New Devonian plant fossil occurrences on the New South Wales South Coast: geological implications

Devonian fossil localities are summarised for coastal southeastern Australia, including both marine invertebrates representing a major late Frasnian (Late Devonian) transgression, and plant remains of Middle–Late Devonian age in associated non-marine strata. Lycopsid plant specimens (Leptophloeum) from near Majors Creek, NSW, first documented by Edgeworth David and E. F. Pittman in association with marine fossils to demonstrate a Late Devonian age, are illustrated for the first time. Lycopsid plants of presumed Middle Devonian age are illustrated from three new localities: Yowrie River inland from Cape Dromedary, Tuross River northwest of Narooma and Charlies Forest Road northeast of Braidwood. The Yowrie River occurrence (in float) indicates probable Middle Devonian strata upstream that are not shown on published maps. The Tuross River occurrence is in sheared and folded strata previously mapped as Ordovician, and the Braidwood occurrence demonstrates Devonian black shales adjacent to previously mapped Ordovician. Evidence supporting alternative thrust or simple fold interpretations for the Budawang Synclinorium is discussed, and relevant Ordovician fossil localities are listed.     

Impacts of small cascaded hydropower plants on river discharge in a basin in Southern China

The run‐off volume altered by the construction of hydropower plants affects ecohydrological processes in catchments. Although the impacts of large hydropower plants have been well documented in the literature, few studies have been conducted on the impacts of small cascaded hydropower plants (SCHPs). To evaluate the impacts of SCHPs on river flow, we chose a representative basin affected by hydropower projects and, to a lesser degree, by other human activities, that is, the Qiuxiang River basin in Southern China. The observed river discharge and climate data during the period of 1958–2016 were investigated. The datasets were divided into a low‐impact period and a high‐impact period based on the number of SCHPs and the capacities of the reservoirs. The daily river discharge alteration was assessed by applying the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration. To separate the impact of the SCHPs on the local river discharge from that of climate‐related precipitation, the back‐propagation neural network was used to simulate the monthly average river discharge process. An abnormal result was found: Unlike large reservoirs in large watersheds, the SCHPs regulated the flows during the flood season but were not able to mitigate the droughts during the dry season due to their limited storage and the commonly occurring inappropriate interregulations of the SCHPs. The SCHPs also reduced the annual average river discharge in the research basin. The contribution of the SCHPs to the river discharge changes was 85.37%, much higher than the contributions of climate change (13.43%) and other human activities (1.20%). The results demonstrated that the impacts of the SCHPs were different from those of large dams and reservoirs that regulate floods and relieve droughts. It is necessary to raise the awareness of the impacts of these river barriers.     

贵阳木本植物始花期对温度变化的敏感度

植物物候期的温度敏感度反映了植物是怎样及在何种程度上响应气候变化,研究不同物种物候期的温度敏感度有利于鉴别易受气候变化影响的物种。现有关于始花期的温度敏感度研究主要集中在温带地区,在亚热带地区研究仍较少。本文以位于亚热带的贵阳为研究区,利用1980-2014年60种典型木本植物的始花期观测资料,分析了该地区植物始花期变化趋势及对气温变化的敏感度,评估了样本量大小对敏感度估计稳定性的影响。结果表明：①研究时段内贵阳发生了明显的气候变化,年平均气温显著升高,其中春、秋季的增温比夏、冬季显著。②绝大多数植物(88.3%)的始花期在研究时段内呈提前趋势,其中显著提前的占物种总数的21.7%(P<0.05);60种植物始花期总体的提前趋势为2.89 d/10 a。③绝大多数(88.3%)植物始花期的年际变化与最优时段内平均气温呈显著负相关(P<0.05),所有植物始花期的总体敏感度为-5.75 d/℃。④样本量大小对温度敏感度估计的稳定性有显著影响,15年长序列能将敏感度估计结果的波动范围以99%的概率控制在2 d/℃之内。     

Anatomically preserved plants in siderite concretions in the shale split of the Foord Seam: mineralogy, geochemistry, genesis (Upper Carboniferous, Canada)

