Double exposure in Mozambique's Limpopo River Basin

This paper examines how double exposure to economic and environmental stressors – and the interaction between the two – affect smallholder farmers in Mozambique's Limpopo River Basin. Studying two case study villages we find that people, in general, are resilient to environmental stressors. However, most households show less resilience to the socioeconomic stressors and shocks that have been introduced or intensified by economic globalisation. Our findings indicate that economic change brought about by structural adjustment policies pressures rural people to alter their approach to farming, which makes it more difficult for them to respond to environmental change. For example, smallholder farmers find it difficult to make a transition to commercial farming within the Limpopo Basin, in part because farming techniques that are well adapted to managing environmental variability in the region – such as seeding many small plots – are not well suited to the economies of scale needed for profitable commercial agriculture. People use a variety of strategies to cope with interactive environmental and economic stressors and shocks, but many face considerable constraints to profitably exploiting market-based opportunities. We conclude that economic stressors and shocks may now be causing small-scale agriculture to be less well adapted to ecological and climate variability, making smallholders more vulnerable to future climate change. Some local level policy interventions, including those that support and build on local environmental knowledge, could assist rural agricultural societies in adapting to future environmental change in the context of economic globalisation.     

Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotope Stratigraphy of the Rustenburg Layered Suite, Bushveld Complex: Constraints on Crustal Contamination

New ¹⁸O values for plagioclase, pyroxene and olivine, and limitedwhole-rock D values are presented for samples from the RustenburgLayered Suite of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. In combinationwith existing data, these provide a much more complete compositeO-isotope stratigraphy for the intrusion. Throughout the layeredsuite, mineral ¹⁸O values indicate that the magmas from whichthey crystallized had ¹⁸O values that were about 7·1,that is, 1·4 higher than expected for mantle-derivedmagmas, suggesting extensive crustal contamination. More limitedH-isotope data suggest that the OH present within whole rocks,regardless of the degree of alteration, is of magmatic originand not an alteration phenomenon. There appears to be no systematicchange in ¹⁸O value with stratigraphic height and this requiresthe contamination to have taken place in a ‘staging chamber’before emplacement of the magma(s) into the present chamber.Large amounts (30–40%) of contamination by the lower tomiddle crust are needed to explain these ¹⁸O values, which isin general agreement with previous estimates based on Sr- andNd-isotope data. Alternatively, smaller amounts of contamination(20%) by sedimentary rocks, or their partial melts, representedby the country rock can explain the data, but it is not apparenthow such material could have been present at the depth of the‘staging chamber’ in the lower to middle crust. KEY WORDS: Bushveld Complex; Rustenburg Layered Suite; oxygen isotopes; hydrogen isotopes; crustal contamination     

Efficient detection of pathogen virus in sand dabs, Paralichthys olivaceus using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) and marine birnavirus (MABV) are the causative pathogens for some of the most explosive epidemics of emerging viral diseases in many Asian countries, leading to huge economic losses in aquaculture. Rapid molecular detection for surveillance or diagnosis has been a critical component in reducing the prevalence of pathogen infection. The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) of DNA is currently one of the most commonly used molecular diagnostic tools, as it is simple, quick, and easy to amplify target DNA under isothermal conditions. In the present study, a novel and highly specific LAMP assay for the sensitive and rapid detection of VHSV and MABV infection in fish was developed. Using a set of synthesized primers matching a specific region of the genome, the efficiency and specificity of the LAMP assay were optimized in terms of the reaction temperature and DNA polymerase concentration, as they are the main determinants of the sensitivity and specificity of the LAMP assay. In particular, we demonstrated that our assay could be applied to efficient detection of VHSV and MABV infection in the wild fish, Paralichthys olivaceus. Our results demonstrate the simplicity and convenience of this method for the detection of viral infection in aquatic organisms.     

朝鲜平南盆地祥原超群的沉积时代与拉伸纪早期碳同位素负漂移

朝鲜平南盆地与东华北克拉通(中朝克拉通)中新元古代盆地的对比存在争议,准确厘定相关沉积建造的沉积时限是解决这些争议的关键。朝鲜平南盆地的地层主体为祥原超群,从下往上依次为直岘群、祠堂隅群、默川群、灭恶山群和燕滩群。直岘群是祥原超群的最下部层位,大部分由陆源碎屑岩组成。从平南盆地"北部型"和"南部型"直岘群碎屑岩中分选锆石,测得LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄,限定祥原超群沉积时代晚于1100Ma,并且得出所谓的"北部型"和"南部型"地层没有时代和物源差异。鉴于默川群的基性岩床时代为~900Ma,祥原超群的沉积时代为新元古代早期(1000~900Ma),燕滩群的时代可能稍晚。这说明平南盆地与华北徐淮盆地和旅大盆地等同时。祥原超群碳酸盐岩样品的δ~(13)C值数据表明,默川群时期碳同位素发生了负漂移(δ~(13)C值为-6‰~-5‰)。鉴于侵入到默川群的基性岩床的时代为~900Ma,我们认为该碳同位素(δ~(13)C值)负漂移略早于~900Ma,可能与同一时期的岩浆活动有关。     

朝鲜半岛冠帽地块的基底属性:来自银德洞变质侵入杂岩的锆石U-Pb年代学和岩石地球化学证据

地体基底建造的甄别和表征是联结华北克拉通与朝鲜半岛早期演化历史的基本纽带。针对朝鲜半岛前寒武纪基底建造研究方面的薄弱环节,本文表征了冠帽地块清津地区银德洞出露的变质深成侵入杂岩。3个代表性样品的SIMS锆石U-Pb定年结果显示,早期中性片麻岩记录的岩浆侵入年龄为约2.53 Ga,晚期钾长花岗质片麻岩记录的岩浆侵入年龄为约2.51 Ga,表明银德洞变质杂岩形成于新太古代晚期。参考变质杂岩的岩石地球化学特征,其原岩组成可能包括石英闪长岩和钾长花岗岩,大体上可与全球典型的岩浆型紫苏花岗岩系列相类比。结合3个样品变化较大的锆石εH f(t)值(-1.7~+10.5),我们推测银德洞变质侵入杂岩可能形成于玄武质下地壳岩石的部分熔融及其后的结晶分异作用,代表了活动大陆边缘岩浆弧环境下的典型产物。银德洞变质杂岩归属于新太古代岩浆弧根部岩浆岩建造的研究认识,不仅为判定冠帽地块与华北克拉通东部的吉南和龙地块以及辽北清原地块之间的亲缘性提供了岩石学证据,而且暗示这些地块在新太古代共同处在一个类似于安第斯活动大陆边缘的构造环境。