Origin and variability of resource-grade marine ferromanganese nodules and crusts in the Pacific Ocean: A review of biogeochemical and physical controls

Marine ferromanganese nodules and crusts containing Mn, Cu, Ni and Co in the most promising resource-grade concentrations and quantities, together with Fe and Zn (all elements of biogeochemical importance) are found far from land on the deep seafloor of the Pacific Ocean. The biogeochemical, chemical and physical mechanisms contributing to their formation, distribution, abundance and – for these six elements – variability in their concentrations in these deposits, are the main focus of the present review. The mechanisms addressed include biological productivity, sedimentation types and rates, bottom water characteristics, the Calcium Carbonate Compensation Depth, the depth and intensity of the oxygen minimum zone, and biogeochemical characteristics of the six focal elements. Particular attention is given to comparisons between the deposits found in the north and the south Pacific, in order to present an overarching view of our current understanding of the mechanisms that apply to both nodules and crusts in both oceanic hemispheres, including examination of the possible existence of a marine ferromanganese oxide continuum. The renewed interest in the commercial exploitation of these deposits has stimulated a welcome increase in scientific research that is essential to informing the public discourse on seabed mining. We briefly reflect on the work addressed in this review in that context.     

Mean bulk densities of samples of dry atmospheric aerosol particles: A summary of measured data

Mean bulk densities of various samples of dry atmospheric aerosol particles sampled at different sites and during different seasons and weather situations range between 1.8 and more than 3 gm cm³.     

Geology of the Grove Mountains in East Antarctica——New evidence for the final suture of Gondwana Land

As the core block of the East Gondwana Land, the East Antarctic Shield was traditionally thought, before 1992, as an amalgamation of a number of Archaean-Paleoproterozoic nuclei, be-ing welded by Grenville aged mobile belts during 1400—900 Ma, while the …     

Stability of earthquake moment tensor inversions: effect of the double-couple constraint

We show that spurious large non-double-couple components can be obtained in inversions for the full deviatoric moment tensor for shallow crustal earthquakes due to inaccurate Earth models. The traditional “best double-couple” solution does not in general provide an optimal estimate of a double-couple mechanism, and is only reliable when the non-double-couple component of the full deviatoric solution is small. The inverse problem for the moment tensors of the 1998 Antarctic Plate and 2000 Wharton Basin strike-slip earthquakes is shown in each case to have two well-fitting minima in the misfit function of pure double-couple solutions. Such pairs of solutions are most likely to exist for earthquakes which are close either to vertical strike-slip or to dip-slip on a fault plane dipping at 45°. It is shown theoretically that these pairs of solutions arise from the combination of the pure double-couple constraint and the instability of two elements of the moment tensor. No significant non-double-couple component is found for the shallow thrusting 1996 Biak, Indonesia earthquake.     

广州市空气颗粒物中烃类物质的粒径分布

用 Andersen六段分级大流量采样器 (粒径为 : 10～ 7.2 μ m, 7.2～ 3.0 μ m, 3.0～ 1.5 μ m, 1.5～ 0.95 μ m, 0.95～ 0.49 μ m, ≤ 0.49 μ m)采集了广州市荔湾区 4个季度的大气颗粒物样品 , 用气相色谱 (GC)定量分析了其中的正构烷烃 (n-alkanes)组分,用气相色谱-质谱 (GC-MS)定量分析了其中的多环芳烃 (PAHs)组分. CPI2(代表石油成因的碳优势指数 )、 CPI3(代表生物成因的碳优势指数 ) 和 Wax(植物蜡含量 )表明了石油成因的烷烃倾向于富集在细颗粒物上,而生物成因的烷烃倾向于富集在粗颗粒物上.正构烷烃和低相对分子质量多环芳烃表现出双峰模型分布,高相对分子质量多环芳烃呈现单峰模型分布,仅在细颗粒段有一峰值.烷烃和芳烃秋冬季的 MMDs(质量中值直径 )比春夏季的大.在高温季节化合物优先富集在细颗粒物上,而在低温季节则向粗的颗粒物方向偏移.     

