Tar ball frequency data and analytical results from a long-term beach monitoring program

Following the spill of fuel oils from the New Carissa in February 1999, approximately 300 km of beaches on the Pacific coast of North America were surveyed. A long-term observation program focused on the documentation of stranded tar balls in the vicinity of the spill site. Systematic beach surveys which were conducted over the period March 1999 to April 2001 and semi-logarithmic scale, time-series plots proved the most useful format for identifying trends. Beach monitoring continued through to August 2001. by which time 212 tar balls had been analyzed by GC/MS for their chemical characteristics. The samples of tar balls collected between February 1999 and August 2001 were qualitatively compared with New Carissa source oils (NCSO) and 101 (48%) were not consistent with NSCO. The presence of tar balls that are not related to an incident can confound attempts to define cleanup or endpoint criteria and to assess possible injury to natural resources.     

东海超高压榴辉岩中绿帘石、褐帘石、磷灰石和钍石集合体的电子探针成分和化学定年研究

中国大陆超深钻(CCSD)主孔从100米到3000米切穿含柯石英榴辉岩,为系统研究大陆深俯冲过程中含稀土元素副矿物提供了机会。本文报道了该钻孔榴辉岩存在发现的绿帘石、褐帘石、磷灰石和钍石复合颗粒。它们以同心环带结构为特征,从边部向中心依次为绿帘石、褐帘石和磷灰石;钍石既可包裹再磷灰石中,也可见于褐帘石中。电子探针分析显示,褐帘石不仅含有较高的轻稀土元素(LREE2O3=23．36wt％),而且可含有2．6wt％ThO2。根据绿帘石和褐帘石的电子探针高分辨U、Th、Pb成分计算得到绿帘石边部的形成年龄为738±88Ma,该年龄与大别-苏鲁地体榴辉岩的元古代源岩的年龄相当,因此,绿帘石可能为残留相。相反,褐帘石的年龄为220±41Ma,与大别-苏鲁超高压变质年龄相近。因此,褐帘石与磷灰石和钍石一起应该为超高压变质事件的产物。根据绿帘石、褐帘石及其共生的磷灰石和钍石的结构、成分特征和化学定年结果,我们推测绿帘石与可能已完全消耗的独居石很可能为变质副矿物组合的先驱矿物。独居石-绿帘石复合颗粒在榴辉岩相高压／超高压变质过程中反应形成磷灰石+钍石+褐帘石组合。     

西太平洋海底海山富钴结壳惰性气体同位素组成及其来源

采用高真空气体质谱系统测定了西太平洋麦哲伦海山富钴结壳不同层圈及其基岩的惰性气体丰度和同位素组成,结果显示:(1)西太平洋富钴结壳主要是水成成因,其中惰性气体来源不同,He 绝大多数来自宇宙尘(IDPs),少量来自陆源风成微粒;Ar 主要来自海水溶解的大气,少量来自陆源风成微粒或沉积岩建造水;Ne 和 Xe 主要来自海水中溶解大气, 少量来自宇宙尘;(2)在具三层结构的结壳中,亮煤层(致密层)的惰性气体同位素相对外层和疏松层有较大的不同,显示大洋磷酸岩化对早期沉积的结壳惰性气体组成有较大的影响,如导致~4He 的升高和~3He/~4He 的显著降低;(3)太平洋富钴结壳玄武岩基岩的~3He/~4He 非常低,为0.0095～0.074Ra,与本区磷块岩基岩(0.087Ra)相似,而远低于正常海底玄武岩的~3He/~4He 比值,显示这些基岩曾与富含放射性成因~4He 和 P 的上升洋流或沉积物中建造水发生过水/岩反应,这个过程将释放出较多的成矿元素,有利于富钴结壳的形成,海底海山玄武岩中较低的 He 同位素组成可作为富钴结壳的找矿标志之一。     

