A methane fuse for the Cambrian explosion: carbon cycles and true polar wander

The dramatic diversification of animal groups known as the Cambrian Explosion (evolution's ‘Big Bang’) remains an unsolved puzzle in Earth Science. The Vendian–Cambrian interval is characterized by anomalously high rates of apparent plate motion, interpreted as True Polar Wander (TPW), and by more than a dozen large, high-frequency perturbations in carbon isotopes that dwarf all others observed through the past 65 million years. We suggest that these biological, tectonic, and geochemical events are intimately related in the following fashion. First, tropical continental margins and shelf-slopes which formed during fragmentation of the supercontinent Rodinia accumulated massive quantities of isotopically-light organic carbon during Late Neoproterozoic time, as indicated by strikingly heavy isotope ratios in inorganic carbon during interglacial intervals. Second, an initial phase of Vendian TPW moved these organic-rich deposits to high latitude, where conditions favored trapping biogenic methane in layers of gas hydrate and perhaps permafrost. Continued sedimentation during Late Vendian time added additional hydrate/gas storage volume and stabilized underlying units until the geothermal gradient moved them out of the clathrate stability field, building up deep reservoirs of highly pressurized methane. Finally, a burst of TPW brought these deposits back to the Tropics, where they gradually warmed and were subjected to regional-scale thermohaline eddy variation and related sedimentation regime changes. Responding to the stochastic character of such changes, each reservoir reached a critical failure point independently at times throughout the Cambrian. By analogy with the Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum event, these methane deposits yield transient, greenhouse-induced pulses of global warming when they erupt. Temperature correlates powerfully with biodiversity; the biochemical kinetics of metabolism at higher temperature decrease generation time and maintain relatively rich and dense invertebrate populations. Repeated thermal pulses along with progressive disruption and alteration of global ocean circulation patterns by TPW could cause the increase in diversity that accompanied the radiation of metazoans. We suggest that a methane ‘fuse’ ignited the Cambrian Evolutionary Explosion.     

一次与西南低涡相联系的低空急流的数值研究

梅雨期西南低涡的东移发展与长江中下游降水的加强有密切关系,作者采用中尺度模式对一次西南低涡及其伴随低空急流的发展演变进行了数值模拟.模拟结果表明:在长江中下游大巴山地区低空急流先于西南涡东移发展;西南低涡及低空急流的生成发展在开始阶段与中层(400 hPa)的弱辐散密切相关;南风分量在西南低空急流的演变发展过程中起着更为主动的作用;南风分量增大中心位于南风分量中心的前方,促使南风分量中心东移;南风分量的动量方程收支分析表明水平平流项和产生项是促使南风分量变化的主要作用项,水平平流项和垂直平流项大部分相互抵消,科里奥利项的作用不可忽视,而其他项的值较小,在个别阶段和地区行星边界层项的作用在低层也较大.     

“2002.6.30”滇中低涡暴雨的中尺度分析

利用MICAPS常规资料和GMS卫星云图，3830—C多普勒雷达观测资料，对2002年6月30日发生于滇中地区的暴雨天气过程进行诊断和分析，发现暴雨过程由中低层低涡切变造成，暴雨区与垂直速度及涡度所表现的强烈上升区对应，并伴有高能高湿条件；同时卫星云图上有中尺度低涡云团发展。多普勒雷达回波资料分析表明，暴雨过程中出现了明显的中尺度系统，如中尺度辐合线、中尺度气旋、逆风区等，具有典型的对流型特征。     

大气对流边界层中的涡漩结构

大气边界层中存在尺度从几百米到几十公里的大涡漩运动。它们在边界层中动量、热量、水汽等垂直输送中起重要作用。作者从边界层中对流和上部稳定层中波动相互作用的观点，发展得出大涡结构的对流波动理论。根据此理论，大涡的波谱构成主要由上、下层大气中风向、风速、层结以及两层之间的温度跃变等因素决定。本文根据卫星云图和天气资料分析了一次冷空气爆发流经暖洋面上形成云街、对流单体以及它们之间的相互演化的过程，并用对流波动理论，依据各阶段的大气条件计算出它们的波数构成，并得出了垂直速度、辐合带、界面扰动的分布，解释了云街、对流单体的形成、结构及相互转化的原因     

苏北溱潼凹陷戴南组一段次生孔隙形成与分布特征

次生孔隙是戴南组一段（E2d1）砂岩储层的主要孔隙类型，其分布与油气聚集关系密切。本文在沉积、成岩作用研究基础上，探讨了次生孔隙成因机理，指出有机酸的溶解作用是形成戴南组一段次生孔隙的主要原因，并根据有机质成熟生烃和粘土矿物的转变导致的泥岩压实异常特征，进行次生孔隙的横向分布预测，取得了凹陷不同构造带次生孔隙分布与油气聚集规律的新认识。     

