Potential impact of climate change and reindeer density on tundra indicator species in the Barents Sea region

Climate change is expected to alter the distribution of habitats and thus the distribution of species connected with these habitats in the terrestrial Barents Sea region. It was hypothesised that wild species connected with the tundra and open-land biome may be particularly at risk as forest area expands. Fourteen species of birds were identified as useful indicators for the biodiversity dependent upon this biome. By bringing together species distribution information with the LPJ-GUESS vegetation model, and with estimates of future wild and domestic reindeer density, potential impacts on these species between the present time and 2080 were assessed. Over this period there was a net loss of open land within the current breeding range of most bird species. Grazing reindeer were modelled as increasing the amount of open land retained for nine of the tundra bird species.     

Plant growth and the performance of mangrove wetland microcosms for mariculture effluent depuration

This study established wetland microcosms that were either unplanted or planted in monoculture with native mangrove species in Taiwan (Avicennia marina, Rhizophora stylosa, and Lumnitzera racemosa) for the purpose of receiving high-salinity mariculture effluents; additionally, the microcosms operated at different hydraulic retention times (HRTs). Plant growth and the performance of the microcosms with respect to pollutant removal were investigated. The results showed that seedlings of all three mangrove species survived and grew sufficiently well under continuous flooding. The presence of mangroves consistently improved SS, BOD₅, and TP removal, particularly under short HRT conditions. The mangrove microcosms removed pollutants from the mariculture effluents with efficiencies of 5.7-27.1% (SS), 4.9-36.3% (BOD₅), 18.7-29.9% (TP), 21.2-49.8% (NH₄-N), and 5.4-37.7% (NO_x-N). A. marina and L. racemosa were more tolerant of continuous flooding than R. stylosa. However, no species displayed consistently superior performance in decreasing all pollutant-related parameters investigated. For all pollutants, microcosms operating at a 2-d HRT exhibited a higher removal efficiency than those operating at a 0.5-d HRT.     

Vestan lithologies mapped by the visual and infrared spectrometer on Dawn

We present global lithological maps of the Vestan surface based on Dawn mission's Visible InfraRed (VIR) Spectrometer acquisitions with a spatial sampling of 200 m. The maps confirm the results obtained with the data set acquired by VIR with a spatial sampling of 700 m, that the reflectance spectra of Vesta's surface are dominated by pyroxene absorptions that can be interpreted within the context of the distribution of howardites, eucrites, and diogenites (HEDs). The maps also partially agree with the ground and Hubble Space Telescope observations: they confirm the background surface being an assemblage of howardite or polymict eucrite, as well as the location of a diogenitic‐rich spot; however, there is no evidence of extended olivine‐rich regions in the equatorial latitudes. Diogenite is revealed on the Rheasilvia basin floor, indicating that material of the lower crust/mantle was exposed. VIR also detected diogenites along the scarp of Matronalia Rupes, and the rims of Severina and a nearby, unnamed crater, and as ejecta of Antonia crater. The diogenite distribution is fully consistent with petrological constraints; although the mapped distribution does not provide unambiguous constraints, it favors the hypothesis of a magma ocean.     

Photometric mapping of Asteroid (4) Vesta’s southern hemisphere with Hubble Space Telescope

We present the surface mapping of the southern hemisphere of Asteroid (4) Vesta obtained from Hubble Space Telescope (HST). From 105 images of Vesta through four filters in the wavelengths best to characterize the 1-μm pyroxene band, we constructed albedo and color-ratio maps of Vesta. These new maps cover latitudes −50° to +20°. The southern hemisphere of Vesta displays more diverse albedo and color features than the northern hemisphere, with about 15 new albedo and color features identified. The overall longitudinal albedo and color variations in the southern hemisphere are comparable with that of the northern hemisphere, with a range of about ±20% and ±10%, respectively. The eastern hemisphere is brighter and displays more diogenitic minerals than the western hemisphere. Correlations between 1-μm band depth and band width, as well as between 1-μm band depth and albedo, are present on a global scale, attributed to pyroxene composition variations. The lack of correlations between albedo and the spectral slope indicates the absence of globalized space weathering. The lack of a global correlation between 1-μm band depth and topography suggests that the surface composition of Vesta is not completely controlled by a single impact. The distribution of compositional variation on Vesta suggests a possible large impact basin. Evidence of space weathering is found in regions, including the bright rim of the south-pole crater where the steepest gravitational slope on Vesta is, and a dark area near a gravitationally flat area. We propose to divide the surface of Vesta into six geological units different from the background according to their 1-μm absorption features and spectral slopes, including two eucrite-rich units, a low-Ca eucrite unit, a diogenite-rich unit, a space weathered unit, and a freshly exposed unit. No evidence of olivine-rich area is present in these data.     

