A New Genus of Fossil Cycads Yixianophyllum gen. nov. from the Late Jurassic Yixian Formation, Western Liaoning, China

A new genus of fossil Cycads, Yixianophyllum gen. nov., is reported here. The specimens were collected from the southern hill of Jinjiagou village, Toudaohezi Town, Yixian County, western Liaoning Province, China. The fossil plant-beating bed belongs to the lower part, the Zhuanchengzi bed, of the Upper Jurassic Yixian Formation （Yixianian）. The new genus in leaf shape, venation and epidermal structure shows a transitional form between Mesozoic Cycads （Ctenis, Nilssonia） and modem Cycads （Stangeria and Encephalartos）. Since the features of these specimens differ from any known genera of Cycads, a new generic name Yixianophyllum is proposed for these leaves. Typical species, Yixianophyllum jinjiagouense gen. et sp. nov. is described here. A supposed evolutionary tendency of Cycadean leaf-forms with Taeniopteris-type is discussed.     

The Quaternary Pan-lake (Overflow) Period and Paleoclimate on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Lake geomorphology and high-level lacustrine deposits since the mid-late Pleistocene are well preserved in lakes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. According to geological surveys of 17 lake districts in different locations of the plateau, combined with interpretations of satellite images and topographic maps, the authors studied the timing of formation and scopes of the pan-lake areas of the plateau and their paleoclimate. The latest two high lake levels （overflow surfaces） on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the Quaternary occurred at N40 to 30/35 ka and N65 to 53 ka respectively. In these time intervals, the plateau was covered by huge interconnected pan-lake systems with a total area of -36 km^2 and a total volume of lake water of 〉530 million km^2, which are about 38 times and 659 times larger than those of the modern lakes respectively. Before this pan-lake period in the late Pleistocene, there had been three high lake levels that occurred at N 132-112 ka, 110-95 ka and 91-72/-83-75 ka respectively, suggesting that the late Quaternary climate on the plateau was unstable and changed rapidly. The -40-30 ka high lake level also appeared in the Tengger desert north of the plateau, suggesting that there existed very strong summer monsoons from South Asia then; the variation in solar radiation with a 20,000 precessional period has special importance for the high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the low-latitude zone of the Earth. Around 30 ka, the pan-lakes at the peripheries of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau drained out suddenly with rapid uplift of the plateau and cooling. In a short time the huge amount of cold lake water emptied into the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific. The draining event of the pan-lakes brought about the environmental changes of rivers and lakes at peripheries of the plateau.     

基于B/S跨平台网上地理数据维护引擎的开发

本文以网上地理数据维护为主线,分析了目前WebGIS应用的优缺点,阐述了基于B/S结构的跨平台网上地理数据维护系统的开发思路和具体应用模式。     

华南沿海4种主要污损生物幼虫和孢子的采集与培养技术

海洋污损生物附着是增加海上作业成本、影响设施安全和缩短其使用年限的重要因素,掌握海洋污损生物幼虫和孢子的采集与培养技术是开展防除研究工作的基础。网纹藤壶Balanus reticulatus、缘管浒苔Enteromorpha linza、石莼Ulva lactuca和细基江蓠Gracilaria tenuistipitata是华南沿海主要的污损生物种类。研究上述4种污损生物幼虫和孢子的采集与培养技术,结果显示,网纹藤壶无节幼虫于30℃黑暗环境中培养,5d左右即可发育为金星幼虫,可将其在4℃条件下储存备用。强度为4000lx的光照射缘管浒苔和石莼,可刺激其游孢子大量释放;细基江蓠经阴干处理再浸泡海水,可诱导其果孢子的放散。每天接受900—1300lx光照12h,室温(21—26℃)下培养4d,是观察缘管浒苔和石莼游孢子附着萌发的最佳条件,而细基江蓠果孢子的附着萌发观察则以室温(18—23℃)下培养2d为宜。     

大鹏湾海水中各形态无机氮的分布变化

依据香港特别行政区环境保护署于1999—2007年106个航次的调查资料,并结合国家海洋局南海分局于1998—2007年10个航次的调查资料,简要描述和分析大鹏湾中海水各形态无机氮含量平均分布的变化。结果表明,由于受到香港和深圳的陆源排放的影响,氨氮含量在吐露港西部和沙头角海区明显偏高。大鹏湾香港海区全层海水中可溶性无机氮(dissolved inorganic nitrogen,DIN)各组分的平均百分含量高低顺序为氨氮>硝酸盐>亚硝酸盐,而氨氮、硝酸盐和亚硝酸盐的多年平均含量分别为0.041、0.019和0.007mg.L-1。在夏季,外海高盐水入侵导致底层水中的硝酸盐含量明显高于表层水中的硝酸盐含量。调查期间氨氮含量航次均值的年际变化呈较明显下降趋势,而硝酸盐和亚硝酸盐含量航次均值的年际变化不大。     

