Chemical variation from biolipids to sedimentary organic matter in modern oceans and its implication to the geobiological evaluation of ancient hydrocarbon source rocks

Understanding the dynamics of organic matter in modern marine water columns greatly favors the geobiological evaluation of hydrocarbon source rocks. Biolipids could make great contribution to petroleum hydrocarbons due to their comparable chemical components and the slightly refractory characteristics of biolipids during the microbial/thermal degradation. A variety of environmental factors such as temperature, CO₂ and salinity could affect the biochemical contents in microorganisms. As a result, microorganisms living in a changing environmental condition might have a different contribution to the petroleum formation. Organic carbon flux is shown to bear a positive correlation with the primary productivity only within a certain range of biomass volumes in a specific biohabitat. Furthermore, organic matter is degraded much quickly in a water column with oxic conditions. Therefore, the anoxic condition, along with the enhanced biological productivity, would be one of the significant factors in the formation of high-quality hydrocarbon source rocks. The formation of biofilms and microbial mats favors the preservation of sedimentary organic matter by decreasing the degradation rate of organic matter. Identification of biofilms and microbial mats in sedimentary rocks will thus greatly help to understand the depositional processes of organic matter finally preserved in hydrocarbon source rocks. __________ Translated from Earth Science—Journal of China University of Geosciences, 2007, 32(6): 748–754 [译自: 地球科学—中国地质大学学报     

近6 ka以来科尔沁沙地东部气候变化记录

 根据科尔沁沙地东部TL剖面磁化率、有机质、化学元素等气候代用指标的变化特征和14C测年结果,分析和讨论了科尔沁沙地6 ka BP以来的气候变化过程。实验数据显示,高频磁化率、低频磁化率、有机质、Al2O3含量变化趋势基本一致,且峰值段对应古土壤层,谷值段对应风成砂层。依据气候代用指标的变化将6 ka BP以来科尔沁沙地气候变化分为3个阶段：Ⅰ.6.0～4.2 ka BP,气候暖湿,夏季风逐渐增强,并占主导,冬季风较弱,与全新世大暖期对应,但存在百年尺度的气候波动,其中：6.0～5.6 ka BP,5.6～5.4 ka BP,4.9～4.2 ka BP气候暖湿;5.6～5.5 ka BP,5.4～4.9 ka BP气候相对冷干。Ⅱ.4.2～1.3 ka BP,气候相对暖湿,与上一阶段相比夏季风有所减弱,但仍强于冬季风,其间也存在次一级波动,3.7～3.6 ka BP,3.4～1.3 ka BP,气候相对暖湿,4.2～3.7 ka BP,3.6～3.4 ka BP气候相对干冷。Ⅲ.1.3～0.65 ka BP以来,气候波动频繁,后期有向暖湿发展的趋势。总体而言,区域气候变化与全球具有较好的一致性。     

Semidiurnal Dynamics of Salinity, Nutrients and Suspended Particulate Matter in an Estuary in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, during a Spring Tide Cycle

The physical and chemical variability of the water column at subtidal station of an estuary in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, was studied over a 24-hour period during a spring tide (tidal range ca. 2 m) in May 1995. Surface water and several depths through the water column were monitored every one and two hours, respectively. At each occasion, water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen concentration were measured and water samples were collected for the determination of nutrients and suspended particulate matter (SPM). Disruptive changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of the water was produced by the tidal cycle and the mixing of water masses of different origin. These changes were highly significant both spatially and temporally, yet with varying effects on physical parameters, nutrients and the different components of SPM. Significant differences in nutrient concentrations were also observed when the data-set was divided into ebb and flood components, irrespective of the depth. Nitrate and nitrite rose to 1.8 times higher during the flood. Spatial differences of SPM were less marked than those of nutrients, only particulate organic carbon (POC) being significantly higher at the surface than in the intermediate and the lower layer. Both POC and pheopigment concentrations increased markedly through the water column, being highest shortly before the lower low tide. In contrast, suspended solid (SS) content increased sharply after the lower low tide (>40 mg l⁻¹) and this coincided with a marked decrease of the C/SS content (<20 mg g⁻¹). The lagtime between POC and SS tidal transport was caused by particle resuspension from the exposed intertidal sediments as the tidal level rose, and particle transport selection in relation to the tidal state. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

黄东海海区总悬浮物散射特性研究

我国黄东海水体散射特性非常复杂,这是造成该海域水色区划特点显著的原因之一。文中利用2003年4月黄东海试验数据(HD200304)对总悬浮物(TSM,Total Suspended Matter)的后向散射概率~bbs和单位散射系数bs*进行研究。基于对现场数据的统计分析,我们开发了总悬浮物后向散射概率模型,通过相对偏差分析表明,有近90%的样品反演相对偏差控制在±30%之内。对总悬浮物单位散射系数研究时,选择555 nm为参考波段,开发了不同波段间总悬浮物单位散射系数关系模型,通过相对偏差分析表明,有近94%的样品反演相对偏差在±10%之内,反演效果非常好。     