A shale split in the well-studied Foord Seam (Upper Carboniferous), Stellarton Basin, Nova Scotia, provides a rare opportunity to study little known siderite concretions with anatomically preserved plants from a limnic basin. Siderite concretions occur throughout the split, commonly as sheet-like, inter-connected lepidodendrid logs, or less frequently as spherical masses; they are typically vuggy. A sample of 14 stratigraphically oriented concretions in the split shows that primary siderite varies from 45% to 80% (wt.%) due to selective replacement by 5% to 40% ferroan dolomite or ankerite in plant tissues. These two minerals show large Mg/Fe and Mg/Ca variability and are Fezoned. Clay content ranges from trace to 20%, and quartz from 5% to 10%. Partial cell-wall destruction by erosion and changeable oxic/anoxic conditions, prior to siderite permineralization, resulted in preservation mainly of the more resistant plant tissues. On average, carbon from siderite is isotopically heavier (+4.8±1.9 0/00) than that from ‘dolomite' (−7.2±1.1 0/00). The distribution of and the positive correlation between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O probably reflects the two fractionation processes associated with methanogenesis and ‘dolomitization', respectively, in the genetic history of the siderite concretions in the split. Siderite concretions formed diagenetically early from bicarbonate under reducing conditions in a slightly alkaline freshwater environment that precluded calcite deposition.     

Consideration of the genus Ginkgoites Seward and a redescription of two species from the Lower Cretaceous of Germany

Genera used for fossil ginkgoalean leafy shoots, especially Baiera F. Braun,Ginkgoites Seward and Ginkgo L., are discussed both in their historical context and in the light of recent discoveries. Use of Ginkgoites Seward as a form- or organ-genus for fossil leaves lacking associated reproductive structures is readopted. Two species, Ginkgoitesbrauniana (Dunker) comb. nov. and Ginkgoites pluripartita (Schimper) Seward, from the Lower Cretaceous Wealden facies of Germany, are rediagnosed and neotypes selected. The occurrence of G. pluripartita in the Lower Cretaceous of western Greenland, Montana, U S A, Canada and Siberia is confirmed.     

要重视海岸地区观赏植物资源的开发

列举了海岸地区常见的观赏植物群落,阐述了海岸地区观赏植物资源,对滨海旅游业如何利用海岸地区观赏植物资源提出了建议。     

Deformation history of the ophiolite sequence from the Balagne Nappe,northern Corsica: insights in the tectonic evolution of Alpine Corsica

In Alpine Corsica, the Jurassic ophiolites represent remnants of oceanic lithosphere belonging to the Ligure‐Piemontese Basin located between the Europe/Corsica and Adria continental margins. In the Balagne area, a Jurassic ophiolitic sequence topped by a Late Jurassic–Late Cretaceous sedimentary cover crops out at the top of the nappe pile. The whole ophiolitic succession is affected by polyphase deformation developed under very low‐grade orogenic metamorphic conditions. The original palaeogeographic location and the emplacement mechanisms for the Balagne ophiolites are still a matter of debate and different interpretations for its history have been proposed. The deformation features of the Balagne ophiolites are outlined in order to provide constraints on their history in the framework of the geodynamic evolution of Alpine Corsica. The deformation history reconstructed for the Balagne Nappe includes five different deformation phases, from D1 to D5. The D1 phase was connected with the latest Cretaceous/Palaeocene accretion into the accretionary wedge related to an east‐dipping subduction zone followed by a Late Eocene D2 phase related to emplacement onto the Europe/Corsica continental margin. The subsequent D3 phase was characterized by sinistral strike‐slip faults and related deformations of Late Eocene–Early Oligocene age. The D4 and D5 phases were developed during the Early Oligocene–Late Miocene extensional processes connected with the collapse of the Alpine belt. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A quantitative assessment of snow shielding effects on surface exposure dating from a western North American 10Be data compilation

