Interpretation of aeromagnetic anomalies over part of Southeastern Nigeria using three-dimensional Hilbert transformation

We present the results of the application of three-dimensional Hilbert transformation to the analysis of airborne total field magnetic anomalies over part of Southeastern Nigeria. This study not only substantiates the usefulness of 3-D Hilbert transforms in the interpretation of magnetic anomaly maps but also more clearly delineates the structural pattern of the area, of study. Results from the previous study are discussed in relation to the results of previous geological and geophysical studies of the area.     

Geomorphic evolution of the Southern Alps,New Zealand

The Southern Alps are the topographic expression of late Cenozoic (<8 Ma ago) uplift of the crust of the leading edge of the Pacific plate in South Island, New Zealand. New fission track data on the basement exposed in the Southern Alps quantify the age, amount, and rate of rock uplift, and in combination with geomorphic parameters permit the construction of a new model of the geomorphic evolution of the Southern Alps. The model emphasizes the development over time and space of rock uplift, mean surface elevation, exhumation of crustal section, and relief. The earliest indications of mean surface uplift are between 4 and 5 Ma ago at the Alpine Fault. Mean surface uplift, which lagged the start of rock uplift, propagated southeastward from the Alpine Fault at a rate of 30 km/Ma. By about 4 Ma ago, exhumation had exposed greywacke basement adjacent to and east of the entire 300 km long central section of the Alpine Fault. At 3 Ma ago, greenschist was exposed in the southern parts of the Southern Alps near Lake Wanaka, and since then has become exhumed along a narrow strip east of the Alpine Fault. The model infers that amphibolite grade schist has been exhumed adjacent to the Alpine Fault only in the last 0·3 Ma. The age of the start of rock uplift and the amount and rate of rock uplift, all of which vary spatially, are considered to be the dominant influences on the development of the landscape in the Southern Alps. The Southern Alps have been studied in terms of domains of different rock uplift rate. At present the rate of rock uplift varies from up to 8–10 mm/a adjacent to the Alpine Fault to 0·8–1·0 mm/a along the southeastern margin of the Southern Alps. This spectrum can be divided into two domains, one northwest of the Main Divide where the present rock uplift rates are very high (up to 8–10 mm/a) and exceed the long-term value of 0·8–1·0 mm/a, and another to the southeast of the Main Divide where the long-term rate is 0·8–1·0 mm/a. A domain of no uplift lies immediately to the east of the Southern Alps, and is separated from them by a 1·0–1·5 km step in the basement topography. We argue that this spatial sequence of uplift rate domains represents a temporal one. The existing models of the geomorphic development of the Southern Alps—the dynamic cuesta model of J. Adams and the numerical model of P. Koons—are compared with the new data and evolutionary model. Particular constraints unrealized by these two earlier models include the following: the earlier timing of the start of rock uplift of the Southern Alps (8 Ma ago); the spatial variation in the timing of the start of rock uplift (8 Ma ago to 3 Ma ago); the lower long-term rock uplift rate (0·8–1·0 mm/a) of the Southern Alps for most of the late Cenozoic; the lag between the start of rock uplift and the start of mean surface uplift; and the patterns of the amounts of late Cenozoic rock uplift and erosion across the Southern Alps.     

Spatially discontinuous modern sedimentation in Georgian Bay, Huron Basin, Great Lakes

High-resolution seismic reflection profile data show that the modern sediment cover (over the last 150 years) in Georgian Bay is thin and spatially discontinuous. Sediments rich in ragweed pollen, largely derived from siltation linked to land clearing and European settlement, form a thin, discontinuous veneer on the lakebed. Much of the lakebed consists of exposed sediments deposited during the late glacial or early postglacial. Accumulation rates of modern sediments range from < 0 mm/year (net erosion) to ∼3.2 mm/year, often within a few hundred metres spatially. These rates are much lower than those reported for the main basin of Lake Huron and the other Great Lakes, and are attributed to the low sediment supply. Only a few small rivers flow into Georgian Bay, and most of the basin is surrounded by bedrock of Precambrian gneiss and granite to the east, and Silurian dolostone, limestone and shale to the west. Thick deposits of Pleistocene drift, found on the Georgian Bay shoreline only between Meaford and Port Severn, are the main sediment source for the entire basin at present. Holocene to modern sediments are even absent from some deep basins of Georgian Bay. These findings have implications for the ultimate fate of anthropogenic contaminants in Georgian Bay. While microfossil assemblages in the ragweed-rich sediments record increased eutrophication over the last 150 years, most pollutants generated in the Georgian Bay catchment are not accumulating on the lakebed and are probably exported from the Bay.     

