A COMPARISON OF EASTERN AND WESTERN HONG KONG PHYTOPLANKTON FROM WEEKLY SAMPLES (1997-1999)

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Flexure of Europa's lithosphere due to ridge-loading

Using photoclinometry, topographic profiles across europan ridges have been produced. These profiles allow the identification of bulges in the terrain adjacent to the ridges. The bulges are assumed to have been produced by flexure of the elastic lithosphere due to the load of the ridges, which lie along cracks in the crust. The distance from the crack to these “fore-bulges” depends on the thickness of the elastic plate being flexed. Based on a survey of ridges in Galileo images with resolution <300 m/pixel, the thickness of the elastic lithosphere has been determined by this method at a wide variety of sites along the leading and trailing hemispheres of Europa. The average thickness is about 200 m. The elastic lithosphere underneath smooth dilational bands tends to be thicker than plains morphology, an effect that is pronounced at Thynia Linea and Astypalaea Linea. Among the ridges investigated here, more recent loading correlates with a thicker elastic lithosphere, which may either reflect an intrinsically thicker layer, or less viscous relaxation over the shorter time period.     

Cosmological constraints from the X-ray gas mass fraction in relaxed lensing clusters observed with Chandra

We present precise measurements of the X-ray gas mass fraction for a sample of luminous, relatively relaxed clusters of galaxies observed with the Chandra observatory, for which independent confirmation of the mass results is available from gravitational lensing studies. Parametrizing the total (luminous plus dark matter) mass profiles using the model of Navarro, Frenk & White, we show that the X-ray gas mass fractions in the clusters asymptote towards an approximately constant value at a radius r ₂₅₀₀, where the mean interior density is 2500 times the critical density of the Universe at the redshifts of the clusters. Combining the Chandra results on the X-ray gas mass fraction and its apparent redshift dependence with recent measurements of the mean baryonic matter density in the Universe and the Hubble constant determined from the Hubble Key Project, we obtain a tight constraint on the mean total matter density of the Universe,     , and measure a positive cosmological constant,     . Our results are in good agreement with recent, independent findings based on analyses of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation, the properties of distant supernovae, and the large-scale distribution of galaxies.     

Utilisation and Management Changes in South Kyrgyzstan＇s Mountain Forests

Using political ecology as its conceptual framework, this paper focuses on the changes in forest utilisation and management of South Kyrgyzstan＇s walnut-fruit forests over the last century The aim of this study on human-environment interactions is to investigate the relationship between actors on the one side, their interests and demands, and the forests and forested lands on the other. Forest resource utilisation and management - and even the recognition of different forest products as resources - are connected with political and socioeconomic conditions that change with time. The walnut-fruit forests of South Kyrgyzstan are unique, characterised by high biodiversity and a multiplicity of usable products; and they have been utilised for a long time. Centralised and formal management of the forests started with the Russian occupation and was strengthened under Soviet rule, when the region became a part of the USSR. During this era, a state forest administration that was structured from Moscow all the way down to the local level drew up detailed plans and developed procedures for utilising the different forest products. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the socio-political and economic frame conditions have changed significantly, which has brought not only the sweeping changes in the managing institutions, but also the access rights and interests in the forest resources. At present, the region is suffering from a high unemployment rate, which has resulted in the forests＇ gaining considerable importance in the livelihood strategies of the local population. Political and economic liberalization, increased communication and transregional exchange relations have opened the door for international companies and agents interested in the valuable forest products. Today, walnut wood and burls, walnuts, wild apples and mushrooms are all exported to various countries in the world. Scientists and members of various international organisations stress the ecological value of the forests and are trying to establish nature conservation areas. Nevertheless, it is to fear that a multiplicity of interrelated factors - the present transformation and globalization processes, the appearance of new actors, the local population＇s insecure economic situation and the erosion of managing institutions - are all leading to an intensified and unregulated exploitation of the forests, resulting in their degradation.     

