Paleolimnological evidence of the response of the central Canadian treeline zone to radiative forcing and hemispheric patterns of temperature change over the past 2000 years

Instrumental climate records from the central Canadian treeline zone display a pattern of variation similar to general Northern Hemisphere temperature trends. To examine whether this general correspondence extends back beyond the instrumental record, we obtained a sediment core from Lake S41, a small lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada at 63°43.11′ N, 109°19.07′ W. A radiocarbon-based chronology was developed for the core. The sediments were analyzed for organic-matter content by loss-on-ignition (LOI), biogenic-silica content (BSi), and chironomid community composition to reconstruct July air temperature and summer water temperature. The paleolimnological records were compared with records of atmospheric CO₂ concentration, solar variability, and hemispheric temperature variations over the past 2000 years. The results of the analyses suggest that widely-documented long-term variations in Northern Hemisphere temperature associated with radiative forcing, namely the cooling following the medieval period during the Little Ice Age (LIA), and twentieth century warming, are represented in the central Canadian treeline zone. There is also evidence of a brief episode of warming during the eighteenth century. As evidenced by LOI and BSi, the twentieth century warming is typified by increased lake productivity relative to the LIA. Depending upon the measure, the increased productivity of the twentieth century nearly equals or exceeds that of any other period in the past 2000 years. In contrast, the rate of chironomid head capsule accumulation decreased and remained low during the twentieth century. Although the chironomid-inferred temperature reconstructions indicate cooling during the LIA, they present no evidence of greatly increased temperatures during the twentieth century. Warming during the twentieth century might have enhanced lake stratification, and the response of the chironomid fauna to warming was attenuated by decreased oxygen and lower temperatures in the hypolimnion of the more stratification-prone lake.

Sedimentary facies,production rates and facies models for recent coralline algal gravels,Co. Galway,Ireland

Five sedimentary facies are described from SCUBA diving examination and sampling of Mannin Bay, Ireland. A Bank facies is built up by the unattached coralline algae Lithothamnium corallioides and Phymatolithon calcareum. This autochthonous facies occurs in shallow sheltered environments. In exposed areas a rippled Clean Algal Gravel facies is found composed of coralline and molluscan debris. In intermediate energy areas a Muddy Algal Gravel facies is found with small amounts of live corallines. Sheltered creeks have a Mud facies which is partly carbonate and partly terrigenous. The shallow water coralline algal sediments are overlapped by a Fine Sand facies of mixed biogenic composition. Each facies is characterized by particular phenotypic growth forms of the unattached corallines. Rates of organic calcium carbonate production are obtained which are found to be similar to rates from shallow tropical non-reef environments. The carbonate sediments of Mannin Bay are compared with similar sediments from Kilkerrin Bay. Ireland, from Brittany and from Falmouth Harbour. From these comparisons, facies models are proposed for these carbonate sediments. The major factor controlling facies distribution is coastal morphology. The present day shelf is considered to be too exposed to preserve complete sequences of the shallow water sediments.     

南极普里兹湾表层沉积物微量元素分布特征及其物源指示意义

利用电感耦合等离子体质谱仪测定了中国南极科考21~27航次期间获取的普里兹湾表层沉积物中Cu、Pb、Zn、Cd、Cr、Co、Al、Fe、Mn的含量,分析了普里兹湾微量元素的分布特征,结合沉积物粒度分布、生物硅含量,并利用富集系数和主成分分析的方法,探讨了微量元素的物源指示意义。研究结果表明:普里兹湾沉积物中的微量元素含量与南大洋其他海域具有很好的可比性。Cu、Zn、Cr、Co、Fe、Mn含量在陆坡深海区明显高于冰架边缘区和陆架区;Al、Pb含量在冰架边缘区较高;而Cd含量在陆架区相对较高。人类活动对普里兹湾沉积物中的微量元素没有明显的影响,南极大陆岩石风化产物和海洋生物源性沉降是其主要来源。冰架边缘区及陆架破折处P2-9站位的微量元素主要为岩源性输入。陆架区、陆坡深海区的微量元素Cu、Zn、Cr、Co、Fe、Mn明显受到生源性物质输入的影响。而普里兹湾沉积物中Cd则主要来源于硅藻的吸收利用及硅质软泥的富集。     