Longitudinal and depth variation of bacterioplankton productivity and related factors in a temperate estuary

Bacterioplankton productivity (BP) spatial variation was investigated in relation to potential resources, including primary productivity and dissolved organic matter, in the micro-tidal Neuse River–Pamlico Sound estuarine system, North Carolina, USA. Estuarine BP was predicted to correlate with the trophic gradient, decreasing along the salinity gradient in parallel with the decrease in organic matter and primary productivity. This prediction was tested over four years at spatial scales ranging from kilometers to meters along the riverine axis and with depth. The general pattern of BP across the salinity gradient was unimodal and matched the phytoplankton patterns in peak location and variability. Peak locations varied with discharge, especially in 2003 when above average discharge moved peaks downstream. Spatial coherence of BP with other variables was much less at short time scales. The effect of temperature, nutrients, and phytoplankton on BP varied by location, especially fresh versus brackish stations, although only temperature explained more than 20% of the BP variation. Depth variation of BP was as great as longitudinal variation and bottom samples were often higher than surface. BP was strongly correlated with particulate organic carbon at the pycnocline and bottom, highlighting the importance of particulate matter as a resource. Station-averaged BP and phytoplankton data corresponded well with two published meta-analyses, although the offset of the freshwater station suggested longitudinal differences in community composition or resource availability.     

The incidence of mid-infrared excesses in G and K giants

Using photometric data from the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and GLIMPSE catalogues, I investigate the incidence of mid-infrared (mid-IR) excesses  (∼10 μm)  in G and K stars of luminosity class III. In order to obtain a large sample size, stars are selected using a near-IR colour–magnitude diagram. Sources which are candidates for showing mid-IR excess are carefully examined and modelled to determined whether they are likely to be G/K giants. It is found that mid-IR excesses are present at a level of  (1.8 ± 0.4) × 10⁻³  . While the origin of these excesses remains uncertain, it is plausible that they arise from debris discs around these stars. I note that the measured incidence is consistent with a scenario in which dust lifetimes in debris discs are determined by Poynting–Robertson drag rather than by collisions.     

南海南部约30 ka来沉积有机质的生物输入特征

对位于南沙海区的1962柱状样中的有机质进行了热解色谱分析，估算了沉积有机质中水生生物输入和陆源生物输入的变化情况，得出了两种输入的高分辨率的堆积速率曲线，并依此探讨了有关的古海洋事件。发现Younger Dryas、Heinrich及Bond周期事件在本海区皆有表现，说明“西太平洋暖池”在末次冰期是不稳定的。     

浙江西沪港重金属铜的配位容量和形态分析

根据2000年6月10～14日在浙江省西沪港采集的海水样品,利用AA-800石墨炉原子吸收分光光度技术和阳极溶出伏安法测定样品中重金属铜的含量,获得铜在海水中受不同的有机配体控制.不同粒级的铜表观配位容量表明西沪港海水过孔径1.00μm微孔膜的(ACuCC)较高,为144.4nmol/dm3;过0.40和0.20μm滤膜的(ACuCC)分别为103.0和102nmol/dm3;铜的有机配体条件稳定常数的对数值在7.25～9.14之间.铜的总量为21.72nmol/dm3.铜全部为稳定溶解态,其中pH2酸溶态占95.0%,强有机结合态占5.0%.溶解态铜中有机结合态占过滤海水中总铜的61.6%.     

Constraining the cosmological baryon density with X-ray clusters

We study the properties of X-ray galaxy clusters in four cold dark matter models with different baryon fractions Ω_BM, ranging from 5 to 20 per cent. By using an original three-dimensional hydrodynamic code based on the piecewise parabolic method, we run simulations on a box with a size of 64  h ⁻¹ Mpc and we identify the clusters by selecting the peaks in the X-ray luminosity field. We analyse these mock catalogues by computing the mass function, the luminosity function, the temperature distribution and the luminosity–temperature relation. By comparing the predictions of the different models to a series of recent observational results, we find that only the models with low baryonic content agree with the data, while models with larger baryon fraction are well outside the 1σ error bars. In particular, the analysis of the luminosity functions, both bolometric and in the energy band [0.5–2] keV, requires Ω_BM ≲ 0.05 when we fix the values h  = 0.5 and n  = 0.8 for the Hubble parameter and the primordial spectral index, respectively. Moreover we find that, independently of the cosmological scenario, all the considered quantities have very little redshift evolution, particularly between z  = 0.5 and 0.