Crustal Structural and Tectonic Evolution and Oil Prospect Evaluation in the Songpan-Zoigê Block

1 Introduction The Songpan-Zoigê Block (SRB) lies in the east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is a triangle block confined and surrounded by three structure belts: the east Kunlun-west Qinling belt (EK-WQLB) to the north, the Sichuan Basin to the southeast and the Garzê-Litang-Jinsha River belt to the southwest. This block is also the joint part of three tectonic domains: the North China, South China and Qinghai-Tibet domains (Huang and Chen, 1987). The development and evolutio…     

The effect of the new Massachusetts Bay sewage outfall on the concentrations of metals and bacterial spores in nearby bottom and suspended sediments

Since the new outfall for Boston's treated sewage effluent began operation on September 6, 2000, no change has been observed in concentrations of silver or Clostridium perfringens spores (an ecologically benign tracer of sewage), in bottom sediments at a site 2.5 km west of the outfall. In suspended sediment samples collected with a time-series sediment trap located 1.3 km south of the outfall, silver and C. perfringens spores increased by 38% and 103%, respectively, in post-outfall samples while chromium, copper, and zinc showed no change. All metal concentrations in sediments are <50% of warning levels established by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. An 11-year data set of bottom sediment characteristics collected three times per year prior to outfall startup provides perspective for the interpretation of post-outfall data. A greater than twofold increase in concentrations of sewage tracers (silver and C. perfringens) was observed in muddy sediments following the exceptional storm of December 11-16, 1992 that presumably moved contaminated inshore sediment offshore.     

Organic carbon flow in the Ob, Yenisey Rivers and Kara Sea of the Arctic region

Stable carbon isotope and elemental C/N ratios of the organic fraction of a set of samples along a transect in the Ob and Yenisey Rivers into the Kara Sea in the Arctic were measured. Previously, the concentrations of 239,240Pu and 137Cs in these same samples had been determined. The coupled measurements were carried out to assess possible connectivity between organic carbon flow into the Kara Sea and transport of radioactive nuclides in this marine environment. Organic carbon flow into the Kara Sea is influenced significantly by terrigenous sources carried by the Ob and Yenisey Rivers. The carbon isotope-organic carbon relationship provides evidence that a rich source of terrigenous carbon exists in the riverine system. A weak, but significant relationship between stable carbon isotope ratio and 137Cs suggests that most of the 137Cs is derived from riverine particles, as compared to Pu which is also derived from in situ scavenging within the water column.     

Improvements in the epifauna of the Crouch Estuary (United Kingdom) following a decline in TBT concentrations

In the United Kingdom, the use of TBT-based anti-fouling paints on small vessels was banned in 1987, and a biological study of the Crouch Estuary, a yachting centre on the south-eastern English coastline, was initiated in order to monitor any associated changes. The macrobenthic infauna and epifauna were sampled between 1987 and 1992, and again in 1997. Epifaunal sampling in 1997 showed that an earlier increase in sedentary taxa had been sustained, and also that a large population of the native oyster Ostrea edulis had become established upstream. Multivariate analysis revealed continuance of a trend towards directional change in community composition at inner estuary stations, where TBT concentrations were historically much higher. These observations, along with evidence of established populations of a range of ascidian species in the inner estuary after an initial marked increase in densities, provide circumstantial evidence of an underlying improvement in environmental conditions following the TBT ban in 1987.     

Orogenesis and Basin Development: U-Pb Detrital Zircon Age Constraints on Evolution of the Late Paleozoic St. Marys Basin, Central Mainland Nova Scotia

The St. Marys Basin, along the southern flank of the composite Late Paleozoic Magdalen Basin in the Canadian Appalachians and along the Avalon-Meguma terrane boundary, contains Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous continental clastic rocks of the Horton Group that were deposited in fluvial and lacustrine environments after the peak of the Acadian orogeny. SHRIMP II (Geological Survey of Canada) data on approximately 100 detrital zircons from three samples of Horton Group rocks from the St. Marys Basin show that most of the zircons have been involved in a multistage history, recycled from clastic rocks in the adjacent Meguma and Avalonian terranes. Although there is a minor contribution from Early Silurian (411 Ma) and Late Devonian suites (ca. 380-370 Ma), Neoproterozoic (ca. 700-550 Ma) and Paleoproterozoic (ca. 2.0-2.2 Ga) zircon populations predominate, with a minor contribution from ca. 1.0-, 1.2-, and 1.8-Ga zircons. Published U-Pb single-zircon analyses on clastic sedimentary rocks indicate that the Meguma and Avalon terranes have different populations of detrital zircons, sourced from discrete portions (Amazonian and West African cratons) of the ancient Gondwanan margin. Both terranes contain Neoproterozoic and Late Archean populations. The SHRIMP data, in conjunction with published sedimentological and geochemical data, indicate that the Horton Group basin-fill sediments are largely the result of rapid uplift and erosion of Meguma terrane metasedimentary and granitoid rocks immediately to the south of the St. Marys Basin during the waning stages of the Acadian orogeny. Regional syntheses indicate that this uplift occurred before and during deposition and was a consequence of dextral ramping of the Meguma terrane over the Avalon terrane along the southern flank of the Magdalen Basin.     

