的形成和侵位时间上,也有着不同的特点,东段和西段集中形成于晚侏罗世—早白垩世,而中段形成时间较早,时代从中三叠世一直持续到早白垩世,主要集中形成于晚侏罗世—早白垩世。笔者系统研究雅鲁藏布江缝合带蛇绿岩在东西方向上所表现出来的差异性,对更全面深刻地了解新特提斯洋的产生、俯冲及其消亡过程和演化历史具有重要意义。     

Manganese thermometer for mantle peridotites

The temperature dependence of the Mn-Mg distribution between garnet and clinopyroxene, originally proposed by Carswell, was confirmed by Shimizu and Allègre (1978) using ion microprobe and electron microprobe data. High precision electron microprobe analyses of a larger set of 52 Iherzolites from S. Africa and Malaita, Solomon Islands show considerable scatter in the temperature dependence of this distribution, and correlation with the CaO content of the garnet is indicated. A new distribution coefficient is based on the reaction: $$\begin{gathered} \operatorname{Mn} _{\text{2}} \operatorname{Si} _2 \operatorname{O} _6 {\text{ + }}\operatorname{CaAl} _{2/3} \operatorname{SiO} _4 {\text{ + }}\operatorname{MgAl} _{2/3} \operatorname{SiO} _4 \hfill \\ {\text{Mn - pyroxene grossular pyrope}} \hfill \\ {\text{ }} \rightleftharpoons \operatorname{CaMgSi} _2 \operatorname{O} _6 {\text{ + }}2\operatorname{MnAl} _{2/3} \operatorname{SiO} _4 \hfill \\ {\text{ diopside spessartine}} \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ It was calibrated against temperature determined from two independent thermometers (Wells pyroxene and O'Neill-Wood garnet-olivine) for Iherzolitic assemblages, and shown to to be sensitive to within + 50 °C for most specimens in the range 900 °– 1,300 ° C. This distribution coefficient appears independent of pressure within the uncertainty of the available data, and has the potential to be a third independent thermometer for use in garnet Iherzolites and possibly eclogites.     

年轮化学示踪技术及在重现矿区重金属污染历史中的应用

矿区自然分布的树木从环境中吸收重金属元素,并在形成层发育过程中将重金属元素储存在年轮中,通过分析年轮中重金属元素含量的变化特征,可以半定量判定不同污染途径对年轮中重金属元素的贡献率,进而重现矿区环境变迁历史.本文综述了国内外年轮化学在环境污染分析中的应用案例,针对影响年轮化学分析精度的各种环境因素,结合矿区污染特征,探...     

Characteristics of Titan's stratospheric aerosols and condensate clouds from Cassini CIRS far-infrared spectra

Four broad spectral features were identified in far-infrared limb spectra from the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS), two of which have not been identified before. The features are broader than the spectral resolution, which suggests that they are caused by particulates in Titan's stratosphere. We derive here the spectral properties and variations with altitude for these four features for six latitudes between 65° S and 85° N. Titan's main aerosol is called Haze 0 here. It is present at all wavenumbers in the far-infrared and is found to have a fractional scale height (i.e., the aerosol density scale height divided by the atmospheric density scale height) between 1.5 and 1.7 with a small increase in opacity in the north. A second feature around 140 cm⁻¹ (Haze A) has similar spatial properties to Haze 0, but has a smaller fractional scale height of 1.2-1.3. Both Haze 0 and Haze A show an increase in retrieved abundance below 100 km. Two other features (Haze B around 220 cm⁻¹ and Haze C around 190 cm⁻¹) have a large maximum in their density profiles at 140 and 90 km, respectively. Haze B is much more abundant in the northern hemisphere compared to the southern hemisphere. Haze C also shows a large increase towards the north, but then disappears at 85° N.     

