X-ray imagery and physical core logging as a proxy of the content of sediment cores in cold-water coral mound provinces: a case study from Porcupine Seabight,SW of Ireland

Three provinces, characterized by the presence of carbonate mounds interpreted as cold-water coral banks have been reported in Porcupine Seabight, SW of Ireland and were recently subjected to many detailed studies. This contribution discusses the use of X-ray imagery and physical properties in deciphering palaeoceanographic, sedimentological and biological processes. Physical property core logging and X-ray imagery are used to identify and describe sedimentation regimes and so their respective palaeoceanographic and palaeoclimatological settings in two mound provinces, respectively the Belgica mound province and the Magellan mound province. Both provinces show at present time clear differences in the hydrodynamic environment. This study confirms that also during the past the oceanographic and sedimentological environment of both provinces differ clearly. Impacts of glacial–interglacial variations and locally derived ice rafting events (IRE), comparable with the North Atlantic Heinrich events (HE) have been recognized in both provinces. Moreover, the combination of X-ray imagery, magnetic susceptibility, gamma density and P-wave velocity makes it possible to estimate the coral content and coral distribution in unopened cores localized on top of carbonate mounds. A comparison between on-mound and off-mound cores in both provinces allowed revealing some mechanisms of mound evolution and coral growth versus time.     

Strike slip faulting inferred from offsetting of drainages: Lower Narmada basin, western India

The detailed analysis of landforms, drainages and geology of the area between the rivers Amaravati and Karjan was carried out in order to understand the tectonic history of the lower Narmada basin. Movement along the various faults in the area was studied on the basis of the drainage offsetting. Horizontal offsetting of stream channels was found quite demonstrable along NNW-SSE trending transverse faults. Tectonic landforms including systematic deflection of stream channels and ridges, alignment of fault scarp and saddles and displacement in the basement rocks and alluvial deposits show that the area is undergoing active deformation driven by the NSF system.     

Cenozoic uplift of West Qinling, northeast margin of Tibetan plateau-a detrital apatite fission track record from the Tianshui basin

The Cenozoic sedimentation in the Tianshui basin, which is located at the junction of the liupanshan and West Qinling, northeast margin of the Tibetan plateau, provides a record for the regional tectonism and exhumation history of the surrounding mountains. Thermochronologic study on the detrital apatite grains from sandstones at Yaodian, near Tianshui, has revealed two rapid tectonic uplift-exhumation events of the source area, which happened at 23.7 and 14.1 Ma, respectively. The fast exhumation (0.34 mm/a) at 23.7 Ma, which recorded the tectonic uplift of West Qinling, led to the formation of the Neogene Tianshui basin and initiated the reception of alluvial deposits. This event is most likely in response to the synchronous tectonism of the Tibetan plateau. The source region experienced another rapid exhumation (1.05 mm/a) at 14.1 Ma, when the Tianshui basin began to depress broadly and fluvial-lacustrine sediments dominated the Late Miocene. Translated from Acta Sedimentologica Sinica, 2006, 24(6): 783–789 [译自: 沉积学报]     

广丰盆地早白垩世火山-侵入杂岩稀土元素地球化学特征及成因探讨

江西广丰早白垩世盆地火山-侵入杂岩稀土元素地球化学特征表明,本区火山-侵入杂岩可能是一套具有成因联系的岩石系列,杂岩中基性岩可分出稀土特征不同两类岩石,中酸性岩石亦可分出稀土特征不同两类的岩石,其中(橄榄)玄粗岩与钾长斑岩、橄辉粗玄岩与花岗斑岩稀土元素标准化曲线和稀土元素特征参数具有相似性。这些信息对揭示本区早白垩世基性岩浆的底侵作用具有重要的启迪意义。     