吉林露水河硅藻土在煅烧中的结构及性能的变化

应用X射线衍射、红外光谱分析、扫描电镜及化学分析方法对吉林露水河硅藻土在煅烧中的结构及性能的变化进行研究，结果表明：高温时蛋白石转变成方英石，激烈的相变温度为1160℃左右；当温度在1100℃～1200℃时，硅藻的微孔开始阻塞或消失，并出现开裂现象，硅藻的结构变得模糊，但硅藻仍保持其外形；室温～600℃，比表面积逐渐增加，600℃～1200℃比表面积则减少；室温～700℃时，pH值逐渐减小，700℃～1200℃时，pH值则逐渐增加。     

A Study of Pretreatment Methods for Terrigenous Grain-Size Analysis of Marine Sediments

The prerequisite for obtaining variations of terrigenous grain-size of marine sediments is how to effectively remove non-terrigenous matters and preserve terrigenous particles synchronously. Combined with observations under biological microscope and scanning electron microscope, a comparative study of biogenic debris removal effect and terrigenous grain-size analysis under different pretreatment condition was performed on core sediments, which were retrieved in the South China Sea during the MD190 cruise. Our new results showed that the main three biogenic particles, namely, organic matter, carbonate, and opal in marine sediments could be removed effectively by 30% H₂O₂ in a stirring water bath at 60 ℃ for 3 h, 0.5% HCl for 1 h, and 2 mol/L Na₂CO₃ in a stirring water bath at 85 ℃ for 5 h, in turn. Such pretreatments achieved the goals of biogenic debris removal efficiency and relatively well-preserved terrigenous particles. Prior to selecting an appropriate pretreatment method, this study suggested that the actual effects of biogenic detritus on grain-size results of diverse marine sediment samples should be taken into account. If the laboratory data are ensured to be closer to the natural grain-size distribution of terrigenous particles, the removals of all biogenic debris are not always needed, and the less pretreatment processes the better. For example, opal particles have little effect on terrigenous grain-size distribution when their percentage is lower than 2%. Thus, there is no use to remove them from marine sediments before laboratory grain-size analysis of terrigenous particles. Additionally, ultrasonic is not suggested through the whole process of terrigenous grain-size analysis because the strong energy of ultrasonic can lead to the fragmentation of some fragile terrigenous particles.     

CaCO3生物矿化的研究进展——有机质的控制作用

生物CaCO₃是自然界分布最广泛的一类生物矿物,其组成除了无机相的CaCO₃外,还含有少量的有机质,包括水可溶(SM)和水不可溶有机质(IM),SM富含阴离子基团,是控制CaCO₃结晶的重要因素之一。通过有机—无机界面分子识别,有机质选择性地与CaCO₃晶体特定方向的面网相互作用,从而对CaCO₃的生长、形貌、多型及结晶学定向等产生明显的控制作用。有机—无机界面的分子识别机制包括静电、晶格几何匹配和立体化学互补等。仿生矿化的研究为进一步深入了解生物矿化的机理及制造高级复合材料提供了新的方法。     

Understanding the export of biogenic particles in oceanic waters: Is there consensus?

We examine progress towards a global view of oceanic export of particulate organic carbon (POC) and other nutrient elements (P, N, Si) from the surface (upper 100 m), through the subsurface, to the deep sea (>1000 m), focusing on syntheses published since 1999 and on the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study. Food-web structure is important, and surface and subsurface processes contribute similarly to determine the fraction of net primary production (NPP) reaching the deep sea. NPP by large cells generally favours high surface export of POC. Preferential remineralization of P and N (versus C) with depth is common, as is regional variation in subsurface POC flux attenuation.The role of mineral fluxes is complex. Annual mean fluxes of POC and minerals are correlated in global deep sediment trap records, but causality and the relative importance of different minerals depends on the assumptions made. Time-series observations at single sites can oppose the geographic trends, and their large seasonal variability in the contribution of POC to total flux is at odds with mechanistic models for POC transport by minerals. Despite generally positive correlations between biogenic carbonate and POC fluxes, the overall role of carbonate export is to decrease the transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean. Both autotrophs and heterotrophs produce minerals, and progress in separating these contributions is required for the deconvolution of mineral ballast and food-web effects.Many recent models suggest global surface POC export of ∼10 GTC/yr, despite widely varying biological complexity. This limits the usefulness of their prediction of ecosystem and carbon cycle responses to global change. Progress requires better observations for model validation, and more efforts to relate the models to the observed complexity, rather than to overly simplified global syntheses. We advocate more time-series stations targeting under-studied biogeochemical regions, development of automated in situ tools for study of the subsurface ocean, and increased emphasis on combining ecological and biogeochemical methods.     