Denudation,vertical crustal movements and sedimentary basin infill

Denudation and vertical crustal movements are linked through the isostatic equation for conservation of lithospheric mass. Recent empirical results from a wide range of sources are presented on the rates of these processes. Denudation alone can cause non-tectonic (isostatic) surface uplift of the right magnitude predicted by theory. A case is made, following Ahnert, for a single linear relationship (although with much scatter) between denudation rate and mean drainage basin relief for large basins. Some recent determinations of denudational time constants have neglected to include tectonic and isostatic terms which oppose the reduction of relief by denudation. Application of diffusional transport models to determine the rate of sediment deposition are severely limited by inherent one-dimensionality and neglect of suspended and washload contributions. Basin infill sequences may be used to determine past sediment transfer coefficients from a hinterland, but problems arise in the apportionment of the various hinterland fluxes that occur in »real-world« three dimensional basins. Sediment yields in smaller half-graben and growth fold basins must reflect the magnitude of drainage basins and the complex local controls upon sediment yields. Examples are given from extensional basins in the Western USA and Greece. The »length« of tectonic relief produced in tilt blocks and growth folds will control the area of drainage basin developed (through the fractal form of Hack's Law) and hence the magnitude of deposition in sedimentary basins adjoining tectonic uplands.

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Zusammenfassung Denudation und vertikale Krustenbewegungen sind verbunden durch das isostatische Gesetz über den Erhalt der lithosphärischen Masse. Neuerliche empirische Ergebnisse aus einem weiten Quellenbereich werden im Verhältnis zu diesen Prozessen präsentiert. Denudation allein, kann nicht tektonisch bedingte (isostatische) Oberflächenhebungen hervorrufen, die in der richtigen Größenordnung liegen, wie sie auch theoretisch ermittelt wurden. Es wird in Anlehnung an Ahnert ein Fall geschaffen, in der eine einfach lineare Beziehung (obgleich mit vielen Streuungen) zwischen der Denudationsrate und dem durchschnittlichen Abflußbeckenrelief für große Becken vorliegt. Einige neue Ermittlungen der Denudationszeitkonstanten wurden vernachlässigt, um tektonische und isostatische Begriffe einzufügen, welche sich der Verringerung des Reliefs durch Denudation widersetzen. Die Anwendung des Verbreitungstransportmodells zum Bestimmen der Sedimentationsrate sind streng begrenzt durch die ihm innewohnende Eindimensionalität, und der Vernachlässigung der Schwebe- und Schwämmfrachtbeteiligung. Bekkenfüllungssequenzen können benutzt werden um vergangene Sedimenttransferkoeffizienten aus dem Hinterland festzulegen; aber es treten auch Probleme bei der Verteilung der verschiedenen Hinterlandeinträge auf, die bei einem realen dreidimensionalen Becken vorhanden sind. Sedimenteinträge in kleineren Halbgräben und Growth-fold Becken müssen die Größe des Abflußbeckens widerspiegeln, sowie die komplexen lokalen Steuerungen auf die Sedimenteinträge. Beispiele von Dehnungsbecken aus dem Westen der USA und Griechenlands werden angesprochen. Die Länge des tektonischen Reliefs in verkippten Blöcken und Growth-Folds wird die Fläche des entwickelten Abflußbeckens kontrollieren (durch die fraktale Form des Gesetzes von Hack), und daher die Ablagerungsmenge von Sedimentbecken in der Nähe von tektonischen Hochlagen.

