Biological and granulometric controls on sedimentary organic matter of an intertidal mudflat

A variety of measures of organic matter concentration and quality were made on samples collected from the top few mm of intertidal mudflat sediment over the course of a year, in order to assess the relative importance of biological and sedimentological influences on sedimentary organic matter. Winter and summer were times of relatively fine-grained sediment accumulation, caused by biological deposition or stabilization processes and resulting in higher organic matter concentrations. Stable carbon isotope and Br:C ratios indicated a planktonic source of bulk organic matter. Ratios of organic carbon to specific surface area of the sediments were consistent with an organic monolayer coverage of sediment grains. Correction for changing grain size during the year showed no change in the organic concentration per unit surface area, in spite of organic matter inputs by in situ primary production, buildup of heterotroph biomass and mucus coatings, and biodeposition of organic-rich seston. There were also no indications of changes in bulk organic quality, measured as hydrolyzable carbohydrates and amino acids, in response to these biological processes. It is concluded that biological processes on a seasonal time scale affect the bulk organic matter of these sediments via a modulation of grain size rather than creation or decay of organic matter.     

Inferring erosional resistance of bedrock units in the east Tennessee mountains from digital elevation data

Measures of local relief, regional relief, and slope were calculated from digital elevation models (DEMs) for 50 bedrock units in the Ridge and Valley and Blue Ridge provinces of Tennessee. Each of these measures was normalized and the three were then averaged to produce the erosional resistance index (ERI). Bedrock units with higher ERI values include coarse clastics, intermediate clastics, and metaplutonics. Units with lower values include shales, limestones, limestones plus dolostones, and carbonates plus fine clastics. Dolostones tend to have intermediate values. The calculated ERI values were compared with subjective ratings by a geologist with decades of field experience in east Tennessee. Generally, the agreement between the two ratings was good, the most glaring exception being several shales with improbably high ERI values. These turned out to be thin units cropping out beneath very hard sandstones, allowing them to stand higher and steeper than would otherwise be possible. A systematic method for detecting such erroneously high ERI values is suggested. Inspection of a drainage map superimposed on the geology map shows that in a given area, streams tend to flow on rock units with the lowest ERI values. In addition, statistical analysis shows that bedrock units with the lowest ERI values are, on average, almost three times closer to the nearest stream and six times as likely to have streams flowing on them than are units with highest values. Further, the effect of ERI on stream location is strongest for streams with drainage areas between 1 and 30 km². Thus, small streams appear to be subject to greater lithologic control than are larger streams.     

基于离散元方法的落石碰撞破碎研究

落石是山区公路边坡常见的地质灾害。落石撞击破碎是落石灾害中常见的现象,落石破碎致使运动轨迹改变往往会增大落石的危害性,但其通常未被考虑到落石的防护设计中。因此,落石破碎机理的研究对落石防护措施设计有重要的指导意义。本文运用离散元方法（离散元开源软件Esys-Particle）模拟落石铅直撞击地面的过程。在模型中,落石由大量的颗粒组成,并且相邻的颗粒由可断裂的黏结材料黏接;地面由一层固定的颗粒组成,从而模拟地面的摩擦、弹性变形性质。模型模拟出落石反弹、破碎和粉碎等过程,分析黏结材料的杨氏模量、颗粒间凝聚力和内摩擦角对落石撞击地面过程的影响,得出落石撞击过程中破坏率和动能的变化过程。研究发现：当杨氏模量和凝聚力的比值较小时,落石将会发生反弹;当杨氏模量和凝聚力的比值增大到一定程度时,落石将会破碎成不同大小的块体;当杨氏模量和凝聚力的比值超过一定限度时,落石将会破碎成非常细小的块体;内摩擦角的变化对撞击过程影响非常小。     

由岩体失稳讨论地震前兆的复杂性

断层带应变弱化——失稳的地震模式表明,岩体失稳不仅取决于作用的应力水平,而且决定于应变弱化阶段中环境刚度和岩石刚度的相对大小。该模式可能被应用去解释实际观测中出现异常,而其后不发生地震活动的复杂情况。     

Rock moisture content in the field and the laboratory and its relationship to mechanical weathering studies

Rock moisture content is a major control of mechanical weathering, particularly freeze-thaw, and yet almost no data exist from field situations. This study presents moisture content values for rocks, taken from a variety of positions and conditions, in the maritime Antarctic. Additional information regarding the amount of water the rock could take up, as observed from laboratory experiments, is also presented. The results show that the approaches used in simulation experiments, particularly that of soaking a rock for 24 hours, may produce exaggerated results. It was found that the saturation coefficient (S-value) was a good indicator of frost susceptibility (based on water content) but that the derivation of that value may underestimate the potential of some rocks. The distribution of moisture within rocks is seen as an important, but unkown, factor. The results of these field moisture contents suggest that for simulations of freeze-thaw or hydration to be meaningful then they should have rock water contents based on field observations.     

