南昆仑造山带西段构造样式及构造序列

南昆仑造山带西段发育逆冲推覆构造、平行走滑构造、地垒一地堑构造和阿尔卑斯式褶皱、侏罗山式褶皱,前两类构造尚有韧性剪切带伴生;其构造组合在平面上具有内带一外带一前陆带明显的分带性,且形成了逆冲推覆构造一平行走滑构造一地垒一地堑构造的构造序列。     

Summer season variability of the north residual cap of Mars as observed by the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS-TES)

Previous observations have noted the change in albedo in a number of North Pole bright outliers and in the distribution of bright ice deposits between Mariner 9, Viking, and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data sets. Changes over the summer season as well as between regions at the same season (L_s) in different years have been observed. We used the bolometric albedo and brightness temperature channels of the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on the MGS spacecraft to monitor north polar residual ice cap variations between Mars years and within the summer season for three northern Martian summers between July 1999 and April 2003. Large-scale brightness variations are observed in four general areas: (1) the patchy outlying frost deposits from 90 to 270°E, 75 to 80°N; (2) the large “tail” below the Chasma Boreale and its associated plateau from 315 to 45°E, 80 to 85°N, that we call the “Boreale Tongue” and in Hyperboreae Undae; (3) the troughed terrain in the region from 0 to 120°E longitude (the lower right on a polar stereographic projection) we have called “Shackleton's Grooves” and (4) the unit mapped as residual ice in Olympia Planitia. We also note two areas which seem to persist as cool and bright throughout the summer and between Mars years. One is at the “source” of Chasma Boreale (∼15°E, 85°N) dubbed “McMurdo”, and the “Cool and Bright Anomaly (CABA)” noted by Kieffer and Titus 2001. TES Mapping of Mars’ north seasonal cap. Icarus 154, 162-180] at ∼330°E, 87°N called here “Vostok”. Overall defrosting occurs early in the summer as the temperatures rise and then after the peak temperatures are reached (L_s∼110) higher elevations and outlier bright deposits cold trap and re-accumulate new frost. Persistent bright areas are associated with either higher elevations or higher background albedos suggesting complex feedback mechanisms including cold-trapping of frost due to albedo and elevation effects, as well as influence of mesoscale atmospheric dynamics.     

Study of a thermal drill head for the exploration of subsurface planetary ice layers

The recently discovered water vapor plumes on Saturn's moon Enceladus, the polar caps of planet Mars and the possible ice volcanism on the Jovian satellites call for suitable techniques to explore deep ice layers of the solar system bodies. This paper presents a novel approach to deliver scientific probes into deeper layers of planetary ice. Several existing locomotion concepts and techniques for such probes are presented. After studying the mathematical framework of the melting locomotion process, melting tests with different head forms were done to evaluate the influence of the head's geometry on the melting process. This work led to a novel concept of a thermal drill head, using heat and mechanical drill in combination to penetrate the ice. We compare the performance of such a hybrid concept versus the melting penetration alone by a mathematical model and tests in ice with a prototype of the melting drill head.     

Climate, weather, and north polar observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Color Imager

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter observes Mars from a nearly circular, polar orbit. From this vantage point, the Mars Color Imager extends the ∼5 Mars years record of Mars Global Surveyor global, visible-wavelength multi-color observations of meteorological events and adds measurements at three additional visible and two ultraviolet wavelengths. Observations of the global distribution of ozone (which anti-correlates with water vapor) and water ice and dust clouds allow tracking of atmospheric circulation. Regional and local observations emphasize smaller scale atmospheric dynamics, especially those related to dust lifting and subsequent motion. Polar observations detail variations related to the polar heat budget, including changes in polar frosts and ices, and storms generated at high thermal contrast boundaries.     

Hydrogen content of sand dunes within Olympia Undae

Neutron currents measured using the Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer, seasonally varying temperatures measured using the Thermal Emission Spectrometer, and visible images measured using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) are studied to determine the water content and stratigraphy of Olympia Undae. Both the neutron and thermal infrared data are best represented by a two-layered model having a water-ice equivalent hydrogen content of 30±5% in a lower semi-infinite layer, buried beneath a relatively desiccated upper layer that is 9±6 g/cm² thick (about 6 cm depth at a density of 1.5 g/cm³). A model that is consistent with all three data sets is that the dunes contain a top layer that is relatively mobile, which overlays a niveo-aeolian lower layer. The geomorphology shown by the HiRISE images suggests that the bottom layer may be cemented in place and therefore relatively immobile.     

PFS/MEX observations of the condensing CO2 south polar cap of Mars

The condensing CO₂ south polar cap of Mars and the mechanisms of the CO₂ ice accumulation have been studied through the analysis of spectra acquired by the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) during the first two years of ESA's Mars Express (MEX) mission. This dataset spans more than half a martian year, from Ls∼330° to Ls∼194°, and includes the southern fall season which is found to be extremely important for the study of the residual south polar cap asymmetry. The cap expands symmetrically and with constant speed during the fall season. The maximum extension occurs sometime in the 80°-90° Ls range, when the cap edges are as low as −40° latitude. Inside Hellas and Argyre basins, frost can be stable at lower latitudes due to the higher pressure values, causing the seasonal cap to be asymmetric. Within the seasonal range considered in this paper, the cap edge recession rate is approximately half the rate at which the cap edge expanded. The longitudinal asymmetries reduce during the cap retreat, and disappear around Ls∼145°. Two different mechanisms are responsible for CO₂ ice accumulation during the fall season, especially in the 50°-70° Ls range. Here, CO₂ condensation in the atmosphere, and thus precipitation, is allowed exclusively in the western hemisphere, and particularly in the longitudinal corridor of the perennial cap. In the eastern hemisphere, the cap consists mainly of CO₂ frost deposits, as a consequence of direct vapor deposition. The differences in the nature of the surface ice deposits are the main cause for the residual south polar cap asymmetry. Results from selected PFS orbits have also been compared with the results provided by the martian general circulation model (GCM) of the Laboratoire de Météorologie dynamique (LMD) in Paris, with the aim of putting the observations in the context of the global circulation. This first attempt of cross-validation between PFS measurements and the LMD GCM on the one hand confirms the interpretation of the observations, and on the other hand shows that the climate modeling during the southern polar night on Mars is extremely sensitive to the dynamical forcing.     