Dark matter subhaloes in numerical simulations

We use cosmological Λ cold dark matter (CDM) numerical simulations to model the evolution of the substructure population in 16 dark matter haloes with resolutions of up to seven million particles within the virial radius. The combined substructure circular velocity distribution function (VDF) for hosts of 10¹¹ to  10¹⁴ M_⊙  at redshifts from zero to two or higher has a self-similar shape, is independent of host halo mass and redshift, and follows the relation  d n /d v = (1/8)( v _cmax/ v _cmax,host)⁻⁴  . Halo to halo variance in the VDF is a factor of roughly 2 to 4. At high redshifts, we find preliminary evidence for fewer large substructure haloes (subhaloes). Specific angular momenta are significantly lower for subhaloes nearer the host halo centre where tidal stripping is more effective. The radial distribution of subhaloes is marginally consistent with the mass profile for   r ≳ 0.3 r _vir  , where the possibility of artificial numerical disruption of subhaloes can be most reliably excluded by our convergence study, although a subhalo distribution that is shallower than the mass profile is favoured. Subhalo masses but not circular velocities decrease towards the host centre. Subhalo velocity dispersions hint at a positive velocity bias at small radii. There is a weak bias towards more circular orbits at lower redshift, especially at small radii. We additionally model a cluster in several power-law cosmologies of   P ∝ kⁿ   , and demonstrate that a steeper spectral index, n , results in significantly less substructure.     

Influences of agricultural landuse and seasonal changes in abiotic conditions on invertebrate colonisation of riparian leaf detritus in intermittent streams

The structure and function of agricultural stream reaches with sparse riparian and floodplain vegetation differ from those of forested reaches, but may be ‘reset’ as these streams flow through reaches with forested riparian zones. We investigated whether invertebrate colonisation of River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) leaf packs in lowland intermittent streams was influenced by the adjacent reach-scale landuse (cleared farmland or forested reserve) within an agricultural catchment in Victoria, Australia. Further, we examined the influence of seasonal changes in hydrology and associated changes in abiotic conditions on the colonisation of leaves by repeating experiments over two summers and one spring. Across these experiments, there were no consistent differences in the structure of communities that colonised leaves in farmland and reserve reaches. In both seasons, most leaf colonists were collectors and few were shredders in both farmland and reserve reaches. Relative abundances of gastropod grazers were much higher in summer than in spring. The structure of invertebrate communities colonising leaves in the different reaches converged over time when streams flowed in spring, but diverged over time as the streams dried and abiotic conditions within disconnected pools became increasingly harsh in summer. Thus, patterns of leaf pack colonisation were influenced by the regional climate causing large seasonal changes in hydrology, but not by reach-scale landuse. The large-scale disturbances of agricultural landuse across the catchment and a supra-seasonal drought probably contributed to low diversities of invertebrate communities in the streams.     

Pattern analysis of dune‐field parameters

As a basic form of pattern analysis, the parameters of dune spacing, defect density, crest orientation and crest length are measured from remote images and treated statistically for dunes at White Sands in New Mexico, the Algodones in California, the Agneitir in Mauritania, and the Namib in Namibia. Statistical populations are identified from frequency plots of dune spacing and crest length, field‐scale calculations of defect density, and rose diagrams of crest orientation. Single populations characterize simple dune fields (White Sands), whereas multiple populations characterize compound/complex dunes (Algodones, Namib), and complex dune fields (Agneitir). As time increases, dune fields show an increase in dune spacing and crest length, a decrease in defect density, more tightly clustered crest orientation, and a reduction in the variance associated with measurements of these parameters. The results are consistent with models of dune fields as self‐organizing complex systems in which a characteristic pattern emerges as a function of constructional time. Because pattern evolution is a function of time, it may be possible to use pattern analysis to augment current methods of age determination. Statistically defined populations can be used in geomorphic backstripping to unstack generations of simple patterns that give rise to complex patterns, and to reconstruct each generation in terms of construction time and palaeo‐wind regime. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.