The Cretaceous (Cenomanian) continental record of the Laje do Coringa flagstone (Alcântara Formation), northeastern South America

The fossil taxa of the Cenomanian continental flora and fauna of São Luís Basin are observed primarily in the bone bed of the Laje do Coringa, Alcântara Formation. Many of the disarticulated fish and tetrapod skeletal and dental elements are remarkably similar to the chronocorrelate fauna of Northern Africa. In this study, we present a summary of the continental flora and fauna of the Laje do Coringa bone-bed. The record emphasizes the existence of a trans-oceanic typical fauna, at least until the early Cenomanian, which may be interpreted as minor evolutionary changes after a major vicariant event or as a result of a land bridge across the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, thereby allowing interchanges between South America and Africa. The paleoenvironmental conditions in the northern Maranhão State coast during that time were inferred as forested humid areas surrounded by an arid to semi-arid landscape.     

Elastic properties of granulite facies rocks of Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India

Compressional and shear wave velocities and attenuation measurements have been carried out in some of the borehole samples of acidic, basic and intermediate granulites of Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. The results have been obtained at ambient conditions using ‘time-of-flight’ pulse transmission technique at 1.0 MHz frequency. The results show linear relationships between velocity and density, and velocity and attenuation properties of the rocks. The acidic granulites show lower velocities and higher attenuation than the intermediate and basic granulites. The average values of the Poisson’s ratio of acidic, intermediate and basic granulites have been found to be 0.210, 0.241 and 0.279 respectively. The variations in velocities and attenuation in these low porosity crystalline rocks are found to be strongly influenced by their mineral composition. The laboratory velocity data (extrapolated to high pressure) of the present study and the published field velocity data from deep seismic sounding studies indicate that these granulite facies rocks may belong to mid-crustal depths only.     

Ablation Characteristic of Ilmenite using UV Nanosecond and Femtosecond Lasers: Implications for Non‐Matrix‐Matched Quantification

Ilmenite (FeTiO₃) is a common accessory mineral and has been used as a powerful petrogenetic indicator in many geological settings. Elemental fractionation and matrix effects in ilmenite (CRN63E‐K) and silicate glass (NIST SRM 610) were investigated using 193 nm ArF excimer nanosecond (ns) laser and 257 nm femtosecond (fs) laser ablation systems coupled to an inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometer. The concentration‐normalised ⁵⁷Fe and ⁴⁹Ti responses in ilmenite were higher than those in NIST SRM 610 by a factor of 1.8 using fs‐LA. Compared with the 193 nm excimer laser, smaller elemental fractionation was observed using the 257 nm fs laser. When using 193 nm excimer laser ablation, the selected range of the laser energy density had a significant effect on the elemental fractionation in ilmenite. Scanning electron microscopy images of ablation craters and the morphologies of the deposited aerosol materials showed more melting effects and an enlarged particle deposition area around the ablation site of the ns‐LA‐generated crater when compared with those using fs‐LA. The ejected material around the ns crater predominantly consisted of large droplets of resolidified molten material; however, the ejected material around the fs crater consisted of agglomerates of fine particles with ‘rough' shapes. These observations are a result of the different ablation mechanisms for ns‐ and fs‐LAs. Non‐matrix‐matched calibration was applied for the analysis of ilmenite samples using NIST SRM 610 as a reference material for both 193 nm excimer LA‐ICP‐MS and fs‐LA‐ICP‐MS. Similar analytical results for most elements in ilmenite samples were obtained using both 193 nm excimer LA‐ICP‐MS at a high laser energy density of 12.7 J cm^?2 and fs‐LA‐ICP‐MS.     

Situating corporate framings of child labor: Toward grounded geographies of working children in globalized agriculture

The expansion of multinational corporations into agricultural production around the world is resulting in new forms of engagement in specific places. In the context of neoliberal restructuring, these engagements are tied to shifting landscapes of societal, governmental and industry-based perceptions on the role of corporations in labor regimes. But how are these engagements developed and how do they connect to the everyday lives of workers? In India, when Monsanto expanded into hybrid cotton seed production in the early 2000s, the corporation came under pressure to address concerns over the widespread employment of children and young workers for seed pollination. In response, the corporation developed an approach to child labor that, I argue, works to reinforce generalized and problematic notions of childhood and work. Corporate engagements in global agriculture need to be situated in time and space, and alongside the experiences of workers. Children experience attempts to shape their patterns of work and mobility as a series of surmountable obstacles, disconnected from the process of deciding whether or not they will engage in this work. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and documentary analysis of public documents, I outline the development of a corporate response to child labor and place it within the context of the rise of corporate social responsibility, global ideas of child labor, and in the specific case of cotton seed production in western India. I demonstrate that contextualized geographies of working children in globalized agriculture reveal the nature of multinational corporations’ engagements in specific places.     

