The age as a diagnostic of the dynamics of marine ecosystem models

The constituent-oriented age theory (CAT) worked out by Delhez et al. (1999) is a flexible tool that can be applied to diagnose complex models. It is shown here how this can be used to quantify the pace at which an ecosystem model works. At the cost of the introduction of one additional evolution equation for each compartment of the ecosystem model, the mean age of the biological material forming these compartments can be computed. The information obtained in this way complements the information provided by the concentration data; while the latter measures the standing stocks, the former provides an integrated assessment of the interaction rates and matter fluxes. The benefits of the method are demonstrated with a simple Lotka–Volterra system and a one-dimensional vertical model of the nitrogen cycle in the Ligurian Sea. The theory can be used to study the biological compartments individually or the ecosystem as a whole. In particular, the age is a valuable tool to quantify the overall cycling rate of nitrogen in the food web.Responsible Editor: Phil Dyke     

A geographical analysis of the Atalanti alluvial plain and coastline as the location of a potential tourist site, Bronze through Early Iron Age Mitrou, East-Central Greece

Tourism accounts for 15% of Greece’s gross domestic product. In the wake of a struggling economy many of Greece’s coastal villages have turned to tourism to supplement local economies. Preliminary analysis of structural and cultural materials recovered from an excavation on Mitrou, a small islet near the coastal village Tragana located 140 km north of Athens has established the site’s contribution to a fuller understanding of settlement practices in Central Greece from the end of the Bronze Age through the Early Iron Age. The site’s historic importance combined with its scenic coastal setting has considerable potential to be developed into an important tourist site. The physical geography of the region is the product of the complex interaction of coastal, alluvial, fluvial, and seismic processes. This investigation integrates the archaeological material with a geographical analysis employing a variety of geographical techniques (soil and sediment analysis, past climatic data, environmental surveys, and geospatial modeling) to reconstruct the geomorphological history of the site and to evaluate the area as a potential tourist site.     

Sensitivity of sea ice to wind-stress and radiative forcing since 1500: a model study of the Little Ice Age and beyond

Three different reconstructed wind-stress fields which take into account variations of the North Atlantic Oscillation, one general circulation model wind-stress field, and three radiative forcings (volcanic activity, insolation changes and greenhouse gas changes) are used with the UVic Earth System Climate Model to simulate the surface air temperature, the sea-ice cover, and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) since 1500, a period which includes the Little Ice Age (LIA). The simulated Northern Hemisphere surface air temperature, used for model validation, agrees well with several temperature reconstructions. The simulated sea-ice cover in each hemisphere responds quite differently to the forcings. In the Northern Hemisphere, the simulated sea-ice area and volume during the LIA are larger than the present-day area and volume. The wind-driven changes in sea-ice area are about twice as large as those due to thermodynamic (i.e., radiative) forcing. For the sea-ice volume, changes due to wind forcing and thermodynamics are of similar magnitude. Before 1850, the simulations suggest that volcanic activity was mainly responsible for the thermodynamically produced area and volume changes, while after 1900 the slow greenhouse gas increase was the main driver of the sea-ice changes. Changes in insolation have a small effect on the sea ice throughout the integration period. The export of the thicker sea ice during the LIA has no significant effect on the maximum strength of the AMOC. A more important process in altering the maximum strength of the AMOC and the sea-ice thickness is the wind-driven northward ocean heat transport. In the Southern Hemisphere, there are no visible long-term trends in the simulated sea-ice area or volume since 1500. The wind-driven changes are roughly four times larger than those due to radiative forcing. Prior to 1800, all the radiative forcings could have contributed to the thermodynamically driven changes in area and volume. In the 1800s the volcanic forcing was dominant, and during the first part of the 1900s both the insolation changes and the greenhouse gas forcing are responsible for thermodynamically produced changes. Finally, in the latter part of the 1900s the greenhouse gas forcing is the dominant factor in determining the sea-ice changes in the Southern Hemisphere.

A latest Pleistocene and Holocene glacial history and paleoclimate reconstruction at Three Sisters and Broken Top Volcanoes, Oregon, U.S.A.

At least three sets of moraines mark distinct glacial stands since the last glacial maximum (LGM) in the Three Sisters region of the Oregon Cascade Range. The oldest stand predates 8.1 ka (defined here as post-LGM), followed by a second between ∼ 2 and 8 ka (Neoglacial) and a third from the Little Ice Age (LIA) advance of the last 300 years. The post-LGM equilibrium line altitudes were 260 ± 100 m lower than that of modern glaciers, requiring 23 ± 9% increased winter snowfall and 1.4 ± 0.5°C cooler summer temperatures than at present. The LIA advance had equilibrium line altitudes 110 ± 40 m lower than at present, implying 10 ± 4% greater winter snowfall and 0.6 ± 0.2°C cooler summer temperatures.     

