Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About the Event that Changed History

William Ryan and Walter Pitman. New York: Touchstone, 1998. 319 pp., maps, diags., photos, notes, appendices, and index. $14.00 soft (ISBN 0-684-81052-2)     

The sediment delivery ratio in a small catchment in the black soil region of Northeast China

The black soil region of northeast China,which covers the Provinces of Heilongjiang,Jilin and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region with black soil,chernozem and meadow soil,has experienced soil erosion since intense agricultural reclamation began approximately 100 years ago.However,the sediment delivery ratio,defined as the fraction of gross erosion that is transported from a given area in a given time interval,is still unclear.In this study,we calculated the delivery ratio and analysed changes in erosive processes within Hebei catchment from 1977 to 2007 based on an analysis of sediments of the Liudui reservoir.The original vegetation layer clearly identified the bottom of the reservoir when it was constructed in 1977;thus,the reservoir sediments could be precisely dated.The delivery ratio,calculated by comparing the sediment deposition in the reservoir with the total soil erosion in the upstream catchment,was found to be exponentially correlated（r² = 0.95,P < 0.01） with decreasing grain size,except for the fraction <0.002 mm.The delivery ratio for the clays（<0.002 mm） was low,averaging 0.10 during the study period, which indicated partial removal of clays from the reservoir.The changes in the reservoir deposition rate reflected the temporal changes in the erosion processes.The exceptionally high rainfall in 1998 was confirmed by the distributions of ¹³⁷Cs,²¹⁰Pb,and the grain-size of the sediments.Beginning from the position of the original grass layer,we defined three periods from 1977 to 2007 based on deposition rates:2.40 cm year^-1 from 1977 to 1997,5.60 cm year^-1 in 1998 due to unusually high rainfall,and 1.55 cm year^-1 from 1999 to 2007.The overall average deposition rate for the entire period was 2.26 cm year^-1.Precipitation was found to be the main factor affecting the soil erosion of the study area.     

Influence of Redox Mediators and Electron Donors on the Anaerobic Removal of Color and Chemical Oxygen Demand from Textile Effluent

Color removal was evaluated in anaerobic assays using synthetic (SE) and real (RE) effluents containing the dye Direct Black 22 (DB22). The focus was on the individual influence of two electron donors (EDs), sucrose and ethanol; and their combination with two redox mediators (RMs), lawsone and riboflavin. In addition to SE assays, the EDs were combined with sulfate which was present in the RE. Distinct behavior was observed with both assays. In the case of SE, using the EDs sucrose and ethanol resulted in DB22 removal efficiency of 93 and 83%, respectively; but only 27% in the control. The respective removal rates were 27.8‐ and 4.4‐fold higher than that of the control. Using the EDs with the RM lawsone resulted in color removal higher than that with riboflavin. Interestingly, in the ethanol + sulfate assay, late release of the last was observed, possibly due to the desulfonation reaction of the aromatic structures during the DB22 molecule breakdown. In the case of RE, no improvement was observed with either EDs; and some combinations with the RMs even resulted in decreased color removal. Therefore, the used EDs and RMs showed positive effect on color removal in SEs; but unexpectedly not in REs.     

Geochemical environment of Cenomanian - Turonian black shale deposition at Wunstorf (northern Germany)

Major- and minor- element determinations were carried out on a high-resolution sample set obtained from a sediment drill core at Wunstorf (N. Germany). This study interval includes the black shale-bearing Hesseltal Formation associated with the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE 2), also referred to as Cenomanian-Turonian Boundary Event (CTBE). Seven black shale packages, each containing several black shale layers, were defined by elevated TOC values, with black shale packages 1-4 deposited during OAE 2. Packages 5-7 extend above the level of the positive carbon-isotope excursion defining OAE 2, indicating that conditions favouring organic carbon burial must have prevailed longer in the Wunstorf Basin than elsewhere. Geochemical analyses revealed no significant differences between black shale packages deposited during and after OAE 2. Enrichment patterns of sulphur, iron and redox-sensitive and sulphide-forming trace metals point to suboxic to anoxic conditions existing at the sediment-water interface during black shale deposition, whereas sulphidic conditions prevailed deeper in the sediment. Variations in element/Al ratios follow cyclic patterns which are interpreted to represent climatically-induced changes in sediment supply. Reduced vertical mixing led to water-column stratification and caused black shale deposition.     

