热力剥离破碎岩石试验

在莫斯科国立地质勘探大学实验室对热力剥离碎岩方法进行的试验研究表明,不同类型岩石(岩浆岩、沉积岩、变质岩)的抗拉强度均随加热温度的升高而降低,且降低幅度较大,因此钻进速度明显提高.岩石破碎的形式与温度有关,当温度为500～600 K时破碎是在组成岩石的矿物颗粒(晶粒)内部进行的;当温度超过600 K时,破碎是在矿物颗粒间进行的.技术比较先进并有发展前景的加热升温方法是火焰喷射法、电子束法、等离子法和激光法.影响热力钻进发展的主要问题是没有合适的加热升温装置和碎岩工具,建议对此进行研究和开发.     

山东七宝山隐爆角砾岩型金铜矿床含矿蚀变斑岩石英颗粒中高温高盐度沸腾包裹体的发现及其意义

山东七宝山隐爆角砾岩型金铜矿床一直以来被认为是浅成低温、低盐度热液型矿床。本研究通过对该矿床含矿蚀变斑岩石英颗粒中流体包裹体的研究,发现存在大量多相包裹体与气体包裹体、气液两相包裹体共生。显微测温显示这些包裹体具有相似的均一温度(374～404℃),盐度高达48%NaCleqv。激光拉曼光谱和扫描电镜能谱分析显示,多相包裹体中的子矿物除了石盐外,还有赤铁矿、重晶石、黄铜矿与黄铁矿等。这些捕获有高温高盐度沸腾包裹体的石英颗粒可能是早期成矿流体在硅化交代蚀变的过程中重结晶形成的,而不是斑岩体的斑晶。这一结果表明该矿床深部存在高温、高盐度的沸腾包裹体。这种高温高盐度的沸腾流体包裹体及多相包裹体中黄铜矿、黄铁矿等子矿物是斑岩型矿床的典型特征,因此该发现表明山东七宝山隐爆角砾岩型金铜矿在深部可能转变为斑岩型矿床。     

Millimeter and Submillimeter Emissions from Galactic and Extragalactic Photodissociation Regions

The galactic and Extragalactic photodissociation regions are primarily heated by photoelectrons ejected from the surface of interstellar dust grains by Far-ultraviolet (FUV) photons. But there is no direct mechanism to measure the photoelectric heating efficiency. To understand the role of dust grains in processing the Interstellar Radiation Field (ISRF) and heating the gas, we compare the intensities I _CII, I _CO and I _FIR for (² P _3/2→² P _1/2) & (J = 1→ 0) line emission of CII & CO at 158 μm & 2.6 mm and integrated far-infrared from number of photodissociation regions, HII regions, planetary nebulae, reflection nebulae and high latitude translucent clouds (HLCs). It is found that I _CII is linearly correlated with I _FIR. In the cold medium where cloud is exposed to weak radiations temperature is low and most of the cooling is due to [CII] emissions. As a result the ratio of I _CII/I _FIR provide indirect method to evaluate the photoelectric heating efficiency. For the neutral cold medium it is evaluated to be ∼0.028. The FUV radiation field G ₀ are estimated through the model calculation of I _CII and I _CO for different galactic and photodissociation regions. The intensity of FIR radiation I _FIR are well represented as 1.23×10⁻⁴ G ₀(ergs cm⁻² s⁻¹ sr⁻¹) almost same as estimated for HLCs by Ingalls et al (2002). Hydrogen density for each source has also been estimated.     

