青海都兰过去2000年来的气候重建及其变迁

根据青海都兰地区树木年轮样本建立了目前我国最长的年轮年表序列。通过年表与气候要素间相关函数、响应函数及响应面分析,选择了可被重建的气候因子,建立了重建方程,恢复了青海都兰地区历史时期的平均温度;并分析讨论了近2 000年来该地区的气候变化。阐述了这个地区的冷暖交替及周期循环。对一些重大气候事件,如中世纪暖期、小冰期和近一个世纪以来的升温等,逐个事件进行了剖析。并与全球温度变化进行了对照。都兰温度曲线为青藏高原东部地区提供了一个较好的气候变化信息表。     

Petrogenesis and structural petrology of high-pressure metabasalt pods,Sivrihisar, Turkey

Lawsonite eclogite pods ranging in size from 3 cm to 6 m occur in lawsonite blueschist and eclogite facies metasedimentary and metabasaltic rocks in the Sivrihisar Massif, Turkey. Some pods have a core of lawsonite eclogite surrounded by alternating, centimeter-scale layers of lawsonite blueschist, eclogite, and transitional eclogite–blueschist, all with similar basaltic bulk composition. These pods also contain texturally late lawsonite-rich veins and layers. Most eclogites and blueschists within the pods lack reaction textures, but some blueschists near pod margins contain texturally complex garnet as well as glaucophane rims on omphacite, suggesting retrogression of eclogite to blueschist. Phase diagrams (pseudosections) calculated for the lawsonite eclogite core of a meter-scale pod indicate that the eclogite equilibrated at ∼22–24 kbar, ∼520°C. Lawsonite eclogite and blueschist at the tectonized margin of the same pod equilibrated at similar temperatures and slightly lower pressures. The composite eclogite–blueschist pod is foliated, lineated, and folded. An earlier generation of lineated omphacite in the pod core has a different spatial orientation than the lineation at the pod margin, although electron backscattered diffraction data show that core and rim omphacite have similar lattice preferred orientation patterns. Petrologic and structural data are consistent with mechanical formation of pods by folding and dissection of eclogite layers at high-P, and localized retrogression at pod margins during initial stages of exhumation at P–T conditions >425°C, 16 kbar.     

New metrics for managing and sustaining the ocean's bounty

Policies are arising around the world, most recently in the United States, that mandate the implementation of marine spatial planning as a practical pathway towards ecosystem-based management. In the new United States ocean policy, and several other cases around the globe, ecosystem services are at the core of marine spatial planning, but there is little guidance on how ecosystem services should be measured, making it hard to implement this new approach. A new framework is shown here for practical, rigorous ecosystem service measurement that highlights contributions from both natural and social systems. The novel three-step framework addresses traditional shortcomings of an ecosystem services approach by giving managers and scientists the tools to assess and track: (1) the condition of the ecosystem (supply metrics), (2) the amount of ocean resources actually used or enjoyed by people (service metrics), and (3) people's preference for that level of service (value metrics). This framework will allow real world progress on marine spatial planning to happen quickly, and with a greater chance for success.     

广东河源断裂带地热成因及与构造关系初探

广东省河源断裂带位于中国东南沿海地热异常区,地热资源十分丰富,但其形成机制和利用前景尚不确定。为此文章开展了多学科综合分析,获得以下初步认识:温泉是断裂带内深循环地下水被地温加热而成,断裂剪切热和花岗岩浆残余热的贡献基本可以排除;沿断裂展布的厚层硅化带是古水热活动的产物;硅化带形成时期的挤压应力方向为北东-南西,与河源断裂及河源盆地晚白垩世以来的伸展活动对应,现代构造应力场为北西西-南东东方向挤压,与古应力场相比发生了明显变化;现今构造应力场使得北东向河源断裂呈右旋挤压运动,而北西向断裂则发生左旋张剪,导致地下水循环格局也发生相应改变;目前温泉沿河源断裂呈带分布,沿北西向断裂呈线性溢出,断裂交汇部位是热泉上升的主要通道。总体而言,河源地区拥有令人鼓舞的地热资源及应用前景,有可能达到建设地热发电厂的目标。建议继续深入开展地质学、地球物理、水文地质学和地热成因机理等多学科综合研究,从而更好地定量评价地热潜能与开发前景。     

Environmental and socioeconomic dynamics of the Indian Ocean tsunami in Penang,Malaysia

This paper addresses some of the environmental and socioeconomic dimensions of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on Penang, Malaysia. We aim to offer wide access to unique and perishable data, while at the same time providing insight to ongoing debates about hazards, vulnerability and social capital. Our social survey examines some of the dynamics that shaped the tsunami impact, response and recovery process. While in terms of lives lost Penang may not conform to arguments surrounding vulnerable environments, the recovery process is more marked by social disparities in terms of the ability to access resources. Our physical survey records local topography, flow depth and flow direction, and charts the differential impact of the tsunami. Yet measuring hazards is not a straightforward process, and relies on reflexive methodologies and eyewitness accounts.     