Offshore Atlas Project: Methodology and Results

The Offshore Atlas Project (OAP) grouped 4,325 Miocene and older and 5,622 Pliocene and Pleistocene productive sands in the Gulf of Mexico into 91 chronostratigraphic hydrocarbon plays to aid the oil and gas industry with regional hydrocarbon exploration and field development. OAP has produced a two-volume atlas series entitled Atlas of Northern Gulf of Mexico Gas and Oil Reservoirs. Volume 1 comprises Miocene and older reservoirs, while volume 2 comprises Pliocene and Pleistocene reservoirs. Chronozones (Reed et al., 1987) were used to define geologic ages in the Gulf of Mexico. A chronozone is a time-stratigraphic unit defined by a particular benthic foraminifera biostratigraphic zone. The 26 chronozones identified by Reed et al. (1987) were further grouped into 14 Cenozoic and 2 Mesozoic chronozones for OAP. A composite type log (CTL), which shows the chronostratigraphic relationship of all productive sands in a field, was constructed for each of the 876 proved federal fields in the Gulf of Mexico. Depositional facies (retrogradational, aggradational, progradational, and submarine fan)were next identified on each CTL. The four facies were identified primarily according to characteristic SP-curve shapes, paleoecozones, and sand content. The chronozones and depositional facies identified on each CTL were then correlated among fields across the Gulf of Mexico. All productive sands correlated to the same chronozone and depositional facies were then identified as a unique play. Both federal and state fields in the Gulf of Mexico contain original proved reserves (sum of cumulative production and remaining proved reserves) estimated at 12.481 Bbbl of oil and condensate and 156.466 Tcf of gas (40.322 Bboe [sum of liquids and energy equivalent gas]). Of this, 9.943 Bbbl of oil and condensate and 122.263 Tcf of gas (31.698 Bboe) have been produced. Miocene plays contain the most total original proved reserves with 41.9 %, followed by Pleistocene plays (36.2 %), Pliocene plays (18.6 %), Mesozoic plays (2.9 %), and Oligocene plays (0.4 %). Miocene plays have produced the largest amount of total hydrocarbons, as well, at 43.5 % followed by Pleistocene plays (36.5 %), Pliocene plays (19.1 %), Oligocene plays (0.5 %), and Mesozoic plays (0.4 %). Just over two-thirds of the Gulf of Mexico's total original proved reserves are contained in progradational facies (67.4 %),with the remainder comprising submarine-fan facies (18.5 %), aggradational facies (9.9 %), retrogradationalfacies (2.4 %), combination facies (1.7 %), and caprock and reef reservoirs (0.1 %). Total cumulative production from the different facies closely mimics the distribution of original proved reserves. Of the 91 plays, the lower Pleistocene progradational play (LPL P.1) contains the most original proved gas reserves (10.5 %) and has produced the most gas (11.4 %). However, the upper upper Miocene eastern progradational play (UM3 P.1B) contains the most original proved oil and condensate reserves (18.9 %) and has produced the most oil and condensate (21.4%). Several technical studies resulting from OAP have been published. Hunt and Burgess (1995) described the distribution of OAP plays deposited by the ancestral Mississippi River delta system in the north-central Gulf of Mexico over the past 24 million years. The lower Miocene plays are restricted to the westernmost portion of the Louisiana shelf. In the late middle Miocene, the depocenter migrated east of the present-day Mississippi River delta. During the late upper Miocene, the depocenter began migrating back to the west and prograded basinward, and it continued to do so throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Lore and Batchelder (1995) discussed how OAP plays can be used to find exploration targets and assess undiscovered resources. As an exploration tool, OAP play maps can be used to identify conceptual submarine-fan plays downdip of established shallow water producing facies, and to identify wells where a known producing facies or chronozone has not yet been reached. As an assessment tool, the extensive data sets associated with each OAP play can be used to infer statistically the size of undiscovered resources in a play to determine if exploration in that play is economically justifiable. Lore et al. (1995) estimated the amount of undiscovered conventionally recoverable resources in the Gulf of Mexico, basing their assessment on previous work performed for OAP. Mean level estimates show that, by far, submarine-fan plays have the greatest potential for additional oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico, with 75.1 % and 70.4 % of the total oil and gas resources, respectively. Mean level estimates for the 13 OAP Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene chronozones show that upper Pleistocene plays have the most oil resource potential (24.3 %), while lower Pleistocene plays have the most gas resource potential (20.6 %).     

Titan's stratospheric C2N2, C3H4, and C4H2 abundances from Cassini/CIRS far-infrared spectra

Far-IR (25-50 μm, 200-400 cm⁻¹) nadir and limb spectra measured during Cassini's four year prime mission by the Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) instrument have been used to determine the abundances of cyanogen (C₂N₂), methylacetylene (C₃H₄), and diacetylene (C₄H₂) in Titan's stratosphere as a function of latitude. All three gases are enriched at northern latitudes, consistent with north polar subsidence. C₄H₂ abundances agree with those derived previously from mid-IR data, but C₃H₄ abundances are about 2 times lower, suggesting a vertical gradient or incorrect band intensities in the C₃H₄ spectroscopic data. For the first time C₂N₂ was detected at southern and equatorial latitudes with an average volume mixing ratio of 5.5±1.4×¹⁰−11 derived from limb data (>3-σ significance). This limb result is also corroborated by nadir data, which give a C₂N₂ volume mixing ratio of 6±3×¹⁰−11 (2-σ significance) or alternatively a 3-σ upper limit of 17×¹⁰−11. Comparing these figures with photochemical models suggests that galactic cosmic rays may be an important source of N₂ dissociation in Titan's stratosphere. Like other nitriles (HCN, HC₃N), C₂N₂ displays greater north polar relative enrichment than hydrocarbons with similar photochemical lifetimes, suggesting an additional loss mechanism for all three of Titan's main nitrile species. Previous studies have suggested that HCN requires an additional sink process such as incorporation into hazes. This study suggests that such a sink may also be required for Titan's other nitrile species.