Early bronze in two Holocene archaeological sites in Gansu, NW China

Understanding of the origin and development of bronze technology in eastern Asia remains unresolved. Here we report on the distribution of copper and associated cations in sediments from Huoshiliang in northwestern Gansu, China, strontium and lead isotope analyses of ore and slag samples, and some artifact fragments at archaeological sites at Ganggangwa and Huoshiliang in the Black River valley.We conclude that bronze production began perhaps as early as 2135 BC and that the Baishantang modern mine site at Dingxin was a possible source of copper ore. There was at least one other, but currently unidentified, source of ore. The Bronze Age people were also farmers and planted cereals such as wheat, and they may have abandoned the region when wood was exhausted and desertification took over.     

古/中元古代界线:1.8Ga

年代地层表是我们描述地球历史演化的时间框架,也隐含着我们对地球演化过程的基本认识,承载着一系列核心科学问题。现有的国际前寒武纪地质年表存在不少问题,还没有被普遍接受的新方案。在现行国际地层年表(IUGS 1989—2004)中,20～18亿年被称为造山纪,18～16亿年被称为固结纪,16～14亿年被称为盖层纪,也即:造山运动结束到盖层发育之间的过渡时期为固结纪,而将盖层的广泛发育作为中元古代的开始。在我国,由于"吕梁运动"是华北克拉通结晶基底最终形成的标志性构造-热事件,此后发育以长城系-蓟县系-青白口系为代表的地台型沉积盖层,因此我国地质界一直以长城系的底界代表中元古代的开始,并根据"吕梁运动"结束时间,将古/中元古代的时间界线置于18亿年。2012年国际地层委员会提出了一份全新的全球前寒武纪地质年代表划分建议方案,其中2060～1780Ma阶段被称为古元古代哥伦比亚纪,主要以Columbia超大陆的聚合为特征;而之后17. 8～8. 5亿年的近10亿年间,则被定义为罗迪尼亚纪,代表了从Columbia超大陆裂解到Rodinia超大陆聚合的漫长阶段。即这一新建议方案的古/中元古代界线为17. 8亿年,与我国学者长期以来所坚持的古/中元古代分界是基本一致的。在华北克拉通,"吕梁运动"的结束时间在～18亿年,此后整体处于多期裂解的陆内伸展环境,长城系-蓟县系基本上属于连续的陆表海沉积。近年来的研究表明,燕山地区长城系的底界年龄约为17亿年,长城系与蓟县系的分界则为16亿年。如果一味按照现行国际地层划分方案,其古/中元古代的界线(16亿年)将对应于长城系-蓟县系的分界,华北克拉通这套盖层型沉积将被人为分割为两部分,这显然是很不合理的。值得注意的是,在华北克拉通中部吕梁地区发育的小两岭组火山岩和在其南部地区发育的、也是世界范围内同时期最大规模的火山活动——熊耳群火山-沉积岩系,是华北克拉通结晶基底之上最早发育的盖层沉积,其起始形成时间约为18亿年。这与新建议的古/中元古代分界非常接近。从全球地质演化来看,从18到16亿年,造山作用结束,Columbia超大陆开始裂解,岩浆作用方式和岩浆岩组合类型及其地球化学特征发生明显改变,如斜长岩、环斑花岗岩在世界主要克拉通均有发育。与此同时,稳定沉积盖层开始广泛发育,条带状铁建造(BIF)消失,代之以鲕状或粒状矿物集合体组成的浅海富铁沉积,另外海相硫化物沉积、有核原生生物等也首次出现。所有这些都标志着,在此前后,地球岩石圈、水圈和大气圈均发生了重大转折,生物圈也进入新的演化阶段,标志着地球进入"中年期"演化阶段。虽然地球演化发生重要转折的根本原因和细节还有待进一步深入探讨,但这一转变的起点或最重要的时间点,无疑就在18亿年前后,因此,本文认为,应将其作为全球古/中元古代的时间界线。     

Timings of early crustal activity in southern highlands of Mars:Periods of crustal stretching and shortening

Extensional and compressional structures are globally abundant on Mars. Distribution of these structures and their ages constrain the crustal stress state and tectonic evolution of the planet. Here in this paper, we report on our investigation over the distribution of the tectonic structures and timings of the associated stress fields from the Noachis-Sabaea region. Thereafter, we hypothesize possible origins in relation to the internal/external processes through detailed morphostructural mapping. In doing so, we have extracted the absolute model ages of these linear tectonic structures using crater size-frequency distribution measurements, buffered crater counting in particular. The estimated ages indicate that the tectonic structures are younger than the mega impacts events(especially Hellas) and instead they reveal two dominant phases of interior dynamics prevailing on the southern highlands, firstly the extensional phase terminating around3.8 Ga forming grabens and then compressional phase around 3.5-3.6 Ga producing wrinkle ridges and lobate scarps. These derived absolute model ages of the grabens exhibit the age ca. 100 Ma younger than the previously documented end of the global extensional phase. The following compressional activity corresponds to the peak of global contraction period in Early Hesperian. Therefore, we conclude that the planet wide heat loss mechanism, involving crustal stretching coupled with gravitationally driven relaxation(i.e.,lithospheric mobility) resulted in the extensional structures around Late Noachian(around 3.8 Ga). Lately cooling related global contraction generated compressional stress ensuing shortening of the upper crust of the southern highlands at the Early Hesperian period(around 3.5-3.6 Ga).     

