Ozone production due to emissions from vegetation burning

Ozone has been observed in elevated concentrations by satellites over areas previously believed to be background. There is meteorological evidence, that these ozone plumes found over the Atlantic Ocean originate from vegetation fires on the African continent.In a previous study (DECAFE-88), we have investigated ozone and assumed precursor compounds over African tropical forest regions. Our measurements revealed large photosmog layers at altitudes from 1.5 to 4 km. Both chemical and meteorological evidence point to savanna fires up to several thousand km upwind as sources.Here we describe ozone mixing ratios observed over western Africa and compare ozone production ratios from different field measurement campaigns related to vegetation burning. We find that air masses containing photosmog ingredients require several days to develop their oxidation potential, similar to what is known from air polluted by emissions from fossil fuel burning. Finally, we estimate the global ozone production due to vegetation fires and conclude that this source is comparable in strength to the stratospheric input.     

中国南北带地壳上地幔三维面波速度结构和各向异性

本文用长周期763地震仪面波群速度资料反演了中国南北带及邻区的三维速度结构.其中采集238条瑞利波和358条勒夫波混合频散曲线,使用均等显示滤波方法,并以4°×4°为一格将我国境内分为147格.用随机逆反演方法得到了研究区16格的纯路径频散.面波速度结构及演结果表明:1.莫霍界面深度一般在40-50km之间,最深达65km.总趋势是从东到西加深,且在南北带西侧南北两端向中部明显加深,东侧变化小.2.地幔顶部普遍出现很厚的低速层,上界面一般埋深60-80km.上地幔顶盖厚度一般为20-60km,速度为4.30-4.50km/s.3.研究区普遍存在各向异性,而且勒夫波和瑞利波速度的差值(V_SV-V_SH)的绝对值随深度有增大的特点,在南北带南部和西北部V_SV-V_SH各向异性现象更为明显.     

地学“开合律”及其在造山带研究中的意义

“开合律”是地学辩证法基本规律之一。本文概述了它的内容与特点,阐明它在造山带研究中的意义及运用它指导造山带研究的步骤,并根据目前已总结的5种“开”、“合”类型相应地提出了5种造山带类型。     

云南大地热流及地热地质问题

本文报道了云南20多个大地热流测试数据。据热流分布特点并参考前人有关资料,结合地球物理测深资料、岩石热物性与放射性生热率测试数据,对各区地壳深度范围的温度、热流配分组成作了粗略分析,划分出各有特征的若干地质-热流区。云南普遍地热偏高(滇东南小范围除外)的主要原因是新构造运动强烈;怒江以西近代岩浆活动亦强烈,具有典型的板块交汇带的基本地热特点     

荒漠植被红砂（Reaumurta soongorica）水热响应的年轮学研究

 红砂是黄土高原荒漠植被带主要建群植物种之一，在植被恢复重建和生态建设中具有重要意义。本文以皋兰县40 a天然植被封育区为例，运用树木年轮学方法，对不同坡向红砂与当地水热条件变化的时空响应及分布格局进行了研究。研究结果表明，红砂具有明显的年轮特征，可以进行树木年轮方面的研究。虽然不同坡向水分条件和植被状况有很大差异，但红砂径向生长对区域水热变化具有非常一致的响应模式：同生长季降水呈正相关关系，尤以7月降水量最为显著；同生长季气温呈负相关关系，以6月最为显著。根据不同坡向红砂年龄分布格局分析结果，并考虑到水土流失的防治效果，黄土高原西部荒漠植被带的封育期限不宜少于10 a。     

The impact of cover rock rheology on the style of folding in the Zagros fold-thrust belt

The present day morphology of the Zagros fold-thrust belt is dominated by magnificent exposures of NW–SE trending folds. These folds differ in their size and geometry and these differences are related mainly to the rheological profile of the cover rock. The cover rock succession of the Zagros consists of a sequence of competent and incompetent units which vary both along and across the belt. Field based study combined with the use of satellite images reveals that the thickness and facies distribution of the cover rock succession has a significant impact on the style of deformation. During the shortening linked to the current convergence of the Arabian and Iranian plates, the incompetent units act as detachment horizons which localise thrusting and which act as décollement above which detachment folds form. In addition, where these incompetent units are thick (e.g.> 1 km), they allow the deformation above and below them to become completely decoupled enabling disharmonic folding to occur. As a result the folds above and below the incompetent units in the central part of the Zagros Folded Belt, have significantly different geometries and wavelengths. As the Zagros folds host the majority of the hydrocarbon reserves in Iran and Iraq, an understanding of the processes that influence their geometry and spatial organization at different levels in the cover rock is crucial for the future exploration in the region.     

