Very slow erosion rates and landscape preservation across the southwestern slope of the Ladakh Range,India

Erosion rates are key to quantifying the timescales over which different topographic and geomorphic domains develop in mountain landscapes. Geomorphic and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) methods were used to determine erosion rates of the arid, tectonically quiescent Ladakh Range, northern India. Five different geomorphic domains are identified and erosion rates are determined for three of the domains using TCN ¹⁰Be concentrations. Along the range divide between 5600 and 5700 m above sea level (asl), bedrock tors in the periglacial domain are eroding at 5.0 ± 0.5 to 13.1 ± 1.2 meters per million years (m/m.y.)., principally by frost shattering. At lower elevation in the unglaciated domain, erosion rates for tributary catchments vary between 0.8 ± 0.1 and 2.0 ± 0.3 m/m.y. Bedrock along interfluvial ridge crests between 3900 and 5100 m asl that separate these tributary catchments yield erosion rates <0.7 ± 0.1 m/m.y. and the dominant form of bedrock erosion is chemical weathering and grusification. Erosion rates are fastest where glaciers conditioned hillslopes above 5100 m asl by over‐steepening slopes and glacial debris is being evacuated by the fluvial network. For range divide tors, the long‐term duration of the erosion rate is considered to be 40–120 ky. By evaluating measured ¹⁰Be concentrations in tors along a model ¹⁰Be production curve, an average of ~24 cm is lost instantaneously every ~40 ky. Small (<4 km²) unglaciated tributary catchments and their interfluve bedrock have received very little precipitation since ~300 ka and the long‐term duration of their erosion rates is 300–750 ky and >850 ky, respectively. These results highlight the persistence of very slow erosion in different geomorphic domains across the southwestern slope of the Ladakh Range, which on the scale of the orogen records spatial changes in the locus of deformation and the development of an orogenic rain shadow north of the Greater Himalaya. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

岩浆运移动力学及其研究进展

岩浆运移动力学是岩浆动力学的重要分支领域,研究内容包括5个方面：运移方式、运移通道、运移途径、运移动力与运移过程的成矿作用。就这5方面的研究进展进行了系统回顾,对尚待进一步研究的科学问题进行了归纳与总结,指出浮力不是弹性岩石圈岩浆运移上升的驱动力,而上地幔岩浆运移方式、弹性岩石圈岩浆往上运移驱动力、岩浆自主破裂形成的动力学机制、中途停歇岩浆重起动再运移的驱动机制、岩浆再停歇和运移过程的结晶与分异及其与围岩相互作用和伴生的元素富集与成矿作用等问题是岩浆运移动力学是尚待进一步攻关与研究的关键性科学问题。     

厦门嵩屿附近海底的冲淤变化

本文通过地形剖面测量比较、浅地层剖面勘探，结合水文泥沙测验和沉积物粒径资料，分析嵩屿附近海域在各历史时期和九江洪水期、枯水期的中淤变鼓水道近十几年来淤积速度加快。其主要原因是该海域动力要素明显减弱，携沙能力降低；其次，九龙江大量的泥沙主要集中在洪水期较短的时间内泄出河口，伴随涨潮流进入嵩鼓水道淤积。     

Microbial life in martian ice: A biotic origin of methane on Mars?

Despite the fact that microbial cells are unlikely to be found in the Martian soil in the near future, this paper is written on the assumption that some of the seasonally varying concentration of Martian methane is due to ongoing methanogenesis. It is first pointed out that life might have arisen on Mars first and been transported to Earth later. A case is made that an icy origin of life is more likely than a hot origin, especially if biomolecules take advantage of the high encounter rates and stability against hydrolysis, and that microorganisms feed on the ions that comprise eutectic solutions in ice. Although certain difficulties are avoided if RNA and DNA grow while adsorbed on clay grains, double strand-breaks of microbial DNA due to alpha radioactivity are a far greater threat to microbial survival on clay or other rock types than in ice. Developing a relation between the rate of microbial metabolism in ice and the experimentally determined rate of production of trapped gases of microbial origin, one can estimate the concentration of methanogens that could account for the methane production rate as a function of temperature of their habitat. The result, of order 1 cell cm⁻³ in the Martian subsurface, seems an attainable goal provided samples are taken from at least 1 or 2 m below the hostile surface of Mars. Instruments on NASA’s 2011 Mars Science Lab will measure stable isotopes for methane, water, and carbon dioxide, which on Earth served to distinguish abiotic, thermogenic, and microbial origins. Future measurements of chirality of biomolecules might also provide evidence for Martian life.     

Intertidal sand‐dwelling Peracarid fauna of North Island,New Zealand

Abstract

Substrate and infauna samples were taken at four tidal levels (mean high water springs, high mid beach, low mid beach, and mean low water neaps) with a 0.0625 m² quadrat at 14 North Island beaches in New Zealand. The distributions of Peracarida (Crustacea) were correlated with sediment type, tidal height, and degree of exposure; sampling began in March 1972 and was completed in November 1973.

Substrate samples were sieved and median diameter of the particles ranged from very coarse sand of — 0.60? to very fine sand of + 3.259?. Substrates were variously sorted: ? quartile deviation ranged from 0.14? to 0.66?, skewness from ‐ 0.08? to + 0.07?.

Peracarid fauna was moderately abundant; the maximum value was 720 animals per square metre on a fully exposed beach. Highest average abundance (303 per square metre) for the 14 beaches was recorded from the mean low water neap station. Amphipoda was the dominant group (54% of all Peracarida recorded), followed by Isopoda (33%) and Cumacea (13%). Frequency of occurrence at the 56 stations was headed by Amphipoda (64%), followed by Isopoda (46%), and Cumacea (20%).