Large Proper-Motion Infrared

When some magnetic field lines connect a Kerr black hole with a disk rotating around it, energy and angular momentum are transferred between them. If the black hole rotates faster than the disk, ca&solm0;GMH>0.36 for a thin Keplerian disk, then energy and angular momentum are extracted from the black hole and transferred to the disk (MH is the mass and aMH is the angular momentum of the black hole). This way, the energy originating in the black hole may be radiated away by the disk. The total amount of energy that can be extracted from the black hole spun down from ca&solm0;GMH=0.998 to ca&solm0;GMH=0.36 by a thin Keplerian disk is approximately 0.15MHc2. This is larger than approximately 0.09MHc2, which can be extracted by the Blandford-Znajek mechanism.     

The Discovery of a Second Field Methane Brown Dwarf from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Commissioning Data

We report the discovery of a second field methane brown dwarf from the commissioning data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The object, SDSS J134646.45-003150.4 (hereafter SDSS 1346-00), was selected because of its very red color and stellar appearance. Its spectrum between 0.8 and 2.5 μm is dominated by strong absorption bands of H2O and CH4 and closely mimics those of Gliese 229B and SDSS 162414.37+002915.6 (hereafter SDSS 1624+00), two other known methane brown dwarfs. SDSS 1346-00 is approximately 1.5 mag fainter than Gliese 229B, suggesting that it lies about 11 pc from the Sun. The ratio of flux at 2.1 μm to that at 1.27 μm is larger for SDSS 1346-00 than for Gliese 229B and SDSS 1624+00, which suggests that SDSS 1346-00 has a slightly higher effective temperature than the others. Based on a search area of 130 deg2 and a detection limit of z*=19.8, we estimate a space density of 0.05 pc-3 for methane brown dwarfs with Teff approximately 1000 K in the 40 pc3 volume of our search. This estimate is based on small-sample statistics and should be treated with appropriate caution.     

Strengthen the Environmental Sense of Local Community with PRA and MIGIS

Foundation item: The Project entitled "A Feasibility Study to Strengthen Participatory Planning Capacity by MIGIS" supported by Asian Development Assistance Facility (ADAF), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. New ZealandAlthough the govenunent has paid great attenhon to the environmental improvement by means of policyand inVestment the environmental condihon is aill getting worse in C~ The current environmentalsitUation is chalacterized by serious POlluhoft expanded land degra…     

NEOTECTONICS ALONG THE EASTERN MARGIN OF THE TIBETAN PLATEAU: INFERENCES FROM BEDROCK RIVER INCISION PATTERNS

NEOTECTONICS ALONG THE EASTERN MARGIN OF THE TIBETAN PLATEAU: INFERENCES FROM BEDROCK RIVER INCISION PATTERNS1　ChenZ,BurchfielBC ,LiuY ,etal.GPSmeasurementsfromeasternTibetandtheirimplicationsforIndia/Eurasiaintracon tinentaldeformation[J] .JournalofGeophysicalResearch ,2 0 0 0 (inpress) . 2　KingRW ,ShenF ,BurchfielBC ,etal.GeodeticmeasurementofcrustalmotioninsouthwestChina.Geology,1997,2 5,179～ 182 . 3　KirbyE ,WhippleKX ,Burchfie…     

Numerical Study of the Impacts of Urban Expansion on Meiyu Precipitation over Eastern China

The Yangtze River Delta(YRD) has experienced significant urban expansion in recent years, while the Meiyu belt of China has demonstrated a decadal northward shifting trend. Thus, it is of interest to assess how urban expansion affects Meiyu precipitation and hopefully to reveal the underlying physical mechanisms involved. In this study, the urban extents over the YRD in 2001 and 2010 are derived based on land use/land cover(LULC) category data and nighttime light image data. Two parallel groups of10-summer(2001–2010) numerical simulations are carried out with the urban extents over the YRD in2001 and 2010, respectively. The results show that the urban expansion in the YRD tends to result in increased(decreased) Meiyu precipitation over the Huaihe River(Yangtze River) basin with intensities of0.2–1.2 mm day-1. Further analysis indicates that the spatiotemporal pattern of the Meiyu precipitation change induced by the urban expansion resembles the third empirical orthogonal function(EOF) mode of the observed Meiyu precipitation. Analyses of the possible underlying physical mechanisms reveal that urban expansion in the YRD leads to changes in the surface energy balance and warming(cooling) of tropospheric(stratospheric) air temperature over eastern China. Anomalous upward(downward) motion and moisture convergence(divergence) over the Huaihe River(Yangtze River) basin occur, corresponding to the increases(decreases) of the Meiyu precipitation over the Huaihe River(Yangtze River) basin.