宁芜盆地凹山和东山铁矿床流体包裹体和氢氧同位素研究

本文对宁芜地区凹山和东山铁矿床中的磷灰石流体包襄体进行了较为系统的测温研究,并测定了不同时期形成的磁铁矿、阳起石和石英的 H、O 同位素组成。凹山和东山铁矿磷灰石含有丰富的流体包裹体,原生气液包裹体包括早期细长管状、针状包裹体(类型Ⅱ)和晚期不规则状包襄体(类型Ⅰ);早期包裹体又可分为单一液相包裹体(类型Ⅱ-a)、气液两相(富气相)包襄体(类型Ⅱ-b)、气液两相(富液相)包裹体(类型Ⅱ-c)和气相、液相及固相多相包裹体(类型Ⅱ-d)四种亚类。包襄体中至少含有五种不同的子矿物。磷灰石包裹体记录了多个峰值温度,从600℃～800℃到～410℃和～270℃,分别对应于磷灰石(磁铁矿 透辉石)、阳起石和石英的形成。流体的盐度随温度的降低而逐渐减小,从高达～80%NaCl equiv。到<20%NaCl equiv。磷灰石形成时流体处于不均匀的状态,流体包裹体为非均一捕获。H、O 同位素研究显示成矿流体早期为演化的初始岩浆(水),在高温下形成了铁矿石;此后,成矿流体有可能与蒸发盆地卤水或大气降水发生混合;晚期则可能有较显著的大气降水加入。     

Characteristics of Aerosol Ionic Compositions in Summer 2003 at Lin''''an of Yangtze Delta Region

With the size-resolved aerosol mass and ion composition data obtained at Lin'an regional atmospheric pollution monitoring station in July 2003, the size distributions of aerosol mass and ionic components, and the correlations between major ion pairs were analyzed. The primary results indicate that in the period of in-situ measurement, the aerosols are mainly composed of fine particles. The mass of aerosols with size less than 2.1μm accounts for 66% of the total mass of all size ranges, in which about 50% of the mass is contributed by the particles with size less than 0.65μm. Similar to the size distributions of aerosol mass, the water-soluble ions are mainly concentrated in the size range of <0.65μm, accounting for about 77% of the sum of analyzed ions, and the ions within the range of <2.1μm reach 88%. The sulfate, ammonium, and potassium are the dominant ionic components in fine particles (particle size less than 2.1μm). Ion correlation analysis suggests that the sulfates in fine particles are mostly in the compounds of (NH4)2SO4, Na2SO4, and K2SO4, but for submicron particles the sulfates are mainly in the form of (NH4)2SO4.     

Carbon isotope composition of the Lower Triassic marine carbonates, Lower Yangtze Region, South China

The Early Triassic is a critical period in earth his- tory. A series of events such as volcano eruptions[1,2], sea-level fluctuations, changes in environmental con- ditions[3], mass extinctions[4,5] as well as global negative carbon isotope excursions[6-9] have been discovered in the uppermost Permian or across the Permian-Triassic boundary. Large scale sea-level rise[10-12], restoration of environment conditions, re- covery of ecosystem[13], including gradual carbon iso- tope rise[14] occur…     

Correlation of atmospheric visibility with chemical composition of Kaohsiung aerosols

The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation of visibility with chemical composition of Kaohsiung aerosols. Daytime visibility was observed around noon at two observation sites in metropolitan Kaohsiung, Taiwan in the years of 1999 and 2000. Both seasonal and diurnal variation patterns of visibility were observed in the region. Ambient aerosols were sampled and analyzed for 11 constituents, including water-soluble ionic species (Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄⁻², NH₄⁺, K⁺, Na⁺, Ca⁺², and Mg⁺²) and carbonaceous contents (OC, EC, and TC), to characterize the chemical composition of Kaohsiung aerosols. Furthermore, a stepwise multiple linear regression model was developed to elucidate the influence of aerosol species on visibility impairments. The results showed that sulfate was the dominant species that affected both light scattering coefficient and visibility. On average, the percentage contributions of visibility degrading species to light scattering coefficient were 29% for sulfate, 28% for nitrate, 22% for total carbon, and 21% for PM_2.5-remainder. An empirical regression model of visibility based on sulfate, nitrate, and relative humidity was also developed. The model showed that sulfate in PM_2.5 was the most sensitive species to visibility variation, suggesting that the reduction of sulfate in PM_2.5 could effectively improve the visibility of metropolitan Kaohsiung. During the investigation period, an event of Asian dusts intruded metropolitan Kaohsiung and dramatically increased the aerosol loadings, especially in the coarse particles. However, local visual air quality did not degrade accordingly during the Asian dust event because both visibility and light scattering coefficient are affected mainly by the fine particles. The results are discussed in detail in the paper.     