天山北坡降水对河流水沙情势影响

以天山北坡头屯河流域为例，在对山区不同海拔的降水特征、侵蚀产沙情势以及河流水沙运移特点分析的基础上，详尽就山区降水对河流水沙情势的年际变化、年内变化以及月变化的影响进行了分析研究，并就降水对不同海拔的河流水沙情势的影响强度及相互关系作了探讨．     

辽东湾北部浅海区泥沙输送及其沉积特征

根据实测资料，本文定量分析了辽东湾北部泥沙输送及其分布，并对辽河三角洲沉积区划作了初步讨论。研究表明本区泥沙以纵向搬运为特征。双台子河以西来沙和辽河西水道入海泥沙是区域东部拦门沙体和浅滩发育的主导因素。汛季大潮期，泥沙自西向东运移落淤在河口及毗邻浅水域；小潮期，泥沙除向东扩散外，大部泥沙向海方搬运。调查区可划分六个现代沉积作用区，即潮坪沉积区、辽河水下三角洲细粒沉积区、河口沙洲沉积区、波浪潮流冲蚀沉积区、河口冲积沉积区以及潮汐水道沉积区。     

青藏高原北缘新构造运动特征

ＮＥＥ向阿尔金主断裂带的新构造运动以左旋压扭性活动为特征，仅西端发育张性构造，并可划分出两期变形，新构造运动强度在时间上自上新世晚期开始至第四纪断裂活动强度增大，在空间上自ＳＷＷ向ＮＥＥ方向断裂活动强度逐渐减弱；柴达木北缘的新构造运动可划分为两期，其主要构造特征表现为向柴达木盆地逆冲的前进式叠瓦道冲带，柴达木盆地第四纪时的北界相对于第三纪时的北界向南迁移了数十公里；河西走廊盆地的新构造运动主要表现为盆地边缘断裂的逆冲兼走滑，盆地接受新生代沉积、盆地内第三系的轴面南倾的褶皱；ＮＥＥ向阿尔金主断裂带与其南侧的ＮＷＷ向断裂带是在统一构造应力场作用下相互协调、同时活动的两组关系紧密的构造带，两者的共同活动构成了断块运动。     

露头剖面层序中的海平面变化研究

在以往的沉积研究中，常常用露头剖面中的相对水深变化来讨论海平面的变化规律，本文通过对塔里木盆地北部寒武纪反映相对海平面变化的上超点变化曲线与肖尔布拉克地区寒武系露头剖面中相对水深变化曲线的对比研究发现，上超点变化曲线与相对水深变化曲线具有明显的差异，前者在寒武纪呈持续上升趋势，而后者除早期有一快速上升外，总体呈持续下降趋势，这说明相对水深变化虽与海平面变化存在着本质的联系，但单凭露头剖面中相对水深     

Magmatic arc metamorphism: petrology and temperature history of metabasic rocks in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile

We investigated the metamorphic cooling history of underplated magmatic rocks at midcrustal depth. Granulites and amphibolites occur within the Jurassic magmatic belt of the Coast Range south of Antofagasta in northern Chile between 23°25' and 24°20' S. The protoliths of the metamorphic rocks are basic intrusions of Early Mesozoic age. They are part of the magmatically formed crust, and the essentially dry magmas were emplaced in an extensional regime. The granulites (clinopyroxene–orthopyroxene–plagioclase) show all stages of fabric development from magmatic to granoblastic fabrics. Pyroxene compositions were reset at temperatures around 800°  C independent of the stage of textural equilibration. The granulites were partially amphibolitized at upper amphibolite facies temperatures of 600–700°  C. Following cooling, a possible reheating to greenschist facies temperatures around 500°  C is indicated by prograde zoning in magnetite–ilmenite pairs. Mineral assemblages are not suitable for barometry, but a conservative estimation of the garnet-in reaction at given whole-rock compositions suggests maximum pressures in the granulite facies of around 5 kbar, and similar pressures are indicated by phengite barometry for the greenschist facies. The P–T  path of granulite–amphibolite metamorphism is one of slow cooling from magmatic temperatures with heterogeneous deformation. The thinning of the pre-Andean (Precambrian–Triassic) crust was apparently compensated by the magmatic underplating and this special tectonomagmatic setting caused the prolonged residence of the accreted rocks at midcrustal levels.