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Résumé L'érosion et les mouvements crustaux verticaux sont liés par l'équation isostatique de conservation de la masse lithosphérique. Des résultats empiriques récents provenant d'un large éventail de sources sont présentés en relation avec ces processus. L'érosion seule peut être la cause d'une montée non tectonique (isostatique) dont l'ampleur est prévue exactement par la théorie. Un cas est présenté, d'après Ahnert, qui montre, pour de grands bassins, une relation linéaire simple (mais avec une forte dispersion des points) entre le taux de dénudation et le relief moyen de l'aire de drainage. Certaines déterminations récentes des constantes de temps de dénudation ont omis de tenir compte des termes tectonique et isostatique qui s'opposent à la destruction du relief par érosion. L'utilisation de modèles de transport diffus en vue de déterminer le taux d'accumulation des sédiments est sévèrement limitée par le caractère unidimensionnel de tels modèles et par le fait qu'il ne tiennent pas compte de la fraction en suspension. Les séquences de comblement d'un bassin sédimentaire peuvent être utilisées pour déterminer les anciens cfficients de transfert à partir de l'hinterland; mais des difficultés surgissent à propos de la répartition des différents flux en provenance de l'hinterland dans le cas réel d'un bassin à 3 dimensions. Les apports sédimentaires dans les bassins de demi-graben et de »growth-fold« doivent traduire la grandeur des aires de drainage et les facteurs locaux complexes qui régissent ces apports. Des exemples sont présentés, relatifs à des bassins d'extension de l'ouest des USA et de Grèce. La »longueur« des reliefs tectoniques en relation avec les blocs basculés et les »growth-folds« déterminent, par la forme fractale de la loi de Hack, la surface des aires de drainage ainsi engendrées et, en conséquence, l'importance des dépôts dans les bassins sédimentaires voisins des reliefs tectoniques.

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Brine-pool deposition for the Zn–Pb–Cu massive sulphide deposits of the Bathurst mining camp, New Brunswick, Canada. II. Ocean anoxia during mineralisation

Current models of massive sulphide ore genesis in the Bathurst mining camp, New Brunswick, involve settling of sulphide particles from a stagnating, low-salinity hydrothermal plume spreading laterally in an anoxic ocean layer with minimal sulphate content. There is fragmentary evidence of ocean anoxia in the form of local fine lamination in the shales that host some of the deposits but the total organic carbon, S, Fe, U/Th, Ni/Co, V/Ni and V/Cr relationships indicate deposition under oxic or dysoxic conditions. Vanadium and Mn values range from oxic to anoxic and sulphate-reducing to non-sulphate reducing but Mn may be anomalously low due to derivation by erosion of acidic volcanic rocks. The somewhat equivocal physical and chemical data, combined with the likely disturbing effects of penecontemporaneous volcanism, considerably weaken the case for an anoxic bottom layer in a static ocean. The presence of barite with ambient seawater ³⁴S values in Brunswick no. 12 ore, and the abundance of sulphate in modern euxinic basin waters, make a sulphate-free layer unlikely, even if anoxic. Sulphate-bearing, low-salinity fluids mixing with seawater would lead to growth of barite-bearing chimneys and baritic rubble mounds, which are not observed. A model involving brine-pool deposition better explains the major features of the Bathurst ores.     

Significance of vertical flux as a sink for surface water DMSP and as a source for the sediment surface in coastal zones of northern Europe

In April 1997 and 1998 the significance of sedimentation as a sink for epipelagic dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) production and as a source for marine sediments was reassessed using a newly designed sediment trap. The behaviour of the traps in immersion was monitored continuously and the collection efficiency was evaluated with ²³⁴Th measurements. Net DMS(P) fluxes were corrected for some physical and biological losses during the whole sedimentation process providing reliable estimates of gross DMSP fluxes. It is shown that daily losses by sedimentation account for between 0.1% and 16% of seawater particulate DMSP (DMSPp) standing stocks, and between 3% and 75% of daily DMSPp production. In the Malangen fjord we observed temporal increases of DMSP production and standing stocks which resulted also in increases of DMSP vertical fluxes and DMS(P) concentrations at the sediment surface. This result illustrates how tight the coupling can be between pelagos and benthos, and confirms that DMS(P) concentration in the sediment was a reliable diagnostic indicator of vertical export from overlying waters in Malangen fjord. In Ullsfjord, however, DMS(P) concentrations in the sediment were poorly indicators of Phaeocystis pouchetii export during the early stage of growth of a bloom. The high load of DMS(P) in Balsfjord's sediments could neither be attributed to local vertical sedimentation nor to short-term lateral advection of fresh DMSP-containing phytoplanktonic material, and provides indication that this tracer sometimes also can be misleading. The highest loads of DMS(P) in sediments and the fastest rates of sedimentation occurred in the Southern Bight of the North Sea.