The bimodal rift-related Juscelândia volcanosedimentary sequence in central Brazil: Mesoproterozoic extension and Neoproterozoic metamorphism

The Barro Alto Complex and Juscelândia volcanosedimentary sequence are exposed in the central part of the Neoproterozoic Brasília belt of central Brazil. The former is a large (approximately 150 km long), boomerang-shaped, mafic-ultramafic, layered complex formed by two different intrusions metamorphosed under granulite facies. These rocks are tectonically overlain by rocks of the Juscelândia volcanosedimentary sequence, represented mainly by biotite-gneiss and amphibolite, or amphibolite facies metamorphic equivalents of rhyolite and basalt, respectively. New SIMS U–Pb zircon data and Sm–Nd isochron data presented herein help clarify the igneous and metamorphic evolution of the Juscelândia volcanosedimentary sequence, as well as its relationship with the Barro Alto Complex. Zircon grains from two biotite gneisses were analyzed by SIMS (SHRIMP) and indicate Mesoproterozoic dates, approximately 1.28 Ga, interpreted as the time of bimodal volcanism in a tectonic setting transitional between a continental rift and an ocean basin. Metamorphism is constrained by Sm–Nd garnet-whole-rock isochrons for garnet amphibolite and pelitic schists of the Juscelândia sequence, as well as for clinopyroxene-garnet amphibolite and garnet granulite of the Barro Alto Complex, which give ages between 0.74 and 0.76 Ga, in agreement with SIMS dates for metamorphic zircon rims. These new data are significant, because they establish that a single metamorphic event affected both the Barro Alto Complex and the Juscelândia sequence. Based on these new data, we present a modified tectonic model for the Brasília belt.     

Geologic correlation between the Neoproterozoic Sergipano belt (NE Brazil) and the Yaoundé belt (Cameroon, Africa)

The Yaoundé belt (Cameroon) and the Sergipano belt (NE Brazil) belonged to a major and continuous Neoproterozoic orogen at the northern margin of the ancient Congo-São Francisco craton. The Yaoundé belt comprises schists, quartzites, gneisses and migmatitic gneisses grouped into three domains; the low-grade Mbalmayo Group in south and the medium- to high-grade Yaoundé and Bafia Group in north. The Sergipano belt is divided into six domains, the three southernmost of which are mostly made up of clastic and chemical metasedimentary rocks whereas the others are more diverse with a migmatite–gneiss complex, and two metavolcanicplutonic complexes. In general, the two belts show structural vergence and decrease of metamorphic grade towards the craton; three main deformation phases are recognized in the Sergipano belt in contrast with two described in the Yaoundé belt. The minimum age of Pan-African-Brasiliano collision in the Sergipano belt is constrained at 628 ± 12 Ma on syn-collision granites, whereas in the Yaoundé belt collision took place between 620 and 610 Ma, i.e. the age of granulite facies metamorphism. Sm–Nd isotope geochemistry and U–Pb age dating indicate that most clastic metasedimentary rocks in both belts were derived from sources to the north and, to a lesser degree, from the cratons to the south.     

A new tectonic scenario for the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone (Iran)

Recent geochemical studies of volcanic rocks forming part of the ophiolites within the Zagros and Naien-Baft orogen indicate that most of them were developed as supra-subduction ophiolites in intra-oceanic island arc environments. Intra-oceanic island arcs and ophiolites now forming the Naien-Baft zone were emplaced southwestward onto the northeastern margin of the South Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone, while those now in the High Zagros were emplaced southwestward onto the northern margin of Arabia. Thereafter, subduction continued on opposite sides of the remnant oceans. The floor of Neo-Tethys Ocean was subducted at a low angle beneath the entire Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone, and the floor of the Naien-Baft Ocean was subducted beneath the Central Iranian Micro-continent. The Naien-Baft Ocean extended into North-West Iran only temporarily. This failed ocean arm (between the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Assemblage and the main Zagros Thrust) was filled by thick Upper Triassic–Upper Jurassic sediments. The Naien-Baft Ocean finally closed in the Paleocene and Neo-Tethys closed in the Early to Middle Eocene. After Arabia was sutured to Iran, the Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Assemblage recorded slab break-off in the Middle Eocene.     

Ophiomorpha irregulaire, rare trace fossil in shallow marine sandstones, Cretaceous Atane Formation, West Greenland

Ophiomorpha irregulaire is a large and extremely rare trace fossil. The type section is in the Book Cliffs, Utah, USA. A second on-shore locality is reported here, in the Nuussuaq Basin of West Greenland. Both occurrences date from the Late Cretaceous. Other reports of O. irregulaire are restricted to two-dimensional sections in well cores and are mostly Jurassic in age. The West Greenland occurrence is in the Atane Formation in shallow marine clean sandstone. The two on-shore localities lie in the same biogeographical region, in connection with the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America. O. irregulaire is characterized by a sinuous, branched meander maze lying mostly within a single horizontal plane, probably not far beneath the seafloor. The burrow lining has remarkably elongate pellets that probably were emplaced by the burrower. In some cases, diagenetic compression may have deformed the lining pellets to produce their elongated shape. The muddy sediment comprising the lining is almost unrepresented in the clean sands of the substrate, and it was probably trapped from suspension during suspension-feeding activity.