宗教教义中的环保思想评析

古人对于环保问题十分重视，这在宗教方面表现为，宗教教义及宗教思想中有不少相关的论述：《圣经》中有着朦胧的环境保护意识；道教经典《太平经》中有具有拟人化特征的环保思想；佛教对于人与自然的关系也具有一定深度的认识。宗教环保思想的历史渊源可以上溯至宗教的起始阶段——原始宗教时期，早在原始宗教中就已经存在自然崇拜、动植物崇拜。通过对于宗教的四要素中的核心要素——宗教教义要素所赖以产生的现实基础的剖析可以看出，这些环保思想和崇拜行为是与当时的社会生产力发展水平、科学发展水平、人类的认识能力，尤其是人类生存和发展对于自然物的依赖等因素有密切关系。     

Andean evolution at the Guañacos and Chos Malal fold and thrust belts (36°30′–37°s)

The Andes between 36°30′ and 37°S represent a Cretaceous fold and thrust belt strongly reactivated in the late Miocene. Most of the features that absorbed Neogene shortening were already uplifted in the late Cretaceous, as revealed by field mapping and confirmed by previous fission track analysis. This Andean section is formed by two sectors: a western-inner sector generated by the closure of the upper Oligocene-lower Miocene intra-arc Cura Mallín basin between the middle and late Miocene (Guañacos fold and thrust belt), and an eastern-outer sector, where late Triassic-early Jurassic extensional depocenters were exhumed in two discrete phases of contraction, in the latest early Cretaceous and late Miocene to the Present, respectively (Chos Malal fold and thrust belt). Late Miocene deformation has not homogeneously reactivated Cretaceous compressive structures, being minimal south of 37°30′S through the eastern-outer sector (southern continuation of the Chos Malal fold and thrust belt). The reason for such an inhomogeneous deformational evolution seems to be related to the development of a late Miocene shallow subduction regime between 34°30′ and 37°45′S, as it was proposed in previous studies. This shallow subduction zone is evidenced by the eastward expansion of the arc that was accompanied by the eastern displacement of the orogenic front at these latitudes. As a result, the Cretaceous fold and thrust belt were strongly reactivated north of 37°30′S producing the major topographic break along the Southern Central Andes.     

1879年甘肃武都南8级地震新史料

1985年在甘肃文县屯寨乡洋汤寨的天池庙的大樑上发现了一条新的关于1879年7月1日武都8级地震的新的历史记载。该记载表明武都8级地震在这里的地震烈度至少达到了Ⅹ度。     

晚更新世以来南天山阿克苏地区地壳缩短率

作者研究南天山中段阿克苏—库车山前带活动断层,发现断层切过托木尔峰山麓第四纪冰碛物和阶地,形成2条断层崖。通过测量阶地和冰碛物的变形量,推断阶地和冰碛物的沉积年代,估算南天山中段阿克苏地区晚更新世以来的地壳缩短率可能为1.85mm/a。这个缩短率与库尔勒地区(2mm/a)和柯坪地区(1.8mm/a)的地壳缩短率一致,但是小于南天山西段喀什地区(10±2mm/a)和天山东段玛纳斯地区(6±3mm/a)的地壳缩短率,表明天山不同地段的地壳缩短率存在明显差异。     

Synoptic circulation and stream discharge in the Great Lakes basin, USA

Impacts on water resources caused by human activity, natural climate variation and long-term climate change are unclear in the US Great Lakes region. Improved understanding of the impact of atmospheric circulation on stream discharge variability into the Lakes is thus important. In this analysis, monthly surface and mid-tropospheric circulation patterns suggest that surface pressure variations over Missouri and Illinois are most strongly correlated to discharge. The mid-tropospheric patterns most directly related to discharge place the Great Lakes in a trough-to-ridge flow pattern. The analysis confirms that at this scale, lee shore advection resulting in ‘lake-effect’ precipitation is not very important to regional discharge, and neither are variations in the Pacific–North American teleconnection.     

Growth, ionic and osmotic relations of an Allenrolfea occidentalis population in an inland salt playa of the Great Basin Desert

Variation in growth, physiology and ionic relations patterns of Allenrolfea occidentalis, a perennial halophyte of dry habitats, was studied under field conditions from May 1996 to November 1997. An A. occidentalis community has a characteristic soil pH of 7·3–8·3. During the two years, the population was exposed to great variations in soil salinity, from 29 to 146 dS m⁻¹, and soil moisture, ranging from drought (9·2%) to wet (19%). The salt concentrations were significantly higher in the surface soil layers than in the subsurface layers. Seasonal changes in dry weight are directly related to soil salinity stress. Allenrolfea occidentalis had greater growth and biomass production under saline conditions. Na⁺and Cl⁻ions were accumulated in plant tissues in much greater amounts than K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺. Soil salinities were significantly reduced at the end of the growing season. Water potentials of the shoots decreased significantly with increasing salinity. The plant (F_v/F_mratio) was more affected by salinity and irradiation levels during the summer period.     

Anthropogenic organic matter in the Great Marsh of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and its implications

Cores from the Great Marsh area of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore were examined in order to document variations in concentration, type and size of anthropogenic organic matter (A_nOM—coal, coke, etc.) and discuss their relationship to the concentration of such trace elements as Pb, Zn, and Mn in the near-surface sediment section. The results indicate that the first appearance of A_nOM corresponds to the onset of industrialization in the area. There is also a general relationship between the occurrence of A_nOM and Zn, Pb, and Mn. Trace metals were likely transported from the industrial sites to the area of their deposition as sulfur-bearing coatings on small anthropogenic particles. After deposition, these sulfur-bearing compounds reacted with organic matter within the marsh. As a result of bacterial reduction, the pyrite was produced, as suggested by a close relationship between the pyrite and A_nOM. Distance from the industrial complex upwind as well as local hydrologic conditions are among the major factors controlling distribution of A_nOM and trace elements. At the same distance from the source, types and sizes of A_nOM are influenced by the duration and frequency of flooding.