The earthquake foci and deep structure of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle along the southern Sakhalin-Sea of Okhotsk-Kamchatka profile

The Kuril-Kamchatka seismofocal zone was thought to be a single plate approximately 90 km wide and dipping to a depth of 700 km at an angle of 40°–45°. This concept reflects primarily the physical differences (elastic wave velocities, density, temperature, etc.) between the seismofocal zone and the mantle hosting it. Detailed investigations show that the seismofocal zone proper is also heterogeneous with earthquake hypocenters variably concentrated and clustered within this zone, where both seismogenic and aseismic strata, as well as subvertical zones, can be identified. The latter are reflected in the structure and faults of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle.     

Early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Xing-Meng Orogenic Belt: Constraints from detrital zircon geochronology of western Erguna–Xing’an Block,North China

To better constrain the Early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the western part of the Erguna–Xing’an Block, detrital zircon U–Pb dating was applied on the Ordovician to Devonian sedimentary strata along the southeast part of the China–Mongolia border. Most of the zircons from five sedimentary samples display fine-scale oscillatory growth zoning and Th/U ratios higher than 0.1, indicating a magmatic origin. All five Ordovician–Devonian samples display the similar age distribution patterns with age groups at ∼440 Ma, ∼510 Ma, ∼800 Ma, ∼950 Ma, and few Meso- to Paleo-Proterozoic and Neoarchean grains. This age distribution pattern is similar to those from adjacent blocks in the southeastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Considering previous tectonic studies, we propose bidirectional provenances from the Erguna–Xing’an Block and Baolidao Arc.Consequently, a new model was proposed to highlight the Early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the western Erguna–Xing’an Block, which constrains two main Early Paleozoic tectonic events of the Xing-Meng Orogenic Belt: (a) pre-Late Cambrian collision between Erguna–Kerulen Block and Arigin Sum-Xilinhot-Xing’an Block; (b) the Early Paleozoic subduction of Paleo-Asian Ocean and pre-Late Devonian collision between Erguna–Xing’an Block and Songliao-Hunshandake Block.     

填土表面倾斜时的主动土压力计算

支护结构工程中,当坡顶填土表面倾斜时,无法采用常规的土压力理论进行计算。探讨了《建筑边坡工程技术规范》存在的问题,提出了推荐方法。通过算例验证了推荐方法,具有计算简单、计算结果合理的优点,可供工程设计中参考使用。     

舒城县东部地区地下水环境质量评价与污染分析

根据舒城东部地区地下水环境实地调查结果,本文选取78个地下水样,按埋深10m以浅、10m以深进行地下水质量分类评价和污染分析.结果表明:①地下水水质绝大部分为Ⅳ类、Ⅴ类水,地下水污染非常严重,主要污染因素是Fe、Mn、Al、Hg、NO3-和氨氮等.②埋深10m以浅的地下水水质主要是Fe、Mn、Al、Hg、NO3-和氨氮...     

Cartographie du métamorphisme faible à trés faible dans les Alpes françaises externes par l’utilisation de la cristallinité de l’illite

Résumé

On présente les tracés proposés, pour la nouvelle carte du métamorphisme alpin, entre la bordure du Mont Blanc et la région de Digne. Ils délimitent le domaine de l’anchizone. Les limites diage-nèse-anchizone et anchizone-épizone sont définies grâce à l’indice de cristallinité des illites après étalonnage. Les données utilisées proviennent pour une bonne part de mesures inédites. La minéralogie de la fraction argileuse, étudiée simultanément, fournit des informations complémentaires.

L’anchizone constitue une auréole plus ou moins large à l’W des massifs cristallins; elle tend à disparaître à la bordure SW du Pelvoux. Au N, l’épizone est générale dès la bordure externe des Aiguilles Rouges, alors qu’au S, elle ne débute qu’à l’E du Pelvoux. Cela est conforme au schéma général du métamorphisme alpin croissant en direction de l’E et du N.

On peut relever les perturbations et points particuliers suivants :

— l’existence de « métamorphisme transporté » dans les Préalpes du N, la région de Digne et l’Embrunais;

— au N, dans le massif de Platé, une « butte témoin » d’anchizone, en gradient inverse dans le substratum des nappes helvétiques;

— vers le col de la Madeleine, un gradient décroissant vers l’E jusqu’à la diagenèse, interrompu par un recouvrement tectonique (ultradauphinois);

— dans le Champoléon, sur la limite S du Pelvoux, un petit affleurement d’anchizone où les lignes d’iso-cristallinité sont déformées par la tectonique anté-priabonienne; l’anchizone serait anté-priabonienne, peut-être même anté-sénonienne.

La comparaison avec les résultats obtenus par d’autres méthodes (inclusions fluides, mesures isotopiques) confirme l’allure générale des transformations. Toutefois, il existe une contradiction avec certains résultats fournis par le pouvoir réflecteur de la vitrinite sur le pourtour de Belledonne.

Pour rendre compte des données disponibles il est nécessaire de faire intervenir plusieurs épisodes, que l’on peut situer à des époques anté-priabonienne, post-priabonienne et anté-nappe, puis post-nappe. L’âge et le nombre exact de ces épisodes sont inconnus.

On souligne qu’il ne faut pas s’attendre à observer de changement décelable au passage des frontières à l’anchizone : elles ne constituent pas des limites de faciès pétrographiques. Ainsi on rencontrera l’épizone d’après les ICr alors que le faciès schiste vert n’est pas encore atteint.