Seasonal variation of atmospheric dimethylsulfide at Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean

Daily measurements of atmospheric concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) were carried out for two years in a marine site at remote area: the Amsterdam Island (37°50S–77°31E) located in the southern Indian Ocean. DMS concentrations were also measured in seawater. A seasonal variation is observed for both DMS in the atmosphere and in the sea-surface. The monthly averages of DMS concentrations in the surface coastal seawater and in the atmosphere ranged, respectively, from 0.3 to 2.0 nmol l^-1 and from 1.4 to 11.3 nmol m^-3 (34 to 274 pptv), with the highest values in summer. The monthly variation of sea-to-air flux of DMS from the southern Indian Ocean ranges from 0.7 to 4.4 mol m^-2 d^-1. A factor of 2.3 is observed between summer and winter with mean DMS fluxes of 3.0 and 1.3 mol m^-2 d^-1, respectively.     

The acid neutralizing capacity （ANC） of South Africa＇s freshwater ecosystems

Acidification is considered the most important one of the primary chemical stress factors that impact on freshwater ecosystems. In unpolluted freshwater systems, the primary controls on the degree of acidification are factors such as the geological substrate of the catchment area, the presence of organic acids secreted by vegetation in the river system, and equilibrium exchange of carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. Anthropogenic factors that can impact on the degree of acidification of freshwater systems include agricultural, mining and industrial activities, either through direct runoff into river systems or through deposition of atmospheric pollutants from these sources. The capacity factors alkalinity and acidity, which represent the acid- and base-neutralizing capacity （ANC and BCN） of an aqueous system, have been used as more reliable measures of the acidic character of freshwater systems than pH. Unlike pH, ANC and BNC are not affected by parameters such as temperature and pressure. Therefore, ANC has been employed as a predictor of biological status in critical load assessments. Freshwater systems with ANC＇s eq/L isμeq/L are considered sensitive to acidification, ANC=0 μbelow 150 commonly used as the predictor for fish species such as trout in lakes, and an eq/L as more realistic for streams. Acid-neutralizing capacity μANC value of 40 （ANC） can be determined by titration with a strong acid to a preselected equivalence point. Alternatively, it can be calculated as the difference between base cations （[BC]） and strong acid anions （[SAA]）： ANC=[BC]- [SAA]=[Ca^2＋]＋[Mg^2＋]＋[Na^＋]＋[K^＋]-[SO4^2-]-[NO3^-]-[Cl^-] To date, there has been no attempt to establish the ANC of South Africa＇s freshwater ecosystems or variability therein, despite the fact that long-term water quality monitoring data exist for all the parameters needed to calculate it according to the above equations. As a result, the relationship between the acid neutralizing capacity of freshwater ecosystems in South Africa and biodiversity factors, such as fish status, is unknown. Results of the first comprehensive （country-wide scale） evaluation of the acid neutralizing capacity of river systems in South Africa will be presented. Long-term monitoring data obtained from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry （DWAF） from most of South Africa＇s river systems were used to establish geographic and temporal variabilities in ANC. The results show that the Berg and Breede River systems are most susceptible to acidification, and that geological substrate appears to explain most of the geographic variabilities observed.     

Stratigraphy and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of a Quaternary sequence along the Dong Nai River, southern Vietnam

The pre-Holocene Cenozoic sequence outcrops in the terrestrial part of the eastern margin of the Mekong Basin. However, the stratigraphy of the sequence is still unclear. Its detailed stratigraphy and chronology were therefore studied along the Dong Nai River, southern Vietnam, and the lithofacies and the relations among the formations were investigated from the outcrops. The ages of the deposits were determined by using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating.The Ba Mieu Formation was deposited about 176±52 ka during marine isotope stage (MIS) 7–6. The Thu Duc Formation was deposited about 97±27 ka during MIS 5. Both the Ba Mieu and Thu Duc formations are composed of fluvial and tidally influenced coastal deposits. The newly proposed Nhon Trach Formation was originally an eolian (blanket) deposit, but it has been partly reworked by fluvial processes. The Nhon Trach Formation was deposited about 10.9±4.7 ka, in the last part of the Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene. The OSL ages for the Ba Mieu, Thu Duc, and Nhon Trach formations are younger than the ages previously assigned to these formations.     

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.     

The sequence of sediment behaviour during wave-induced liquefaction

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of the complete sequence of sediment behaviour beneath progressive waves. The sediment was silty with d ₅₀ = 0.060 mm. Two kinds of measurements were carried out: pore-water pressure measurements (across the sediment depth), and water-surface elevation measurements. The process of liquefaction/compaction was videotaped from the side simultaneously with the pressure and water-surface elevation measurements. The video records were then analysed to measure: (i) the time development of the mudline, (ii) the time development of liquefaction and compaction fronts in the sediment and (iii) the characteristics of the orbital motion of the liquefied sediment including the motion of the interface between the water body and the sediment. The ranges of the various quantities in the tests were: wave height, H  = 9–17 cm, wave period, T  = 1.6 sec, water depth = 42 cm, and the Shields parameter = 0.34–0.59. The experiments reveal that, with the introduction of waves, excess pore pressure builds up, which is followed by liquefaction during which internal waves are experienced at the interface of the water body and the liquefied sediment, the sequence of processes known from a previous investigation. This sequence of processes is followed by dissipation of the accumulated excess pore pressure and compaction of the sediment which is followed by the formation of bed ripples. The present results regarding the dissipation and compaction appear to be in agreement with recent centrifuge wave-tank experiments. As for the final stage of the sequence of processes (formation of ripples), the ripple steepness (normalized with the angle of repose) for sediment with liquefaction history is found to be the same as that in sediment with no liquefaction history.     

