Potential for irradiation of methane to form complex organic molecules in impact craters: Implications for Mars, Titan and Europa

The release of methane from crater sites following meteorite impact is a possible consequence of the thermal alteration of organic matter, or tapping of reservoired gas of biogenic or abiogenic origin. At least the latter is feasible on Mars. Methane and higher hydrocarbons are susceptible to polymerization and precipitation by radioactive minerals. Where such minerals are present in impact target rocks, the craters can be a preferred site for carbon concentration, and the formation of complex organic molecules. On icy bodies, such as Titan and Europa, methane released by impact could be a fuel for prebiotic chemistry involving other forms of irradiation.     

Paleoenvironmental records of water level and climatic changes from the middle to late Holocene at a Lake Erie coastal wetland, Ontario, Canada

Pollen and diatom assemblages, and peat stratigraphies, from a coastal wetland on the northern shore of Lake Erie were used to analyze water level and climatic changes since the middle Holocene and their effects on wetland plant communities. Peat deposition began 4700 cal yr B.P. during the Nipissing II transgression, which was driven by isostatic rebound. At that time, a diatom-rich wild rice marsh existed at the site. Water level dropped at the end of the Nipissing rise at least 2 m within 200 yr, leading to the development of shallower-water plant communities and an environment too dry for most diatoms to persist. The sharp decline in water level was probably driven primarily by outlet incision, but climate likely played some role. The paleoecological records provide evidence for post-Nipissing century-scale transgressions occurring around 2300, 1160, 700 and 450 cal yr B.P. The chronology for these transgressions correlates with other studies from the region and implies climatic forcing. Peat inception in shallow sloughs across part of the study area around 700 cal yr B.P. coincides with the Little Ice Age. These records, considered alongside others from the region, suggest that the Little Ice Age may have resulted in a wetter climate across the eastern Great Lakes region.     

Tracking recorded fires using charcoal morphology from the sedimentary sequence of Prosser Lake, British Columbia (Canada)

Quantitative analyses of variations in morphological features of charcoal were undertaken in a ²¹⁰Pb-dated sediment core from Prosser Lake (British Columbia, Canada). Seven morphological types of charcoal were defined by particle shape, major-minor axis ratio, apparent porosity and progradation to unburned material. The distribution of morphotypes and total charcoal abundances were assessed as a proxy for fire events recorded between 1919 and 2000 and to subsequent mechanisms of transportation-sedimentation to lake sediments. Charcoal morphotypes showed distinct relationships to recorded area burned by fires. Fragile charcoal fragments with highly irregular porosity (termed Type M) displayed the strongest correlation to burned area (r² = 0.51; P = 0.0001) and did not produce any false-positive signal for fires recorded within a radius of 20 km around the lake. We infer that high porosity and low density Type M fragments are aerially transported and directly deposited on the lake, and that the fragility of Type M charcoal prevents significant quantities from being secondarily transported and incorporated into the sedimentary record. We propose that charcoal morphology is an important but underutilized technique that can yield important insights into fire type, proximity and transportation-sedimentation processes.     

Stratigraphic evidence for multiple drainings of glacial Lake Missoula along the Clark Fork River, Montana, USA

Glacial Lake Missoula, a source of Channeled Scabland flood waters, inundated valleys of northwest Montana to altitudes of ∼ 1265 m and to depths of  >600 m, as evidenced by shorelines and silty lacustrine deposits. This study describes previously unrecognized catastrophic lake-drainage deposits that lie stratigraphically beneath the glacial-lake silts. The unconsolidated gravelly flood alluvium contains imbricated boulder-sized clasts, cross-stratified gravel with slip-face heights of 2-> 35 m, and 70- to 100-m-high gravel bars which all indicate a high-energy, high-volume alluvial environment. Gravel bars and high scablands were formed by catastrophic draining of one or possibly more early, high lake stands (1200-1265 m). Most glacial-lake silt, such as the Ninemile section, was deposited stratigraphically above the earlier deposits, represents a lower lake stand(s) (1050-1150 m), and was not deposited in lake(s) responsible for the highest discharge events. The glaciolacustrine silt-covered benches are incised by relict networks of valleys formed during the drainage of the last glacial lake. Significant erosion associated with the last lake draining was confined to the inner Clark Fork River canyon.     

