Rb-Sr and K-Ar systems of biotite in surface environments regulated by weathering processes with implications for isotopic dating and hydrological cycles of Sr isotopes

Biotite is widely used for Rb-Sr and K-Ar isotopic dating and influences Sr isotope geochemistry of hydrological regimes. The isotopic system of biotite behaves diversely in response to surface weathering; i.e. the complete preservation of original Rb-Sr and K-Ar isotopic ages or dramatic reduction. In this study, we have explored the relation between the behavior of isotopic systems and complex weathering processes of biotites in the weathering profiles distributed on the Mesozoic granitoids in South Korea. In the lower parts of the profiles, biotite in the early stages of weathering was transformed into either oxidized biotite or hydrobiotite, with a mass release of ⁸⁷Sr and ⁴⁰Ar forced by the rapid oxidation of ferrous iron. During the transformation to oxidized biotite, ⁸⁷Sr and ⁴⁰Ar were preferentially released relative to Rb and K, respectively, via solid-state diffusion through the biotite lattice, resulting in a drastic reduction of original isotopic age. The reduction of Rb-Sr age was greater than that of K-Ar age because K was preferentially released over Rb whereas ⁸⁷Sr and ⁴⁰Ar were released proportionally to each other. However, during the transformation of biotite to hydrobiotite (i.e., to regularly interstratified biotite-vermiculite), ⁸⁷Sr, Rb, ⁴⁰Ar, and K were completely retained in the alternating biotite interlayer, and thus the original isotopic age can be preserved. In the upper parts of the profiles, where iron oxidation was almost completed, ⁸⁷Sr, Rb, ⁴⁰Ar, and K were gradually and proportionally released, with no further significant change in isotopic age during the gradual transformation of the early-formed oxidized biotite into hydrobiotite and vermiculite or during their final decomposition to kaolinite. The ratios and amounts of isotopes released from weathered biotites are dependent upon the degree of iron oxidation and the pathways of mineralogical transformation. Regional and local variations in isotopic systems affected by particular weathering processes should be considered when dating biotite or biotite-bearing rocks in weathering environments, modeling the transfer of Sr isotopes to hydrologic regimes, and tracking the provenance of sediments.     

^40Ar／^39Ar Fast Neutron Activation Ages of Quartz from the Jinman Vein Copper Dposit in Western Yunnan and Their Significance

Quartz samples collected from the Jinman vein copper deposit in the Lanping Basin of western Yunnan were determined by⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar fast neutron activation techniques, and the spectra are characterized as being saddle-shaped. The samples yielded a plateau age of 58.05 ± 0.54 Ma, a minimum appearance age of 56.76 ±0.81 Ma and an isochron age of 54.30 ± 0.15 Ma, the three ages being close to each other, indicating that the ages of the quartz samples so far determined are true and reliable. The plateau age represents the time of formation of Cu-bearing quartz veins, which is corresponding to Early Himalayan. This age is also consistent with the time at which a tectonically thermal event (60 Ma) took place within the Lanping Basin, Yunnan Province. In consideration of the fact that copper ore and other ore types in the vast area of western Yunnan are concentrated mainly in the Early Himalayan strata, the authors believe that there must have existed some indispensable key factors leading to metallogenesis on a large scale during the Early Himalayan period in western Yunnan and also constraining in union the formation of ore deposits there.     

The use of the exponent K(q) function to delimit homogeneous regions in regional frequency analysis of extreme annual daily rainfall

The regional frequency analysis of extreme annual rainfall data is a useful methodology in hydrology to obtain certain quantile values when no long data series are available. The most crucial step in the analysis is the grouping of sites into homogeneous regions. This work presents a new grouping criterion based on some multifractal properties of rainfall data. For this purpose, a regional frequency analysis of extreme annual rainfall data from the Maule Region (Chile) has been performed. Daily rainfall data series of 53 available stations have been studied, and their empirical moments scaling exponent functions K(q) have been obtained. Two characteristics parameters of the K(q) functions (γ_max and K(0)) have been used to group the stations into three homogeneous regions. Only five sites have not been possible to include into any homogenous regions, being the local frequency analysis of extreme daily rainfall the most appropriate method to be used at these locations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Morphogenesis of the Euplotid Ciliate Uronychia binucleata Young, 1922(Ciliophora,Hypotrichia)