南华北地区的构造演化与含油气性

本文对南华北盆地进行了深入细致的研究后认为其经历了12个演化阶段:变质结晶基底的形成(Ar-Pt1)、拗拉槽-裂谷盆地阶段(长城纪Ch)、克拉通—裂谷盆地阶段(蓟县纪Jx-新元古代青白口纪Qb)、克拉通-被动大陆边缘盆地阶段(Z-O2)、整体隆升-弧后盆地阶段(O3-D2)、克拉通-(弧后)前陆盆地阶段(D3-T1)、印支运动阶段(T2-T3)、类前陆盆地阶段(T3-J2)、压扭背景下的挤压冲断-走滑拉分盆地阶段(J3-K11)、冲断抬升剥蚀阶段(K21-K2)、裂陷盆地阶段(E)及坳陷盆地阶段(N-Q)。南华北盆地石炭-二叠系煤系地层是南华北盆地的主要烃源岩。石炭-二叠系煤系地层经历了沉积→埋深→抬升剥蚀改造→再埋深的过程,在再次埋深过程中具备二次生烃的条件。     

南秦岭观花坪铜银矿床地质特征及找矿标志

观花坪铜银矿床位处南秦岭成矿带中段,矿床产于下寒武-中奥陶统石瓮子组碳酸盐岩建造与中泥盆统大枫沟组碎屑岩建造"不整合接触界面"附近,区域上具明显的层控特征;但在矿区范围内,铜银矿体则严格受断裂破碎带控制,矿体均赋存于叠加在不整合面的断裂破碎带中,明显具后生成矿作用的特点。笔者通过对矿床地质特征、矿体地质特征和矿石特征的研究,结合区域地质背景的分析认为,铜银矿床为多期次多成矿阶段叠加形成的复杂矿床,特别是南秦岭华力西期与印支期—燕山期的构造-岩浆热事件与本区铜银矿床的形成关系密切。     

Patterns in the sand: A pleistocene hominin signature along the South African coastline?

The Cape south coast of South Africa boasts one of the richest Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeological records in the world. Here coastal caves and rock shelters contain well-documented archives of early humans, including early evidence of human adornment and jewelry, rock engraving and rock paSabstextinting. It has been suggested that palaeoenvironmental conditions in the area were critical to the survival of the human species. Humans travelled over dune surfaces, interdune areas and beaches during this period. These are now preserved as palaeosurfaces in aeolianites and cemented foreshore deposits, through which the ancient landscapes can be interpreted. Such contemporary sand surfaces may have formed potential canvases on which foraging behaviour or the creation of patterns or symbols could have been recorded. We question whether MSA humans left evidence of their presence other than their footprints when moving over these surfaces, and if so, whether such evidence can be discerned and interpreted today, as a hominin signature preserved in exposures of aeolianite and cemented foreshore deposits. We discuss other agents that could have caused similar patterns, and we consider the merits of eight sites that we have identified on the Cape south coast. In combination they encapsulate the complexity, challenges and potential of such study. We conclude that evidence at some of these sites suggests an anthropic origin, potentially constituting a previously undocumented form of MSA hominin expression and activity.     

An Extreme Monsoonal Heavy Rainfall Event over Inland South China in June 2023: A Synoptic Causes Analysis

An extreme monsoonal heavy rainfall event lasted for nine days and recurred in the interior of northern south China from June 13 to 21, 2022. Using regional meteorological stations and ERA5 reanalysis data, the causes of this extreme monsoonal rainfall event in south China were analyzed and diagnosed. The results are shown as follows. A dominant South Asian high tended to be stable near the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, providing favorable upper-level dispersion conditions for the occurrence of heavy rainfall in south China. A western Pacific subtropical high dominated the eastern part of the South China Sea, favoring stronger and more northward transport of water vapor to the northern part of south China at lower latitudes than normal. The continuous heavy precipitation event can be divided into two stages. The first stage (June 13-15) was the frontal heavy rainfall caused by cold air (brought by an East Asian trough) from the mid-latitudes that converged with a monsoonal airflow. The heavy rains occurred mostly in the area near a shear in front of the center of a synoptic-system-related low-level jet (SLLJ), and the jet stream and precipitation were strongest in the daytime. The second stage (June 16-21) was the warm-sector heavy rainfall caused by a South China Sea monsoonal low-level jet penetrating inland. The heavy rainfall occurred on the windward slope of the Nanling Mountains and in the northern part of a boundary layer jet (BLJ). The BLJ experienced five nighttime enhancements, corresponding well with the enhancement of the rainfall center, showing significant nighttime heavy rainfall characteristics. Finally, a conceptual diagram of inland-type warm-sector heavy rainfall in south China is summarized.