Glacial advances constrained by Be exposure dating of bedrock landslides, Kyrgyz Tien Shan

Numerous large landslide deposits occur in the Tien Shan, a tectonically active intraplate orogen in Central Asia. Yet their significance in Quaternary landscape evolution and natural hazard assessment remains unresolved due to the lack of "absolute" age constraints. Here we present the first ¹⁰Be exposure ages for three prominent (> 10⁷ m³) bedrock landslides that blocked major rivers and formed lakes, two of which subsequently breached, in the northern Kyrgyz Tien Shan. Three ¹⁰Be ages reveal that one landslide in the Alamyedin River occurred at 11–15 ka, which is consistent with two ¹⁴C ages of gastropod shells from reworked loess capping the landslide. One large landslide in Aksu River is among the oldest documented in semi-arid continental interiors, with a ¹⁰Be age of 63–67 ka. The Ukok River landslide deposit(s) yielded variable ¹⁰Be ages, which may result from multiple landslides, and inheritance of ¹⁰Be. Two ¹⁰Be ages of 8.2 and 5.9 ka suggest that one major landslide occurred in the early to mid-Holocene, followed by at least one other event between 1.5 and 0.4 ka. Judging from the regional glacial chronology, all three landslides have occurred between major regional glacial advances. Whereas Alamyedin and Ukok can be considered as postglacial in this context, Aksu is of interglacial age. None of the landslide deposits show traces of glacial erosion, hence their locations and ¹⁰Be ages mark maximum extents and minimum ages of glacial advances, respectively. Using toe-to-headwall altitude ratios of 0.4–0.5, we reconstruct minimum equilibrium-line altitudes that exceed previous estimates by as much as 400 m along the moister northern fringe of the Tien Shan. Our data show that deposits from large landslides can provide valuable spatio-temporal constraints for glacial advances in landscapes where moraines and glacial deposits have low preservation potential.     

Geotechnical properties of evaporite soils of the Dead Sea area

The Dead Sea Basin is the lowest point on earth and is tectonically subsiding. During the Holocene Period the climate became much drier with increasing evaporation whereby initially lacustrine sediments were deposited from the non-marine brines, giving a multi-layered stratigraphy of lime carbonate and halite sediments. The lime carbonate sediments are comprised of laminated, clay to silt sized, clastic sediments (calcite) and authigenic aragonite and gypsum. The halite commonly appears as rock salt. Chemical industries, based on harvesting the salts from the Dead Sea, have developed on both the Israeli and the Jordanian sides of the basin. The lime carbonate soils are used for dike construction, and these soils, together with significant salt layers, are encountered in the foundations of structures, dikes, and tailings dams, requiring definition of their geotechnical properties. Use of standard soil mechanics definitions and testing approaches for the lime carbonates have been found inapplicable, particularly in view of their exceptionally high saline content, and it has been necessary to develop new concepts. The rock salt is encountered at shallow depths, with unit weights considerably lower than those usually discussed in the literature, and with correspondingly different mechanical properties. The geotechnical properties of these soils, and approaches used to define them, are discussed in the paper.     

拓宽古生物研究领域

现代古生物学应加强横向联系,与其他有关学科相互渗透,扩大研究领域,拓宽研究内容、利用新技术,包括数学的、物理的、化学的以及现代生物学的理论和研究方法与沉积岩石学研究结合起来,提高古生物学的理论基础,给国家生产建设提供可靠的基础资料。     

云南三江口地区超基性岩岩石化学及成因

三江口地区超基性岩按岩石类型可分六种,岩石的m/f值小于6 5,属铁质超基性岩,呈包体状产于下二叠统木星土岩组(P1mx.)及上二叠统洛吉组(P2lj)中,与其为同源异相产物,形成于板块裂陷环境。岩浆活动时期大致为晚古生代 早三叠世早期,可能代表古特提斯形成的早期阶段。成果为进一步研究和恢复该区古构造格局提供重要依据。     

内蒙古"宝音图隆起"的归属讨论

对比研究表明,内蒙古"宝音图隆起"和狼山地区的古元古代宝音图岩群与新太古代色尔腾山岩群都是由中低级变质的各种片岩、大理岩组成,一致的岩石组合和变质相暗示二者可能是等同物而不是两个岩群.以物探资料为据的构造研究也证实,"宝音图隆起"与狼山地区之间并无槽-台级的大型断裂构造分开,二者实为统一的构造整体而不是分属槽台,只因两侧被两条近于平行的NE向断裂围限,使其总构造线方向呈NE或NNE向而与色尔腾山的构造线不同.结论认为,"宝音图隆起"仍是华北陆块的一部分,不属于内蒙古-大兴安岭地槽褶皱系.