基于国际经验的西部经济发展与生态建设互动途径研究

本文在分析巴西、印度等发展中国家和美国、德国等发达国家经济发展和生态环境建设经验的基础上,针对我国西部农村贫困和产业落后等影响经济、生态的制约因素,提出了西部经济发展与生态建设互动的一些有效途径,以期对最终实现西部经济发展与生态建设的双赢有所启示。     

Soil quality changes in land degradation as indicated by soil chemical, biochemical and microbiological properties in a karst area of southwest Guizhou, China

Not only the nutritional status and biological activity but also the soil ecological functioning or soil health has been impacted profoundly by land degradation in the karst area of southwest China where the karst ecosystems are generally considered as extremely vulnerable to land degradation under intensified land-use changes. The objectives of this study are to elucidate the changes in overall soil quality by a holistic approach of soil nutritional, biological activity, and soil health indicators in the karst area as impacted by intense cultivation and vegetation degradation. Topsoil samples were collected on selected eco-tesserae in a sequence of land degradation in a karst area of southwest Guizhou in 2004. The soil nutrient pools of organic carbon (C_org), extractable extracellular carbon (C_ext), total soil nitrogen (N_t), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (N_ah), total phosphorus (P_t), available phosphorus (P_a) were analyzed by wet soil chemistry. The soil biological properties were studied by means of measurements of microbial biomass carbon (both by fumigation–extraction, FE-C_mic, and by calculation from substrate-incubation respiration, SIR-C_mic) of respiration [respiration without addition of substrates, basal respiration (BR), and potential respiration (PR) with substrate-incubation] and of soil enzyme activities (invertase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase). Soil health status was assessed by simple indices of C_mic/C_org and BR/C_mic in conjunction with bacterial community structures determined by polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. While the nutritional pool parameters, such as C_org and C_ext, described basically the changes in soil life-supporting capacity with cultivation interference and vegetation declined, those parameters of biological activity such as FE-C_mic, SIR, and SIR-C_mic as well as bacterial community structures measured by molecular method evidenced well the changes in soil functioning for ecosystem health with the land degradation.     

山西沁水盆地煤层气成藏的微观动力能条件研究

煤层气成藏的微观动力能条件主要包括煤储层的孔隙—裂隙系统、煤储层的生气作用和储气作用两个方面。以山西沁水盆地为例,深入剖析了煤储层的孔隙—裂隙系统及其发育历程、煤储层的生气作用与能量聚散,阐明了煤层气成藏的微观动力能对成藏效应的控制作用。结果表明:构造作用对储层渗透率具有明显的控制作用,成烃增压致使能量聚集,成为盖层突破作用的主要驱动力,而能量放散则主要是通过煤储层孔隙—裂隙系统的产生、发展。根据上述研究成果,沁水盆地煤层气成藏的地质区划结果为:盆地南部的有利区带为阳城和晋城的北部地区,包括潘庄、樊庄、郑庄等地区;盆地中部的有利区带为安泽—沁源地区,位于盆地西斜坡的中南部;盆地北部的可能有利区带为寿阳东南部地区,位于榆次东北部和阳泉西南部之间。     

与全球变化有关的几个北极海洋地质问题

极地区域是全球变化研究的重点区域 ,在北极地区与全球变化有关的地质问题主要是北极地区的海陆变化对全球变化的影响 ,以及全球变化在地层中的记录。这涉及到北极形态变化及与其它大洋沟通的水道开闭情况 ,地形起伏对大气、大洋环流的影响 ,地壳升降与海平面变化对河流流量和海岸稳定性的影响 ,气体水合物及有机碳等变化对全球碳循环的影响 ,以及这些影响与气候变化信息在极地沉积物中的记录。文章在对上述影响及海洋地质研究状况进行探讨后 ,又简要介绍了中国的首次北极考察海洋地质研究状况     

四阶△－∑过抽样电路原理及其在微弱地学信号检测中的应用

传统的测量电路无法解决诸如海底大地电磁场这样微弱地学信号的检测问题。近几年诞生了一种称之为△-∑的电路理论以及相应的硬件芯片，给微伏级的弱信号检测开辟一条新的技术路径。文章介绍与地学探测有关的一种△-∑电路类型，该类型以低频段微弱信号为检测对象。采用系统理论和电路分析方法对△-∑原理作了较深入的讨论，阐明这种电路技术对提高微弱信号观测的分辨率是有效的。结合海底大地电磁探测中的信号采集问题，介绍了在仪器中把多路的被测模拟量变为数字量的技术过程。经对实际采集的海底信息的频谱曲线进行分析，证实所采用的△-∑技术以及多路信号采集的电路方案是合理的。