Optically stimulated luminescence dating of loess in South-Eastern China using quartz and polymineral fine grains

Loess deposits distributed in southeastern China play an important role for paleoclimate reconstruction of the subtropical regions. These loess-paleosol deposits are mainly spread within the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River as well as in the drainage area of the Huai River. The ages of loess paleosol sequences that are distributed along the Huai River are not well constrained. In this study, the standard single-aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) protocol and two elevated temperature post infrared-infrared stimulated luminescence SAR protocols (pIRIR₂₂₅ and pIRIR₂₉₀) were applied on 4–11 μm quartz and polymineral fine grains, respectively, in order to obtain the first numerical luminescence chronology for a loess-paleosol sequence in northern Jiangsu Province. Our results show a good agreement between quartz SAR-OSL and polymineral pIRIR ages up to ~70 ka. These findings confirm that Xiashu loess accumulated during the Last Glaciation. For samples older than this, the ages increasingly deviate with depth. Fine quartz ages beyond 70 ka are interpreted as underestimates, as previous studies reported that quartz ages >70 ka from various sedimentary origins worldwide may underestimate even if they pass rejection criteria and dose recovery tests. On the other hand, the pIRIR ages are most likely overestimating the true depositional ages as indicated by the results of dose recovery tests, where a 30–60% overestimation of the recovered dose is reported for values larger than ~400 Gy. The overestimation of pIRIR protocols was also confirmed by the results obtained when large beta doses were added on top of the natural accrued dose. Moreover, our dating results suggest that L1/S1 transition (corresponding to MIS 5/4 boundary) occurred much higher in the stratigraphic sequence than may have been interpreted from the magnetic susceptibility enhancement. This inconsistency can be assigned to invalidity of magnetic susceptibility as a chronostratigraphical proxy due to ferrimagnetic minerals dissolution or transformation during paedogenesis processes in this humid subtropical region in the southeastern China.     

Crystalline silicates in comets: How did they form?

Two processes have been proposed to explain observations of crystalline silicate minerals in comets and in protostellar sources, both of which rely on the thermal annealing of amorphous grains. First, high temperatures generated by nebular shock processes can rapidly produce crystalline magnesium silicate grains and will simultaneously produce a population of crystalline iron silicates whose average grain size is ∼10-15% that of the magnesium silicate minerals. Second, exposure of amorphous silicate grains to hot nebular environments can produce crystalline magnesium silicates that might then be transported outward to regions of comet formation. At the higher temperatures required for annealing amorphous iron silicates to crystallinity the evaporative lifetime of the grains is much shorter than a single orbital period where such temperatures are found in the nebula. Thermal annealing is therefore unable to produce crystalline iron silicate grains for inclusion into comets unless such grains are very quickly transported away from the hot inner nebula. It follows that observation of pure crystalline magnesium silicate minerals in comets or protostars is a direct measure of the importance of simple thermal annealing of grains in the innermost regions of protostellar nebulae followed by dust and gas transport to the outer nebula. The presence of crystalline iron silicates would signal the action of transient processes such as shock heating that can produce crystalline iron, magnesium and mixed iron-magnesium silicate minerals. These different scenarios result in very different predictions for the organic content of protostellar systems.     

Variations of some heavy minerals in recent beach sands

The influence of shape, size, and specific gravity of mineral grains on the variation of the content of these minerals in beach sands has been investigated for fixed conditions of sedimentation on the beaches of the Baltic Sea and Michigan Lake. The coefficient of variation was used as a measure of the variance. Linear models tested by the analysis of variance were applied and revealed that the shape of grains and the combined effect of the size and specific gravity are responsible for the main part of the variation.     

Exploring the potential of luminescence methods for dating Alpine rock glaciers

Rock glaciers contain valuable information about the spatial and temporal distribution of permafrost. The wide distribution of these landforms in high mountains promotes them as useful archives for the deciphering of the environmental conditions during their formation and evolution. However, age constraints are needed to unravel the palaeoclimatic context of rock glaciers, but numerical dating is difficult. Here, we present a case study assessing the potential of luminescence techniques (OSL, IRSL) to date the inner sand-rich layer of active rock glaciers. We focus on the signal properties and the resetting of the signal prior to deposition by investigating single grains. While most quartz shows low signal intensities and problematic luminescence characteristics, K-feldspar exhibits much brighter and well-performing signals. Most signals from plagioclases do not show suitable properties. Luminescence signals far below saturation indicate distinct but differential bleaching. The finite mixture model was used to determine the prominent populations in the equivalent dose distributions. The luminescence ages represent travel times of grains since incorporation into the rock glacier and hence, minimum ages of rock glacier formation. Luminescence ages between 3 ka and 8 ka for three rock glaciers from the Upper Engadine and Albula region (Swiss Alps) agree well with independent age estimates from relative and semi-quantitative approaches. Therefore, luminescence seems to have the potential of revealing age constraints about processes related to the formation of rock glaciers, but further investigations are required for solving some of the problems remaining and reducing the dating uncertainties.     