梁子湖水体P的季节变化与沉积物P释放初步研究

采用分级测定的方法对梁子湖沉积物中无机磷酸盐进行了分析,测定了梁子湖水体P的季节变化,并以室内模拟的方法研究梁子湖沉积物在pH值和温度控制下P的释放特征。研究表明,梁子湖水体P的含量呈明显的季节变化,冬季高,夏季低。沉积物无机磷(P i)中以钙磷(Ca—P)为主(55%~61%),铁磷(Fe—P)次之(28%~33%),铝磷(A l—P)最少(3%~5%)。在梁子湖的入水口和出水口,由于沉积环境影响到P的形态,P的释放明显较湖心高。在试验初期,由于扰动的影响,使得P的释放在第1天比第2天和第3天高,其后P的释放量则迅速增加。温度对P释放影响明显,其具体表现为,30℃时P释放达到峰值的时间比4℃时提前4 d,而且前者峰值比后者高出9倍。pH值对沉积物P释放同样有明显的影响,与正常状态下的湖水条件(pH值为8.5)相比,偏酸(pH值为5.5)和偏碱(pH值为11.5)条件下,P的释放量增加。     

Total gaseous mercury emissions from mercury-enriched soil in Guizhou, China

Guizhou is located in the Circum-Pacific Global Mercuriferous Belt, and mercury concentrations in soil in this area are enriched. In-situ total gaseous mercury （TGM） exchange fluxes between air and soil surface were intensively measured at four sampling sites in Guiyang from 21 May to 16 June, 2003, and five sites in the Lanmuchang mercury mining area in December 2002 and May 2003, respectively. The in-situ Hg flux measurement was conducted with a dynamic flux chamber （DFC） of quartz. Overall, net emissions were obtained from all sampling sites. Soil mercury concentration and solar radiation have been proved to be the two most important parameters to control mercury emissions from soil. Meanwhile, rain events can enhance mercury emission rate significantly.     

Application of back-propagation networks in debris flow prediction

Debris flows have caused serious loss of human lives and a lot of damage to properties in Taiwan over the past decades. Moreover, debris flows have brought massive mud causing water pollution in reservoirs and resulted in water shortage for daily life locally and affected agricultural irrigation and industrial usages seriously. A number of methods for prediction of debris flows have been studied. However, the successful prediction ratio of debris flows cannot always maintain a stable and reliable level. The objective of this study is to present a stable and reliable analytical model for occurrence predictions of debris flows. This study proposes an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) model that was constructed by seven significant factors using back-propagation (BP) algorithm. These seven factors include (1) length of creek, (2) average slope, (3) effective watershed area, (4) shape coefficient, (5) median size of soil grain, (6) effective cumulative rainfall, and (7) effective rainfall intensity. A total of 178 potential cases of debris flows collected in eastern Taiwan were fed into the ANN model for training and testing. The average ratio of successful prediction reaching 93.82% demonstrates that the presented ANN model with seven significant factors can provide a stable and reliable result for the prediction of debris flows in hazard mitigation and guarding systems.     

Study of stable isotopes for highly deformed aquifers in the Hsinchu-Miaoli area, Taiwan

This study was based on the analysis of isotopic compositions of hydrogen and oxygen in samples from precipitation, groundwater and stream water. In addition, parts of groundwater samples were dated by carbon-14 and tritium. These data are integrated to provide other views of the hydrologic cycle in the Hsinchu-Miaoli groundwater district. The groundwater district is principally composed of Pleistocene and Holocene aquifers. The Pleistocene aquifers are highly deformed by folding and faults into small sub-districts with areas of only tens of square kilometers. These aquifers are exclusively recharged by local precipitation. The Holocene aquifers cover narrow creek valleys, only tens of meters in thickness. The local meteoric water line (LMWL), constructed from rainfall samples in the Hsinchu Science Park, is described by the equation δD=8.02δ¹⁸O+10.16, which agrees with the global meteoric water line. In addition, the precipitation isotopic compositions can be categorized into two distinct end members: typhoon type and monsoon type. The groundwater isotopic compositions are perfectly located on an LMWL and can be considered a mixture of precipitations. Based on the mass balance of isotopic compositions of oxygen and hydrogen, infiltration is more active in the rainy season with depleted isotopic compositions. The amount of infiltration during May–September is roughly estimated to comprise at least 55% of the whole year’s recharge. The isotopic compositions of stream water are expressed by a regression equation: δD=7.61δ¹⁸O+9.62, which is similar to the LMWL. Although precipitation isotopic compositions are depleted during summer time, the isotopic compositions contrarily show an enriched trend in the upstream area. This is explained by the opposite altitude effect on isotopic compositions for typhoon-related precipitations.     

Impact of Flood Disasters on Taiwan in the Last Quarter Century

The increasing natural disasters, especially floods during the last quarter century, are raising the economic losses in Taiwan. The most severe hazard in Taiwan is flooding induced by typhoons and storms in summer and autumn. By comparing the rivers around the world, the ones in Taiwan have the steepest slopes, the largest discharge per unit drainage area, and the shortest time of concentrations. Rapid urbanization without proper land uses managements usually worsen the flood problems. Consequently, flood hazards mitigation has become the most essential task for Taiwan to deal with. Although the government keeps improving flood defense structures, the flood damage grows continuously. In this article, possible flood mitigation strategies are identified for coping with complex environmental and social decisions with flood risk involved.