To better assess the spatiotemporal variations of the snow shielding effect on surface exposure dating, we compiled a dataset of 1341 ¹⁰Be ages from alpine moraines and glacially eroded valleys across western North America, and conducted a sensitivity test with both modern and time-integrated snow data covering the same region. Our analyses reveal significant differences in snow shielding both across our geographic domain and through time. In our time-integrated experiments we find snow-based exposure age corrections as low as 3.5% in the Great Basin region and high as 28.4% in the Pacific Northwest for samples dating to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) when no wind-sweeping is assumed. As demonstrated with our time-varying snow conditions with a global climate model and a positive degree day model, modern snow conditions across western North America cannot account for the varying snow patterns under large scale climate shifts since the LGM. The snow-based exposure age corrections from the modern data differ from those calculated by our time-varying model by up to 17% across our model domain. In addition, we find that the ¹⁰Be ages calculated under two end-member scenarios regarding wind-sweeping effects, specifically whether boulders were shielded only when the total snow accumulation exceeded boulder heights or were always shielded when the snow was present, can differ by ∼7.6% on average for LGM aged samples. Our analyses provide a model-based estimates of the spatiotemporal variability and complexity of snow shielding effects on surface exposure dates across western North America and highlight the need to consider snow depth variations both spatially and temporally when conducting surface exposure dating in terrains where snowfall accumulation is significant.     

天山天池水体季节性分层特征

于2014年6-10月,对高山深水湖泊天山天池水温、电导率、溶解氧、p H值、叶绿素a浓度和蓝绿藻细胞密度进行垂直剖面的连续监测,通过对其季节动态和垂直分层结构的分析,探讨天池水体季节性分层特征.天池出现明显水温分层的时间短(6-9月),夏季温跃层变化范围为2~18 m,而秋季温跃层不断下移,10月在18 m水深以下;受水温分层影响,天池水体溶解氧浓度、电导率、p H值、叶绿素a浓度和蓝绿藻细胞密度在垂直剖面表现出明显的季节性分层,尤其是夏季水温分层影响溶解氧浓度、叶绿素a浓度和蓝绿藻细胞密度在水体中的分布,对天池水质变化产生重要影响.天池浅水层(水深小于10 m)溶解氧浓度较高(大于8 mg/L),而深水层(水深超过18 m)溶解氧浓度9月接近4 mg/L,季节性缺氧导致底泥营养盐向上扩散,对水体水质产生不利影响.所以,应在夏、秋季节加强水质监测,以防止天池水华发生;天池叶绿素a浓度与蓝绿藻细胞密度的垂直剖面变化趋势相似,均随水深增加呈先增加后减小的趋势,但叶绿素a浓度在2~12 m水深处较高,蓝绿藻细胞密度在5~15 m水深处较高,表明5~15 m深度适合藻类生长,同时,电导率、p H值的垂直变化也说明藻类的生长情况,这为监测天池水体富营养化取样和分析提供依据.     

太湖典型植物氨基酸组成特征及其对水环境的影响

在太湖两个不同湖区(东太湖和贡湖)各选择了8种不同类型的典型水生植物和1种陆生植物全株作为研究对象,采用邻苯二甲醛柱前衍生-反相高效液相色谱法对其中15种氨基酸的组成特征进行了分析,并探讨了植物来源氨基酸对湖泊水环境的影响.结果表明东太湖区域植物体中总可水解氨基酸(THAAs)的平均含量为861.6±182.96μmol/g,贡湖区域植物体中THAAs平均含量为700.0±232.3μmol/g;不同类型植物体中THAAs的含量大小依次为:沉水植物、浮叶植物挺水植物陆生植物;其中天冬氨酸、谷氨酸、精氨酸、丙氨酸和赖氨酸是THAAs的主要组成部分,这5种氨基酸的摩尔浓度占氨基酸总量的50%以上;太湖植物中THAAs所含的氮元素对植物总氮的贡献在30.7%~94.7%之间,是植物体氮元素的主要组分,也是内源氮输入的主要来源.东太湖区域采集的植物样品中各氨基酸的浓度比例与东太湖水体氨基酸组成差异较大,但与沉积物氨基酸组成较吻合,表明东太湖植物来源的有机质和氨基酸是沉积物中有机质和氨基酸的重要来源.