The development of transport infrastructure and attitudes of the local population: a case study from the Republic of Serbia

In the last decades, the development of transport infrastructure has been necessary because of the population increase and expansion of urban centres. Infrastructure development leads to modification and changes in areas characterized by high human population density. The lack of adequate transport infrastructure inhibits local economic and social performance. In the period of economic stability (from 1970 to 1990), important roads that increased the connectedness of the Kolubara District (Western Serbia) with other parts of the country and the surrounding countries were built, but there is still a need for the construction of new roads. In order to examine the attitude of the local population in regard to transport infrastructure, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire consisting of closed questions. This topic is one that has not previously been examined. The data obtained were analyzed statistically and showed that local people have a positive attitude towards the existing infrastructure and towards the construction of new roads. There are statistically significant differences between the attitudes of the local population in different municipalities. The results from this research offer an opportunity to develop guidelines which can influence traffic development in these and similar areas.     

中亚热带2种天然林表层土壤N2O排放速率

运用静态箱-气相色谱法对中亚热带地区米槠天然林和阿丁枫天然林土壤N2O排放速率进行了1年（2012年1月—2013年1月）原位观测,分析了土壤温度及含水量对土壤N2O排放速率的影响,并探讨土壤无机N含量变化与土壤N2O排放速率的关系。结果表明,观测期间,2种天然林均表现为大气N2O排放源,米槠天然林和阿丁枫天然林平均土壤N2O排放速率分别为7.29μg·m^-2·h^-1、7.41μg·m^-2·h^-1;米槠天然林和阿丁枫天然林土壤N2O排放速率季节变化明显,最高排放速率均出现在夏季6月,分别为16.51μg·m^-2·h^-1、18.86μg·m^-2·h^-1;2个林分N2O排放速率最低值分别出现在2012年1月和2012年9月,分别为3.04μg·m^-2·h^-1和2.17μg·m^-2·h^-1。2种天然林土壤N2O排放速率均与土壤温度无显著相关性,与土壤含水量显著正相关（P〈0.05）;2种天然林土壤N2O排放速率与NH4＋含量均无显著相关性,米槠天然林和阿丁枫天然土壤N2O排放速率与NO3-含量分别呈显著负相关和显著正相关（P〈0.05）。研究结果表明,土壤含水量及NO3-含量的变化对中亚热带天然林土壤N2O排放速率有着重要的影响。     

Provenance of gravity-flow sandstones from the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Farsund Formation,Danish Central Graben,North Sea

Through the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous gravity-flow sandstones were deposited in the Danish Central Graben. These gravity-flow sandstones were deposited within mudstones of the Farsund Formation which is the main source rock in the area, and they are thus potential oil and gas reservoirs. The petrography and geochemistry of the sandstones show good intra well relations and several local geographical relations, which may indicate that they were derived from multiple locally sourced flows and not merely by one basin-axial flow system. The gravity-flow sandstones deposited in the eastern part of the basin are less mature and richer in, especially, carbonates and albite compared to previously deposited Jurassic sandstones and simultaneously deposited sandstones in the western part of the Danish area. This may indicate a division of the basin in an eastern and a western provenance province. This study addresses the provenance of the gravity-flow sandstones by petrographical and geochemical analyses in order to derive possible shared detrital sources as a means of understanding the transport system(s) of the gravity flows.     

No evidence for a decrease of nuclear decay rates with increasing heliocentric distance based on radiochronology of meteorites