Morphogenesis of a population of the marine euplotid ciliate, Uronychia binucleata, which was found in Yellow Sea coastal waters next to a sewage outfall at a beach near Zhanqiao Pier, Qingdao, China, was investigated using protargol staining. The main pattern of morphogenesis is typical for the genus and can be summarized as follows: 1) the oral primordium in both proter and opisthe develops de novo in a subcortical pouch. In each daughter cell, the developing adoral zone of membranelles divides into two parts. The new membranelles formed in the proter's oral primordium will replace the leftmost five parental ones; six parental membranelles are retained by the proter; 2) the undulating membranes anlage is formed and develops independently from the oral primordium within the same subcortical pouch; 3) five primary front oventral-transverse cirral anlagen appear de novo on the cell surface; 4) the marginal cirral anlagen are formed de novo; 5) the leftmost frontal cirrus develops de novo on the cell surface; 6) two caudal cirri are formed at the posterior end of the rightmost anlage while the second primordium from the right gives rise to the third caudal cirrus. In contrast to its congeners, the anlage of the leftmost frontal cirrus is formed to the right of the undulating membranes anlage and before the formation of the latter.     

A Review on Marine N2 Fixation: Mechanism,Evolution of Methodologies,Rates, and Future Concerns

Ocean Science Journal - Investigations on marine N2 fixation have gained momentum since 1960s with eventual establishments of relevant methodologies to identify species involved and quantify the...     

基于层次分析法的黄河上游水源涵养区生态系统恢复力评价——以甘南州、临夏州为例北大核心CSCD

在全球气候变化背景下,人类活动对生态环境质量影响的定量评价是区域生态保护与高质量发展的关键问题。本文基于层次分析法(AHP)和GIS可视化空间分析技术,应用遥感反演的生态系统分类资料和社会经济统计资料等,构建了包含社会经济、土地压力、自然条件3个准则层的生态系统恢复力评价指标体系,结合指标时空尺度无量纲化与综合指数法,进行了甘肃省甘南州、临夏州2000—2020年的生态系统恢复力定量评估。结果表明:研究区域空间尺度生态恢复力范围分别为0.14—0.65(2000年)、0.12—0.72(2005年)、0.07—0.70(2010年)、0.12—0.70(2015年)、0.28—0.82(2020年);甘南生态系统恢复力较高,临夏生态系统恢复力较低,在空间分布上,生态系统恢复力呈现北低南高的总体特征,高生态恢复力的乡镇以草地、森林、灌木生态系统为主,低生态恢复力的乡镇以农田、城镇生态系统为主;在时序变化特征中,生态系统恢复力总体向好,呈现先上升、后下降、最后上升趋势,受人类活动与气候变化共同作用。     

Comparison of radiocarbon and OSL dating methods for a Late Quaternary sediment core from Lake Ulaan,Mongolia

Both radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods were applied to test their suitability for establishing a chronology of arid-zone lacustrine sediments using a 5.88-m-long core drilled from Lake Ulaan, southern Mongolia. Although the radiocarbon and OSL ages agree in some samples, the radiocarbon ages are older than the corresponding OSL ages at the 550-cm depth horizon (late Pleistocene) and in the 100–300-cm interval (early to late Holocene). In the early to late Holocene, radiocarbon ages are consistently older than OSL ages by 4,100–5,800 years, and in the late Pleistocene by 2,700–3,000 years. Grain-size analysis of early to late Holocene sediments and one late Pleistocene sediment sample (550-cm depth) indicates that eolian processes were the dominant sediment-transport mechanism. Also, two late Pleistocene sediments samples (from 400- to 500-cm depths) are interpreted to have been deposited by both eolian and glaciofluvial processes. Accordingly, the radiocarbon ages that were older than the corresponding OSL ages during the Holocene seem to have been a consequence of the influx of ¹⁴C-deficient carbon delivered from adjacent soils and Paleozoic carbonate rocks by the westerly winds, a process that is also active today. In addition to the input of old reworked carbon by eolian processes, the late Pleistocene sediments were also influenced by old carbon delivered by deglacial meltwater. The results of this study suggest that when eolian sediment transport is suspected, especially in lakes of arid environments, the OSL dating method is superior to the radiocarbon dating method, as it eliminates a common ‘old-carbon’ error problem.     

大气对流边界层中的涡漩结构

大气边界层中存在尺度从几百米到几十公里的大涡漩运动.它们在边界层中动量、热量、水汽等垂直输送中起重要作用.作者从边界层中对流和上部稳定层中波动相互作用的观点,发展得出大涡结构的对流波动理论.根据此理论,大涡的波谱构成主要由上、下层大气中风向、风速、层结以及两层之间的温度跃变等因素决定.本文根据卫星云图和天气资料分析了一次冷空气爆发流经暖洋面上形成云街、对流单体以及它们之间的相互演化的过程,并用对流波动理论,依据各阶段的大气条件计算出它们的波数构成,并得出了垂直速度、辐合带、界面扰动的分布,解释了云街、对流单体的形成、结构及相互转化的原因.