Mechanisms for avulsion on alluvial fans: Insights from high-frequency topographic data

Avulsion is a key process in building alluvial fans, but it is also a formidable natural hazard. Based on laboratory experiments monitored with novel high-frequency photogrammetry, we present a new model for avulsion on widely graded gravel fans. Previous experimental studies of alluvial fans have suggested that avulsion occurs in a periodic autogenic cycle, that is thought to be mediated by the gradient of the fan and fan-channel. However, those studies measured gradients at low spatial or temporal resolutions, which capture temporally or spatially averaged topographic evolution. Here, we present high-resolution (1 mm), high-frequency (1-minute) topographic data and orthophotos from an alluvial fan experiment. Avulsions in the experiment were rapid and, in contrast to some previous experimental studies, avulsion occurrence was aperiodic. Moreover, we found little evidence of the back-filling observed at coarser temporal and spatial resolutions. Our observations suggest that avulsion is disproportionately affected by sediment accumulation in the channel, particularly around larger, less mobile grains. Such in-channel deposition can cause channel shifting that interrupts the autogenic avulsion cycle, so that avulsions are aperiodic and their timing is more difficult to predict.     

The southernmost record of tropical pollen grains in the mid-Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina

Pollen grains characteristic of tropical Northern Gondwana (Schrankipollis, Brenneripollis and Pennipollis peroreticulatus) have been recorded from the Cretaceous of Patagonia. They were recovered from the Late Albian–Cenomanian Kachaike Formation in Santa Cruz Province, southern Argentina. The palynological assemblages are dominated by gymnosperm pollen and bryophyte-pteridophyte spores, whereas angiosperms are poorly represented. The angiospermoid type Schrankipollis has not been reported previously from Argentina, and a new species S. kachaikensis is described. Two species of Brenneripollis (of uncertain affinity) and Pennipollis peroreticulatus (related to the Alismatales) are also reported. The first appearances of Pennipollis peroreticulatus are clearly diachronous from north to south, ranging from the Barremian in tropical regions to the Coniacian–Santonian in Antarctica. S. kachaikensis and P. peroreticulatus show restricted stratigraphic distributions through the Kachaike Formation and may be stratigraphically useful markers. A tetrad of Walkeripollis (related to modern Winteraceae) is also recognized. This is the oldest record of Winteraceae in the southern temperate region where the family lives today. Evidence for migration of Winteraceae from tropical Gondwana to Antarctica and Australia throughout South America, is provided by this new finding. The presence of tropical elements in the austral margin of South America gives support to previous studies on the expansion of warm temperatures towards high latitudes during the mid Cretaceous.     

Agribusiness and farmers in Mexico: the importance of contractual relations

In recent decades contract farming as a mechanism that integrates and subordinates agricultural production to export oriented agribusiness has expanded in Third World countries. In Mexico contract farming dominates the production of horticultural crops for processing and export. It is also used for barley and to grow some varieties of wheat for Cargill . The contract farming labour agreement represents an institution that links local and global processes where agribusiness is the key actor that integrates local farmers to national and world markets. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the implications of contract farming for productive relations by examining its impact upon farmers and firms. The study found that despite the disadvantages of contract farming for growers, and the disproportional risks born by producers, they enter into contract farming labour agreements because they lack alternatives for financing, technical assistance and access to markets. The experience of contract farming in Mexico and several Third World countries shows that its growth is related to the implementation of neo-liberal policies that are accompanied by the withdrawal of state support and regulation of agricultural production. In this context, contract farming represents a livelihood strategy for many Mexican growers.