洞庭湖流域水生态系统服务功能经济价值研究

以洞庭湖流域水生态系统为例,在明确河湖库塘生态系统服务功能内涵的基础上,运用生态学与生态经济学方法对洞庭湖流域各类水生态系统服务功能经济价值进行了评估。结果表明,全流域河湖库塘水生态系统服务功能总价值量为1106.19亿元,约占湖南省2004年GDP(5612.26亿元)的19.7%,其中,城镇和农村生活供水、工农业生产供水、水力发电、内陆航运等直接利用价值为415.698亿元;调洪、输沙、水资源贮存等间接利用价值为690.492亿元。可以认为,流域水生态系统服务功能对湖南省工农业生产的持续发展,维系生态环境健康和人民生命财产安全起到了不可替代的支撑和保障作用。     

昆明市盘龙区世博片区2010年环境规划设计

针对昆明市盘龙区世博片区的环境现状和环境功能区分区，对昆明市盘龙区世博片区进行了5年环境规划设计，介绍了世博片区环境规划设计的程序和方法，完成了昆明市盘龙区世博片区环境规划设计方案，提出噪声控制、汽车尾气治理排放、油漆厂水污染物的削减、生活燃煤的替代和排烟脱硫技术的引进、世博片区周边常住人口的总量控制，是确保世博片区环境功能区——环境重点保护地区达标的主要途径和措施，并进一步探讨了当前环境规划设计存在的问题。     

Modelling and inversion of single-ended refraction data from the shot gathers of multifold deep seismic reflection profiling—an approach for deriving the shallow velocity structure

A multifold crustal-scale deep seismic near-vertical reflection profile generates a large number of single-ended shot gathers, which provide redundant data sets because of overlapping coverage of the shallow refractors. We present an approach for deriving the shallow velocity structure by modelling and inversion of single-ended seismic refraction first arrival traveltime data. We apply this method to a data set acquired with a 12-km long spread with 100 m spacing of shots and receivers, of the Neoproterozoic Marwar basin in the NW Indian shield. The approach is shown to be quite successful for delineating the shallow refractor depths, steep dips and velocities, even in the absence of regular reverse refraction profiles. The study reveals two-layered sedimentary formations, Malani volcanics and a complicated basement configuration of the Marwar basin, and provides a measure of resolution and uncertainty of the estimated model parameters. A seismic section of the near-trace gather is found to be qualitatively consistent with the derived structural features of the basin. The relative highs and lows, observed in the Bouguer gravity profile, further corroborate the derived velocity model. The present approach can be especially useful in offshore areas and elsewhere, where the single-ended multifold seismic profiles are the only available data sets.     

Study on snowmelt runoff simulation in the Kaidu River basin

Alpine snowmelt is an important generation mode for runoff in the source region of the Tarim River basin, which covers four subbasins characterized by large area, sparse gauge stations, mixed runoff supplied by snowmelt and rainfall, and remarkably spatially heterogeneous precipitation. Taking the Kaidu River basin as a research area, this study analyzes the influence of these characteristics on the variables and parameters of the Snow Runoff Model and discusses the corresponding determination strategy to improve the accuracy of snowmelt simulation and forecast. The results show that: (i) The temperature controls the overall tendency of simulated runoff and is dominant to simulation accuracy, as the measured daily mean temperature cannot represent the average level of the same elevation in the basin and that directly inputting it to model leads to inaccurate simulations. Based on the analysis of remote sensing snow maps and simulation results, it is reasonable to approximate the mean temperature with 0.5 time daily maximum temperature. (ii) For the conflict between the limited gauge sta-tion and remarkably spatial heterogeneity of rainfall, it is not realistic to compute rainfall for each elevation zone. After the measured rainfall is multiplied by a proper coefficient and adjusted with runoff coefficient for rainfall, the measured rainfall data can satisfy the model demands. (iii) Adjusting time lag according to the variation of snowmelt and rainfall position can improve the simulation precision of the flood peak process. (iv) Along with temperature, the rainfall increases but cannot be completely monitored by limited gauge stations, which results in precision deterioration.