唐朝末年以来广西柳州干湿变化及人类活动演变

中世纪暖期和小冰期是近2 000年气候变化中重要的气候事件,厘清其在低纬度地区干湿变化特征及其对古代农业发展及人口增长的影响,具有重要的意义。通过对广西柳州岩溶洞穴中一60 cm岩芯进行孢粉、炭屑分析发现,研究区的气候、稻作农业从唐末以来先后经历了6个阶段演化：1）875―940 a A.D.,C/P值及花粉记录指示：研究区气候整体偏干,水稻种植减少;2）940―1 050 a A.D.,C/P值及花粉记录指示：夏季风增强,水稻种植稍增长,人口增加;3）1 050―1 140 a A.D.,C/P值及花粉记录指示：夏季风减弱,稻作农业及人口较前期有所增长;4）1 140―1370 a A.D.,C/P值及莎草科花粉含量指示：研究区当时气候处于“中世纪暖期”温暖湿润期,稻作农业面积扩大,人口增加;5）1 370―1 900 a A.D.,C/P值及莎草科花粉含量指示：“小冰期”气候变干,水稻种植及人口逐渐减少;6）1 900―2 009 a A.D.气候变暖湿,水稻种植扩大,人口迅速增长。进一步对研究区气候事件与稻作农业及人口关系研究发现：历史时期气候事件与水稻种植、人口具有耦合关系,即中世纪暖期,气候暖湿,水稻种植扩大,人口增殖;小冰期,气候冷干,水稻种植萎缩,人口锐减。在非原地沉积时,莎草科和C/P 对水分反映敏感,可以用来指示气候干湿变化。     

吉林晚石炭世威宁期石头口门裂陷槽的发现及地质意义

吉林晚石炭世要期石头口门裂陷槽位于长春东５０ｋｍ。该裂陷槽以海底火山沉积－－硅质岩沉积为主。早期以含锰结核的碎屑岩和泥岩、硅质岩为主,并有少量的凝灰碉和玄武岩;中期以海底火山喷发的高钠质细碧岩、角地为主,并伴有规模不大的蛇纹岩;晚期以硅质岩、长石杂砂岩、泥岩、生物碎屑灰岩为主,在生物碎屑灰岩中首次发现Ｆｕｓｕｌｉｎａ ｌａｎｃｅｏｌａｔａ Ｆ．ｓｐ．、Ｐｓｅｕｄｏｓｔａｆｆｅｌｌａ ｋｈｏｔｕｎｅ     

Paleoenvironmental and Human Behavioral Implications of the Boegoeberg 1 Late Pleistocene Hyena Den, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

Boegoeberg 1 (BOG1) is located on the Atlantic coast of South Africa, 850 km north of Cape Town. The site is a shallow rock shelter in the side of a sand-choked gully that was emptied by diamond miners. Abundant coprolites, chewed bones, and partially digested bones implicate hyenas as the bone accumulators. The location of the site, quantity of bones, and composition of the fauna imply it was a brown hyena nursery den. The abundance of Cape fur seal bones shows that the hyenas had ready access to the coast. Radiocarbon dates place the site before 37,000 ¹⁴C yr ago, while the large average size of the black-backed jackals and the presence of extralimital ungulates imply cool, moist conditions, probably during the early part of the last glaciation (isotope stage 4 or stage 3 before 37,000 ¹⁴C yr ago) or perhaps during one of the cooler phases (isotope substages 5d or 5b) within the last interglaciation. Comparisons of the BOG1 seal bones to those from regional Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) archeological sites suggest (1) that hyena and human seal accumulations can be distinguished by a tendency for vertebrae to be much more common in a hyena accumulation and (2) that hyena and LSA accumulations can be distinguished by a tendency for hyena-accumulated seals to represent a much wider range of individual seal ages. Differences in the way hyenas and people dismember, transport, and consume seal carcasses probably explain the contrast in skeletal part representation, while differences in season of occupation explain the contrast in seal age representation. Like modern brown hyenas, the BOG1 hyenas probably occupied the coast year-round, while the LSA people focused their coastal visits on the August–October interval when nine-to-eleven-month-old seals were abundant. The MSA sample from Klasies River Mouth Cave 1 resembles BOG1 in seal age composition, suggesting that unlike LSA people, MSA people obtained seals more or less throughout the year.