“构造地质学”发展方向的一些思考

构造地质学是地质学的核心基础学科,其发展方向是目前构造地质学家面临的挑战之一。本文从构造作用的本质出发,试图对构造地质学的发展方向进行思考。构造作用本质上是岩石和矿物对应力作用的响应,包括物理响应和化学响应,进而用数学方法进行表达：（1）物理响应主要表现为变形,包括脆性变形和韧性变形。岩石的力学性能决定了其变形特征。岩石圈力学性能在时间和空间上的不均一性一直是研究岩石圈变形行为的巨大挑战。需要结合野外观测、岩石力学和流变学研究,并借助多尺度模拟方法来建立不同时间尺度和空间尺度下岩石的变形行为和变形准则。（2）化学响应主要指构造应力作用下岩石和矿物发生化学变化的过程,即应力化学作用。变形变质作用、剪切带成矿作用、剪切带石墨化、应力生气和生烃等方面都可能存在应力化学过程,但其详细过程和反应机理还需要进一步探究。（3）运用数值模拟、量子计算对以上这些构造过程进行数学表达,也是构造地质学未来发展值得关注的方向。总之,构造地质学未来的发展方向应是与物理学、化学乃至数学等基础学科的深度融合。

     

Water Materialities and Citizen Engagement: Testing the Implications of Water Access and Quality for Community Engagement in Ghana and South Africa

We analyze the relationship between perceptions of domestic water access, and quality, in relation community engagement. While others have suggested linkages between material conditions of water access and engagement (e.g., that poor water access might spur engagement), to date there have been no studies those test these relationships using statistical methods. Based on a quantitative analysis of survey data from underserved sites in Accra, Ghana, and Cape Town, South Africa, our results show that water access and quality are both predictive of community engagement. The analysis also makes a strong case that there are different dimensions when considering the material conditions of water—in this case, water access and quality each condition engagement in opposite directions. Furthermore, consistent with other studies, our study also shows different demographics (notably gender) mediate these relationships in important ways.     

青藏高原东部上地幔各向异性及相关的壳幔耦合型式

对国家数字地震台网和云南、四川、甘肃、青海区域数字地震台网, 以及布设在川、滇、藏地区的宽频带流动地震台网共116个台站所记录的远震SKS波形资料作偏振分析, 采用叠加分析方法求得每一个台站的SKS快波偏振方向和快慢波的时间延迟, 获得青藏高原东部及其邻近地区的上地幔各向异性图像. 将该地区全球定位系统(GPS)的观测结果与上地幔各向异性分布相结合作地壳-地幔耦合变形的分析, 研究表明青藏高原内部和高原外部的云南地区具有不同的壳幔变形特征, 在高原的东缘地区(大致位于川滇西部的26°~27°N之间)存在一个壳幔变形的横向过渡带. 过渡带以南地区的快波偏振方向从滇西南的S60°~70°E逐渐转变到滇东南的近东西向, 以北的滇西北部和川西南部, 快波偏振方向为近似的南北向. 高原内部表现为强壳幔耦合型, 高原外部则属于壳幔解耦型. 这一横向过渡带与地表的断裂走向不一致, 但在地壳和上地幔, 其地球物理场(如: 地壳厚度, 布格重力异常和构造应力方向等)都具有横向过渡的特征. 该横向过渡带邻近东喜马拉雅构造结, 在板块边界动力学上有着重要的意义.     

X‐ray fluorescence measurements of the surface elemental composition of asteroid 433 Eros

Abstract— We report major element ratios determined for the S‐class asteroid 433 Eros using remote‐sensing x‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy with the near‐Earth asteroid rendezvous Shoemaker x‐ray spectrometer (XRS). Data analysis techniques and systematic errors are described in detail. Data acquired during five solar flares and during two extended “quiet Sun” periods are presented; these results sample a representative portion of the asteroid's surface. Although systematic uncertainties are potentially large, the most internally consistent and plausible interpretation of the data is that Eros has primitive Mg/Si, Al/Si, Ca/Si and Fe/Si ratios, closely similar to H or R chondrites. Global differentiation of the asteroid is ruled out. The S/Si ratio is much lower than that of chondrites, probably reflecting impact‐induced volatilization and/or photo‐ or ion‐induced sputtering of sulfur at the surface of the asteroid. An alternative explanation for the low S/Si ratio is that it reflects a limited degree of melting with loss of an FeS‐rich partial melt. Size‐sorting processes could lead to segregation of Fe‐Ni metal from silicates within the regolith of Eros; this could indicate that the Fe/Si ratios determined by the x‐ray spectrometer are not representative of the bulk Eros composition.