It has been argued that the decay rates of several radioactive nuclides are slightly lower at Earth’s aphelion than at perihelion, and that this effect might depend on heliocentric distance. It might then be expected that nuclear decay rates be considerably lower at larger distances from the sun, e.g., in the asteroid belt at 2–3 AU from where most meteorites originate. If so, ages of meteorites obtained by analyses of radioactive nuclides and their stable daughter isotopes might be in error, since these ages are based on decay rates determined on Earth. Here we evaluate whether the large data base on nuclear cosmochronology offers any hint for discrepancies which might be due to radially variable decay rates. Chlorine-36 (t_1/2 = 301,000 a) is produced in meteorites by interactions with cosmic rays and is the nuclide for which a decay rate dependence from heliocentric distance has been proposed, which, in principle, can be tested with our approach and the current data base. We show that compilations of ³⁶Cl concentrations measured in meteorites offer no support for a spatially variable ³⁶Cl decay rate. For very short-lived cosmic-ray produced radionuclides (half-lives < 10–100 days), the concentration should be different for meteorites hitting the Earth on the incoming vs. outgoing part of their orbit. However, the current data base of very short-lived radionuclides in freshly fallen meteorites is far from sufficient to deduce solid constraints. Constraints on the age of the Earth and the oldest meteorite phases obtained by the U–Pb dating technique give no hints for radially variable decay rates of the α-decaying nuclides ²³⁵U or ²³⁸U. Similarly, some of the oldest phases in meteorites have U–Pb ages whose differences agree almost perfectly with respective age differences obtained with “short-lived” radionuclides present in the early solar system, again indicating no variability of uranium decay rates in different meteorite parent bodies in the asteroid belt. Moreover, the oldest U–Pb ages of meteorites agree with the main-sequence age of the sun derived from helioseismology within the formal ∼1% uncertainty of the latter. Meteorite ages also provide no evidence for a decrease of decay rates with heliocentric distance for nuclides such as ⁸⁷Rb (decay mode β⁻) ⁴⁰K (β⁻ and electron capture), and ¹⁴⁷Sm (α).     

Intercomparison of NO,NO2 and HNO3 measurements with photochemical theory

The simultaneous measurements of NO, NO₂ and HNO_A mixing‐ratio profiles carried out on the Stratoprobe balloon flight of 22 July 1974 have been simulated with a time‐dependent model using the measured temperature and ozone profiles. The calculated ratios of NO/NO₂, HNO₃/NO₂ using currently accepted photochemistry are consistent with the measured ratios within the experimental errors of the measurements. The measured NO₂/NO ratio is almost a factor of two smaller than predicted, although the discrepancy is still within the experimental errors. A remarkable proportionality in the NO₂ and O₃ profiles has been noted and is unexplained. A time‐dependent simulation has been employed to convert the measurements into diurnally‐averaged profiles suitable for intercomparison with two‐dimensional stratospheric models and a comparison with constituent profiles from Prinn et al. (1975) is carried out as an example. The NO_V mixing ratio, formed from the sum of the NO, NO₂ and HNO₂ measurements is similar to the NO_V mixing ratio from several one‐ and two‐dimensional models used to predict the effects of SST's on the ozone layer. The odd nitrogen mixing ratio is roughly constant from 20 to 35 km at 11 ppbv.     

Cenozoic Evolution of Sediments and Climate Change and Response to Tectonic Uplift of the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Through a comprehensive study of magnetostratigraphy and sedimentology of several basins in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, we reveal that the study area mainly experienced six tectonic uplift stages at approximately 52 Ma, 34–30 Ma, 24–20 Ma, 16–12 Ma, 8–6 Ma, and 3.6–2.6 Ma. Comprehensive analyses of pollen assemblages from the Qaidam, Linxia, Xining, and West Jiuquan Basins show that the northeastern Tibetan Plateau has undergone six major changes in vegetation types and climate: 50–40 Ma for the warm-humid forest vegetation, 40–23 Ma for the warm-arid and temperate-arid forest steppe vegetation, 23–18.6 Ma for the warm-humid and temperatehumid forest vegetation, 18.6–8.5 Ma for the warm-humid and cool-humid forest steppe vegetation, 8.6–5 Ma for the temperate sub-humid savanna steppe vegetation, and 5–1.8 Ma for the cold-arid steppe vegetation. Comprehensive comparisons of tectonic uplift events inferred from sedimentary records, climatic changes inferred from pollen, and global climate changes show that in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau the climate in the Paleogene at low altitude was mainly controlled by the global climate change, while that in the Neogene interval with high altitude landscapes of mountains and basins is more controlled by altitude and morphology.     

The ecological fallacy in a time series context: evidence from Spanish regional unemployment rates

The ecological fallacy (EF) is a common problem regional scientists have to deal with when using aggregated data in their analyses. Although there is a wide number of studies considering different aspects of this problem, little attention has been paid to the potential negative effects of the EF in a time series context. Using Spanish regional unemployment data, this paper shows that EF effects are not only observed at the cross-section level, but also in a time series framework. The empirical evidence obtained shows that analytical regional configurations are the least susceptible to time effects relative to both normative and random regional configurations, while normative configurations are an improvement over random ones.