The results are compared with data from Stewart Island beaches, and the biogeographical distributions of recorded Peracarida are discussed. An unexpectedly high degree of endemism exists for a warm‐temperate region, caused by the isolation of New Zealand, which has no direct shallow water contact with tropical or cold temperate regions.     

标记方法对皱纹盘鲍(Haliotis discus hannai)生理、生长及存活性状的影响

皱纹盘鲍是我国重要的增养殖贝类,近年来养殖产量增长迅速,但现有养殖群体仍存在抗逆性不足、底播增养殖低效等问题。个体身份的标记技术对于皱纹盘鲍人工选育中谱系记录,以及对于底播增殖效果的精准评估等均具有重要作用。采用金属挂片和塑料黏贴标签两种标记方法,比较了标记后皱纹盘鲍生理、生长存活、标记脱落率及被敌害捕食死亡等方面的差异。研究结果表明,与塑料黏贴标签标记和无标记对照相比,金属挂片标记对皱纹盘鲍标记早期生理包括出现黏液时间、心率变化等产生显著影响,对小规格皱纹盘鲍(壳长<3 cm)造成生长下降、死亡率高等影响,而对大规格皱纹盘鲍(壳长>3 cm)标记生成60 d后长时期的生长、存活以及逃避敌害均无显著影响;塑料黏贴标签标记方法与无标记对照组相比,均未对皱纹盘鲍造成显著影响。验证了皱纹盘鲍个体水平下两种标记方法的有效性及适用性,特别是对大规格苗种标记后生长、存活等性状无显著影响。研究结果将为皱纹盘鲍人工选育以及底播增养殖等工作提供有益指导。     

自然恢复和人工促进恢复对侵蚀退化生态系统碳贮量的影响比较

本研究以严重侵蚀退化马尾松林为研究对象,采取自然恢复和人工促进恢复2种措施对退化地进行修复,监测恢复前后生态系统碳贮量变化。结果表明:自然恢复和人工促进恢复后生态系统总碳贮量分别是恢复前的2.78和4.87倍,其中,植被层碳贮量分别是恢复前的14.30和30.87倍,土壤层碳贮量分别是恢复前的1.85和2.78倍。生态系统内土壤碳的恢复速率落后于植被。2种不同恢复措施相比,人工促进恢复的生态系统碳吸存速率显著快于自然恢复(P0.01),人工促进恢复后生态系统碳吸存速率是自然恢复的2.17倍,其中植被和土壤的吸存速率也分别是自然恢复的2.26倍和2.09倍。而且人工促进恢复后的退化系统,碳库在乔木层各器官的分配方式更符合健康生态系统的分配方式,系统功能和结构更加稳定,有利于系统后期恢复。因此,从退化生态系统恢复的紧迫性和长期性考虑,采取积极的人工促进恢复措施能维持退化系统快速、持续恢复。     

PM2.5污染对中国人口死亡率的影响——基于346个城市面板数据的实证分析

中国生态文明建设和“健康中国”战略强调切实治理影响人口健康的环境问题,建设健康人居环境。论文基于2000年和2010年中国人口普查资料以及2005年和2015年各省级行政单元1%人口抽样调查等数据资料,论文使用探索性空间分析方法刻画中国城市人口死亡率的时空变化特征,并采用空间回归方法,揭示城市PM_2.5的平均浓度对人口死亡率的影响及其空间溢出效应,以及社会经济因素对PM_2.5—人口死亡率关联的调节效应。结果表明：① 中国城市人口死亡率的空间分布特征呈现明显的异质性,高死亡率地区早期集聚分布于西南地区,2005年后在西南地区、华北地区、华东地区和华中地区呈现逐渐集聚分布态势。低死亡率地区长期集中分布于西北地区、东北地区、长三角地区、珠三角地区和京津两市。② 人口死亡率的分布存在空间关联性,高—高类型地区早期集中分布于西南地区,后期向东扩展;低—低类型地区主要分布于北疆、内蒙古西部和广东省及其周边地区。③ 城市PM_2.5浓度对人口死亡率具有显著的正向影响,并且对邻近地区的人口死亡率具有显著的空间溢出效应。④ 中国城市PM_2.5浓度对人口死亡率的影响存在学历差异和城乡差异,地区高学历人群集聚可降低PM_2.5的健康风险,城镇化发展进程缓慢则会加重PM_2.5的健康风险。研究旨在为防范空气污染暴露导致的健康风险、建设健康人居环境提供科学依据。     

基于GIS的广东省综合运输体系规划信息平台构建研究

广东省交通运输厅从2012年起,组织分期研究开发基于地理信息系统的广东省综合运输体系规划信息平台（简称＂平台＂）,旨在建立健全统一的全省交通运输业数据采集、发布标准及技术管理规范,分别构建5大类运输方式线网及重要的运输枢纽站场节点的多级图层,叠加形成全省综合运输体系布局规划＂一张图＂。＂平台＂采用4层设计,依托后台管理、应用分析和综合展示3大子系统,搭建了基础地理信息、经济社会、交通运输现状、综合运输体系规划成果及其他共5大类数据库,＂平台（一期）＂于2014年3月26日通过验收,实现了多维度、多视角展示和查询交通运输业数据成果的预期功能。研究实践将力促综合运输体系规划研究和决策方式实行根本性变革。