塔里木板块新元古代地层化学蚀变指数研究及其意义

本文应用化学蚀变指数(CIA)方法,研究新疆库鲁克塔格地区新元古代地层,并探讨沉积时期的气候环境。贝义西组总体 CIA 值较低,介于51～56之间,具冰期环境特征。照壁山组 CIA 值为60左右,表明气候有所变暖。阿勒通沟组的CIA 值变化范围在48～61之间,顶部突变为69～71,说明阿勒通沟期经历了另一次寒冷事件,并以温暖环境结束。其上的特瑞爱肯组 CIA 值介于49～53之间,说明第三次经历寒冷干燥的气候环境。扎莫克提组,育肯沟组和水泉组的 CIA 均值为65,反映温暖条件下的沉积环境。新元古代末期汉格尔乔克组 CIA 值下降为56,暗示第四次出现寒冷气候环境。以上特征表明新疆库鲁克塔格地区新元古代的气候环境出现四次冷热交替变化。其中尤为重要的是阿勒通沟组中下部应为寒冷气候环境,而顶部突变为温暖气候环境,因此该组反映了一次明确的从冷到暖的气候变化过程,可以作为贝义西冰期和特瑞爱肯冰期之间的另一次独立冰期。本文的研究成果从地球化学角度支持塔里木板块新元古代四次冰期的划分方案。通过与扬子板块新元古代冰期划分方案的对比,认为塔里木板块新元古代四次冰期的前三次均已在华南板块以冰期或寒冷环境沉积形式出现。     

Statistical empirical index of chemical weathering in igneous rocks: A new tool for evaluating the degree of weathering

Chemical weathering indices are useful tools in characterizing weathering profiles and determining the extent of weathering. However, the predictive performance of the conventional indices is critically dependent on the composition of the unweathered parent rock. To overcome this limitation, the present paper introduces an alternative statistical empirical index of chemical weathering that is extracted by the principal component analysis (PCA) of a large dataset derived from unweathered igneous rocks and their weathering profiles. The PCA analysis yields two principal components (PC1 and PC2), which capture 39.23% and 35.17% of total variability, respectively. The extent of weathering is reflected by variation along PC1, primarily due to the loss of Na₂O and CaO during weathering. In contrast, PC2 is the direction along which the projections of unweathered felsic, intermediate and mafic igneous rocks appear to be best discriminated; therefore, PC1 and PC2 represent independent latent variables that correspond to the extent of weathering and the chemistry of the unweathered parent rock. Subsequently, PC1 and PC2 were then mapped onto a ternary diagram (MFW diagram). The M and F vertices characterize mafic and felsic rock source, respectively, while the W vertex identifies the degree of weathering of these sources, independent of the chemistry of the unweathered parent rock.

The W index has a number of significant properties that are not found in conventional weathering indices. First, the W index is sensitive to chemical changes that occur during weathering because it is based on eight major oxides, whereas most conventional indices are defined by between two and four oxides. Second, the W index provides robust results even for highly weathered sesquioxide-rich samples. Third, the W index is applicable to a wide range of felsic, intermediate and mafic igneous rock types. Finally, the MFW diagram is expected to facilitate provenance analysis of sedimentary rocks by identifying their weathering trends and thereby enabling a backward estimate of the composition of the unweathered source rock.     

Control of wind strength and frequency in the Aral Sea basin during the late Holocene

Changing content of detrital input in laminated sediments traced by XRF scanning and microfacies analyses reflect prominent variations in sedimentation processes in the Aral Sea. A high-resolution record of titanium from a core retrieved in the northwestern Large Aral Sea allows a continuous reconstruction of wind strength and frequency in western Central Asia for the past 1500 yr. During AD 450–700, AD 1210–1265, AD 1350–1750 and AD 1800–1975, detrital inputs (bearing titanium) are high, documenting an enhanced early spring atmospheric circulation associated with an increase in intensity of the Siberian High pressure system over Central Asia. In contrast, lower titanium content during AD 1750–1800 and AD 1980–1985 reflects a diminished influence of the Siberian High during early spring with a reduced atmospheric circulation. A moderate circulation characterizes the time period AD 700–1150. Unprecedented weakened atmospheric circulation over western Central Asia are inferred during ca. AD 1180–1210 and AD 1265–1310 with a considerable decrease in dust storm frequency, sedimentation rates, lamination thickness and detrital inputs (screened at 40-μm resolution). Our results are concurrent with changes in the intensity of the Siberian High during the past 1400 yr as reported in the GISP2 Ice Core from Greenland.