Roles of Melting and Metasomatism in the Formation of the Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Leizhou Peninsula, South China

This study characterizes the nature of fluid interaction andmelting processes in the lithospheric mantle beneath the Yingfenglingand Tianyang volcanoes, Leizhou Peninsula, South China, usingin situ trace-element analyses of clinopyroxene, amphibole andgarnet from a suite of mantle-derived xenoliths. Clinopyroxenesfrom discrete spinel lherzolites exhibit large compositionalvariations ranging from extremely light rare earth element (LREE)-depletedto LREE-enriched. Trace-element modelling for depleted samplesindicates that the Leizhou lherzolites are the residues of amantle peridotite source after extraction of 1–11% meltgenerated by incremental melting in the spinel lherzolite fieldwith the degree of melting increasing upwards from about 60km to 30 km. This process is consistent with gradational meltingat different depths in an upwelling asthenospheric column thatsubsequently cooled to form the current lithospheric mantlein this region. The calculated melt production rate of thiscolumn could generate mafic crust 5–6 km thick, whichwould account for most of the present-day lower crust. The formationof the lithospheric column is inferred to be related to Mesozoiclithosphere thinning. Al-augite pyroxenites occur in compositexenoliths; these are geochemically similar to HIMU-type oceanisland basalt. These pyroxenites postdate the lithospheric columnformation and belong to two episodes of magmatism. Early magmatism(forming metapyroxenites) is inferred to have occurred duringthe opening of the South China Sea Basin (32–15 Ma), whereasthe most recent magmatic episode (producing pyroxenites withigneous microstructures) occurred shortly before the eruptionof the host magmas (6–0·3 Ma). Trace-element traversesfrom the contacts of the Al-augite pyroxenite with the spinelperidotite wall-rock in composite xenoliths record gradientsin the strength and nature of metasomatic effects away fromthe contact, showing that equilibrium was not attained. Significantenrichment in highly incompatible elements close to the contacts,with only slight enrichment in Sr, LREE and Nb away from thecontact, is inferred to reflect the different diffusion ratesof specific trace elements. The observed geochemical gradientsin metasomatic zones show that Sr, La, Ce and Nb have the highestdiffusion rates, other REE are intermediate, and Zr, Hf andTi have the lowest diffusion rates. Lower diffusion rates observedfor Nb, Zr, Hf and Ti compared with REE may cause high fieldstrength element (HFSE) negative anomalies in metasomatizedperidotites. Therefore, metasomatized lherzolites with HFSEnegative anomalies do not necessarily require a carbonatiticmetasomatizing agent. KEY WORDS: China; lithosphere; mantle xenoliths; clinopyroxene trace elements; mantle partial melting; mantle metasomatism; trace-element diffusion rates     

Unexpected fast rate of morphological evolution of geologically-active continental margins during Quaternary: Examples from selected areas in the Italian seas

In the last few decades, seafloor imagery systems have drastically changed our vision of a mostly regular and depositional marine landscape, evidencing how erosive and mass-wasting processes are widespread in the marine environments, with particular reference to geologically-active areas. Most of the previous studies have focused on the characterization of these features, whereas a very few ones have tried to estimate what is the extent and order of magnitude of erosion rates in these areas. In this paper, we show several examples from some of the most geologically-active margins off Southern Italy aimed to a) quantify the spatial extent of such processes, b) better understand the role of submarine erosion in the morphogenesis of the coastal sector, and c) try to roughly estimate the order of magnitude of erosion rates in these areas. The results are impressive, with mass-wasting features widespread from coast down to −2600, affecting from the 52% up to 97% of the whole continental slope. Because of the narrow or totally lacking shelves in these areas, mass-wasting processes often occur close to the coast and match embayment of the coast, so indicating a key role in the morphogenesis of coastal sector, with significant implication on the related geohazard. Finally, based on a morphological approach integrated by available stratigraphic constraints we have roughly estimated average erosion rates in these areas, ranging from (at least) some mm/year to a few cm/year, i.e., some hundreds of meters up to kilometers eroded in each eustatic cycle. Despite the large uncertainties of these estimates as well as their spatial and temporal variability in response to regional and local factors, the obtained values are very high and they should be considered for future model of margin evolution, source-to-sink computation and marine/coastal geohazard assessment.