Opal and chalcedony speleothems on quartz sandstones in the Sydney region,southeastern Australia

Speleothems of silica are far rarer than those of calcite but occur in a range of types including stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones. This study has found a wider range and far greater number of silica speleothems on the quartz sandstones of the Sydney region than the small number of previous accounts had suggested. Speleothems on the Sydney region sandstones are composed of multiple layers of amorphous opal‐A and cryptocrystalline chalcedony. Silica slowly dissolved from detrital and diagenetic quartz and kaolinite clays of the host arenites is redeposited as opal‐A at the sandstone surface when groundwater evaporates. This amorphous silica converts over time by Ostwald‐type paragenesis to the cryptocrystalline form, but the expected intermediate opal‐CT phase has not been detected. The crystallisation of chalcedony at earth‐surface temperatures is generally believed to take an extremely long time and its presence makes these speleothems very significant, especially as it is reported in only a small number of silica speleothems elsewhere. Furthermore, a similar paragenetic silica‐‘ripening’ mechanism may also be involved in the low‐temperature earth‐surface formation of other crystalline silica deposits such as silcrete duricrusts and pedogenic quartz. Additional closely coupled laboratory and field investigations into the processes that control silica paragenesis under earth‐surface conditions are sorely needed.     

Silica‐rich layering at Blanche Point,South Australia

The chemistry and mineralogy of much of the Late Eocene Blanche Point Formation of South Australia show that biogenic and volcanogenic products were the only significant contributor to the sedimentary record. Intermittent volcanic activity followed by dissolution of the resultant silicic ash and small scale migration of silicon with reprecipitation as the oxide, provides the simplest and most likely explanation for the repetitive nature of the silicification. Seemingly, this was controlled by local silica concentrations which in turn were apparently controlled by the biota. Changes in circulation patterns and/or water depth may have initiated the environmental variations recorded in the formation.     

长江口几种优势桡足类对微型浮游动物的摄食研究

利用现场海水培养实验,结合浮游动物网样数据,研究长江口邻近海域几种优势桡足类(中华哲水蚤、背针胸刺水蚤、太平洋纺锤水蚤和精致真刺水蚤)对微型浮游动物的摄食影响。结果表明,精致真刺水蚤虽然属于肉食性种类,但几乎不摄食微型浮游动物;其余三种杂食性桡足类中华哲水蚤、背针胸刺水蚤和太平洋纺锤水蚤对微型浮游动物(纤毛虫+异养甲藻)的摄食率分别为0.66、0.09和0.59μg C/(ind·d),分别占其日总摄食量的29%、24%和37%。其中,异养甲藻在初始生物量和对桡足类饵料贡献上分别占整个微型浮游动物的30%和28%,是微型浮游动物中一个重要的组成类群。中华哲水蚤对微型浮游动物的摄食率与初始食物浓度有显著的正相关关系,并且对体长20μm纤毛虫的清滤率要明显高于对体长20μm的纤毛虫(P0.01)的清滤率,表明其偏好摄食较大个体的食物。通过Chesson选择性指数显示,尽管微型浮游动物在生物量上远小于浮游植物,但桡足类能优先选择摄食微型浮游动物;进一步结合网采浮游动物数据,获得各站三种优势桡足类丰度平均占桡足类总丰度的77%,但它们对微型浮游动物现存生物量的摄食压力仅为0.8%,表明桡足类对微型浮游动物群落的下行控制作用并不明显,仍有大部分微型浮游动物生物量未通过摄食途径进入到桡足类群落中。