古火灾历史重建的研究进展

火是地球系统的重要组成部分,与气候、植被、生物地球化学循环和人类活动密切相关。火对全球气候和生态系统的影响已成为目前全球变化研究的一个热点。火灾发生后会在周围的环境中留下许多燃烧产物,如黑碳、木炭屑、多环芳烃、左旋葡萄糖等,它们广泛存在于海洋、湖泊、河流、土壤和陆地风成沉积物中;还会留下一些火灾痕迹,如树木火疤、土壤磁...     

草海湿地黑颈鹤迁徙特性与气候变化响应关系研究

选取威宁县1985年至2020年气象资料和黑颈鹤物候观测资料,采用数理统计、Ｍ-Ｋ突变检验等方法对各气候因子的趋势变化倾向率、主要气候因子对黑颈鹤物候期的影响进行研究。根据气象要素对黑颈鹤物候期的响应模式进行逐步回归结果表明：黑颈鹤的初见期、间隔期、终见期在1985-1990年间变化幅度较大。总体而言,近35年来初见期总体变化趋于平稳,终见期呈现上升趋势,说明黑颈鹤在威宁的停留时间有缩短趋势、终见期有提前的趋势。8月平均气温每升高1℃,黑颈鹤的初见期将推后4.485天;11月的平均风速每增加1m/s间隔期将会延长16.128天;3月雨日每增加1天,终见期将会推后1.863天,间隔期延长1.482天;1月平均风速每增加1m/s,终见期将会推后8.929天。说明气候变化对黑颈鹤物候期有积极的影响,比较敏感?可为气候变化的提供一定的指示作用。     

Phreatomagmatic boulder conglomerates at the tip of the ca 2772 Ma Black Range dolerite dyke,Pilbara Craton,Western Australia

Unusual volcanic conglomerates with a mixture of well-rounded granitic boulders (to 1.2 m diameter) derived from adjacent basement rocks, and smaller (1 – 10 cm) subspherical basaltic droplets with chilled margins occupy a linear zone along strike of the northern end of the Late Archaean Black Range dolerite dyke in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. The matrix of the volcanic conglomerates becomes more angular with decreasing grainsize and grades to rock flour, a trend opposite to that in sedimentary conglomerates. In other places, the matrix consists of chlorite that cuts through, and resorbs, granitic clasts, indicating an origin as volcanic melt. The volcanic conglomerates have peperitic contacts with immediately adjacent flows of the Mt Roe Basalt of the Fortescue Group. A welded volcanic tuff at the peperitic contact is dated at 2767 ± 3 Ma, within error of the 2772 ± 2 Ma Black Range dolerite dyke and the Mt Roe Basalt (2775 ± 10 Ma), confirming the contemporaneity of formation of these geological elements. Subsequent normal faulting has juxtaposed the higher level conglomerates down into their present exposure level along strike of the Black Range dolerite dyke. The linear zone of volcanic conglomerates is interpreted to represent a phreatomagmatic pebble dyke that formed immediately above, and as a result of intrusion of, the Black Range dolerite dyke. Interaction of magma with groundwater caused phreatomagmatic brecciation of the country rock, in situ milling of granitic boulders, incorporation of basaltic melt droplets, and the formation of a mixed matrix of devitrified volcanic glass and granitic material. This process was accompanied by along-strike epithermal Cu – Hg – Au mineralisation.     

Difference of mercury bioaccumulation in red mullets from the north-western Mediterranean and Black seas

The relationships between total mercury (Hg) concentration and stable nitrogen isotope ratio (δ¹⁵N) were evaluated in Mullus barbatus barbatus and M. surmuletus from the Mediterranean Sea and M. barbatus ponticus from the Black Sea. Mercury concentration in fish muscle was six times higher in the two Mediterranean species than in the Black Sea one for similar sized animals. A positive correlation between Hg concentration and δ¹⁵N occurred in all species. Increase in Hg concentration with δ¹⁵N was high and similar in the two Mediterranean fishes and much lower in the Black Sea species. Since this was neither related to trophic level difference between species nor to methylmercury (MeHg) concentration differences between the north-western Mediterranean and the Black Sea waters, we suggested that the higher primary production of the Black Sea induced a dilution of MeHg concentration at the base of the food webs.     

上扬子区早寒武世黑色页岩磷结核特征及生化淀磷机制

通过野外观察、室内化学分析、矿物学分析、硫同位素分析、光学显微镜和扫描电镜观察,发现磷结核内所观察到的许多现象均与微生物的活动有关,微生物是使磷淀积的重要营力,这为磷结核的生物成矿作用提供了有力的证据.沉积物孔隙水物理化学条件的变化直接影响着磷结核的生长过程.