The Byers Basin: Jurassic-Cretaceous tectonic and depositional evolution of the forearc deposits of the South Shetland Islands and its implications for the northern Antarctic Peninsula

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the Jurassic–Cretaceous stratigraphic evolution of fore-arc deposits exposed along the west coast of the northern Antarctic Peninsula. In the South Shetland Islands, Upper Jurassic deep-marine sediments are uncomformably overlain by a Lower Cretaceous volcaniclastic sequence that crops out on Livingston, Snow and Low islands. U-Pb zircon ages are presented for the upper Anchorage Formation (153.1 ± 1.7 Ma) and the Cape Wallace granodiorite of Low Island (137.1 ± 1.7 Ma) as well as ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 136–139 Ma for Low Island andesites. Data are also presented for a U-Pb age of 109.0 ± 1.4 Ma for the upper volcanic succession of Snow Island. In combination with published stratigraphy, these data provide a refined chrono- and litho-stratigraphic framework for the deposits herein referred to as the Byers Basin. Tentative correlation is explored with previously described deposits on Adelaide and Alexander islands, which could suggest further continuation of the Byers Basin towards the south. We also discuss possible correlation of the Byers Basin with the Larsen Basin, a sequence that shows the evolution of foreland to back-arc deposits more or less contemporaneously with the fore-arc to intra-arc evolution of the Byers Basin.     

Unstable Climate Oscillations during the Late Holocene in the Eastern Bransfield Basin, Antarctic Peninsula

Core A9-EB2 from the eastern Bransfield Basin, Antarctic Peninsula, consists of pelagic (diatom ooze-clay couplets and bioturbated diatom ooze) and hemipelagic (bioturbated mud) sediments interbedded with turbidites (homogeneous mud and silt–clay couplets). The cyclic and laminated nature of these pelagic sediments represents alternation between the deposition of diatom-rich biogenic sediments and of terrigenous sediments. Sediment properties and geochemical data explain the contrasting lamination, with light layers being finer-grained and relatively rich in total organic carbon and biogenic silica content. Also, the high-resolution magnetic susceptibility (MS) variations highlight distinct features: high MS values coincide with clastic-rich sections and low MS values correspond to biogenic sections. The chronology developed for core A9-EB2 accounts for anomalous ages associated with turbidites and shows a linear sedimentation rate of approximately 87 cm/10³ yr, which is supported by an accumulation rate of 80 cm/10³ yr calculated from ²¹⁰Pb activity. The late Holocene records clearly identify Neoglacial events of the Little Ice Age (LIA) and Medieval Warm Period (MWP). Other unexplained climatic events comparable in duration and amplitude to the LIA and MWP events also appear in the MS record, suggesting intrinsically unstable climatic conditions during the late Holocene in the Bransfield Basin of Antarctic Peninsula.     

Relative sea-level history from the Lambert Glacier region, East Antarctica, and its relation to deglaciation and Holocene glacier readvance

We present a relative sea-level (RSL) history, constrained by AMS radiocarbon-dated marine-freshwater transitions in isolation basins from a site adjacent to the Lambert Glacier, East Antarctica. The RSL data suggest an initial ice retreat between c. 15,370 and 12,660 cal yr B.P.. Within this period, meltwater pulse IA (mwp IA, between c. 14,600-14,200 and 14,100-13,700 cal yr B.P.) occurred; an exceptionally large ice melting event, inferred from far-field sea-level records. The RSL curve shows a pronounced highstand of approximately 8 m between c. 7570-7270 and 7250-6950 cal yr B.P. that is consistent with the timing of the RSL highstand in the nearby Vestfold Hills. This is followed by a fall in RSL to the present. In contrast to previous findings, the isolation of the lakes in the Larsemann Hills postdates the isolation of lakes with similar sill heights in the Vestfold Hills. An increase in RSL fall during the late Holocene may record a decline in the rate of isostatic uplift in the Larsemann Hills between c. 7250-6950 and 2847-2509 cal yr B.P., that occurred in response to a documented mid-Holocene glacier readvance followed by a late-Holocene retreat.     

北京、郑州和深圳三城市空气中气溶胶单颗粒特征的扫描电镜分析

分别采集北京、深圳和郑州3个城市气溶胶样品,使用场发射扫锚电镜-能谱仪观察气溶胶单颗粒的显微形貌和元素组成,并利用图像分析系统对PM2.5的粒径进行了分析。结果表明,城市气溶胶单颗粒类型以矿物颗粒、烟尘和球形颗粒(飞灰和二次粒子)为主。对比3个城市气溶胶中不同颗粒类型数量百分比发现,矿物颗粒数量最多的城市是北京,飞灰和烟尘数量最多的城市是郑州,而规则矿物颗粒数量最多的城市是深圳。3个城市气溶胶单颗粒的数量-粒径分布均呈单峰分布。深圳气溶胶中颗粒物的粒径相对较小,其次为郑州、北京。3个城市气溶胶中颗粒物来源不同程度上都受到交通污染源影响,而燃煤源对北京和郑州气溶胶中颗粒物来源影响仍然不容忽视。