The role of rock surface hardness and internal moisture in tafoni development in sandstone

The development of cavernous weathering features such as tafoni remains poorly understood. In particular, the roles played by internal moisture and case hardening remain unclear. In this study, Electric Resistivity Tomography (ERT) has been used to map moisture distribution within inner walls of tafoni developed in sandstone, and an Equotip device used to measure rock surface hardness as a proxy measure of the degree of weathering and case hardening. Seven large tafoni in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park (South Africa), varying in size and degree of development have been monitored. A dynamic relationship between surface hardness, degree of weathering and internal moisture regimes has been found. We propose a new conceptual model which illustrates the complex interaction between case hardening and internal moisture and suggests a new direction for cavernous weathering research. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sedimentology,stratigraphy and architecture of the Nicobar Fan (Bengal–Nicobar Fan System), Indian Ocean: Results from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362

Drill sites in the southern Bay of Bengal at 3°N 91°E (International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362) have sampled for the first time a complete section of the Nicobar Fan and below to the oceanic crust. This generally overlooked part of the Bengal–Nicobar Fan System may provide new insights into uplift and denudation rates of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. The Nicobar Fan comprises sediment gravity-flow deposits, mostly turbidites, that alternate with hemipelagite drapes and pelagite intervals of varying thicknesses. The decimetre-thick to metre-thick oldest pre-fan sediments (limestones/chalks) dated at 69 Ma are overlain by volcanic material and slowly accumulated pelagites (0.5 g cm⁻² kyr⁻¹). At Expedition 362 Site U1480, terrigenous input began in the early Miocene at ca 22.5 Ma as muds, overlain by very thin-bedded and thin-bedded muddy turbidites at ca 19.5 Ma. From 9.5 Ma, sand content and sediment supply sharply increase (from 1–5 to 10–50 g cm⁻² kyr⁻¹). Despite the abundant normal faulting in the Nicobar Fan compared with the Bengal Fan, it offers a better-preserved and more homogeneous sedimentary record with fewer unconformities. The persistent connection between the two fans ceased at 0.28 Ma when the Nicobar Fan became inactive. The Nicobar Fan is a major sink for Himalaya-derived material. This study presents integrated results of International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362 with older Deep Sea Drilling Project/Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program sites that show that the Bengal–Nicobar Fan System experienced successive large-scale avulsion processes that switched sediment supply between the Bengal Fan (middle Miocene and late Pleistocene) and the Nicobar Fan (late Miocene to early Pleistocene). A quantitative analysis of the submarine channels of the Nicobar Fan is also presented, including their stratigraphic frequency, showing that channel size/area and abundance peaked at ca 2 to 3 Ma, but with a distinct low at 3 to 7 Ma: the intervening stratigraphic [sub]unit was a time of reduced sediment accumulation rates.     

A detailed paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic investigation around Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary: the Autlan (Western Mexico) volcanic sequence revisited

We present a detailed rock-magnetic and paleomagnetic survey from Autlan volcanic succession in western Mexico. The principal aim of this study is to extend paleomagnetic data from Autlan lavas in order to confirm vertical-axis rotation observed in reconnaissance study and to evaluate long-term variation of the geomagnetic field strength based on existing and global data. The mean inclination (44.7°) is in agreement with the expected inclination for 60 and 70 Ma, as derived from available reference poles for the North American craton. The declination (333.6°), however, is significantly different from those expected, which suggests a statistically significant counterclockwise tectonic rotation ranging between 10° ± 6° and 14° ± 7°. As a measure of paleosecular variation (PSV), we obtained a geomagnetic field dispersion of 9.6° (upper and lower limits: 7.2°–11.9°) in perfect agreement with the previously published PSV compilation of selected Cretaceous data from lavas. The mean virtual dipole moments available for Autlan lavas are about 65% of the present geomagnetic axial dipole but are in reasonably good agreement with other comparable quality determinations between 5 and 90 Ma. This reinforces the hypothesis that low geomagnetic field strengths persisted for the entire Jurassic extending into the Upper Cretaceous.     

Assessing Methane in Shallow Groundwater in Unconventional Oil and Gas Play Areas,Eastern Kentucky

The expanding use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology to produce oil and gas from tight rock formations has increased public concern about potential impacts on the environment, especially on shallow drinking water aquifers. In eastern Kentucky, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have been used to develop the Berea Sandstone and the Rogersville Shale. To assess baseline groundwater chemistry and evaluate methane detected in groundwater overlying the Berea and Rogersville plays, we sampled 51 water wells and analyzed the samples for concentrations of major cations and anions, metals, dissolved methane, and other light hydrocarbon gases. In addition, the stable carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of methane (δ¹³C‐CH₄ and δ²H‐CH₄) was analyzed for samples with methane concentration exceeding 1 mg/L. Our study indicates that methane is a relatively common constituent in shallow groundwater in eastern Kentucky, where methane was detected in 78% of the sampled wells (40 of 51 wells) with 51% of wells (26 of 51 wells) exhibiting methane concentrations above 1 mg/L. The δ¹³C‐CH₄ and δ²H‐CH₄ ranged from ?84.0‰ to ?58.3‰ and from ?246.5‰ to ?146.0‰, respectively. Isotopic analysis indicated that dissolved methane was primarily microbial in origin formed through CO₂ reduction pathway. Results from this study provide a first assessment of methane in the shallow aquifers in the Berea and Rogersville play areas and can be used as a reference to evaluate potential impacts of future horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities on groundwater quality in the region.