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.     

In vitro screening for endocrine disruptive activity in selected South African harbours and river mouths

Various waterborne anthropogenic contaminants disrupt the endocrine systems of wildlife and humans, targeting reproductive pathways, among others. Very little is known, however, regarding the occurrence of endocrine disruptive activity in South African freshwater ecosystems, and coastal ecosystems have not been studied in this regard. In a first attempt to investigate endocrine disruptive activity in South African coastal waters, surface water samples collected from harbours, river mouths and estuaries in three metropolitan municipalities, eThekwini (which includes Durban), Nelson Mandela (specifically Port Elizabeth Harbour) and City of Cape Town, were screened for (anti) oestrogenicity and (anti)androgenicity using recombinant yeast bioassays. Moreover, levels of the female hormone 17β-(o)estradiol (E2) were determined in all samples, as well as a selection of hydrocarbons in the eThekwini samples. A high proportion of samples collected from eThekwini were oestrogenic, whereas none from Port Elizabeth Harbour and only a single river mouth sampled in the City of Cape Town were oestrogenic. E2 was detected in all the samples tested, but at higher concentrations at the eThekwini and City of Cape Town localities than Port Elizabeth Harbour. In addition, the recombinant yeast assays revealed that anti-androgenicity was widespread, being detected in the majority of samples screened apart from those representing Port Elizabeth Harbour. Conversely, no anti-oestrogenic or androgenic activity was detected. Anti-androgenicity did not associate with hydrocarbon loads, providing evidence that other anti-androgens were responsible for the observed activity. The present data suggest potential reproductive disruption in marine and estuarine fauna inhabiting the eThekwini and City of Cape Town regions.     

辽宁盖县梁屯—矿洞沟碱性正长岩杂岩体的U—Pb和Sm—Nd年龄及其地质意义

辽宁梁屯 -矿洞沟杂岩体主要由辉石正长岩、霓辉正长岩和霓辉角闪正长岩等碱性岩石组成 ,具有全岩 Rb- Sr等时线年龄 186 6± 115 Ma和 ISr=0 .70 4 9的同位素特征 ,是我国目前报道的最古老的碱性正长岩类。本文报道了该岩体的锆石U- Pb和全岩 Sm- Nd同位素测试资料 ,获得了锆石 U- Pb同位素年龄为 185 7± 2 0 Ma、Sm- Nd等时年龄为 1787± 180 Ma、εNd(t) =- 4 .8～ - 5 .0的数据。它们反映出该杂岩体形成年龄的上限为 185 7± 2 0 Ma、下限不小于 1787± 180 Ma,来源于富集地幔物质。基于这些数据并结合区域地质资料分析 ,作者提出了华北地台北缘古元古宙存在有富集地幔储库 ,以及辽河群主体形成于 190 0 Ma以前的认识     

东天山伊吾二叠纪花岗质杂岩体的锆石定年、地球化学及其构造意义

伊吾花岗质杂岩体主要由二长花岗岩和碱长花岗岩构成。锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年分析得到二长花岗岩和碱长花岗岩的侵位年龄分别为284.6±1.4Ma和284.0±1.1Ma。结合地质证据,此年龄表明该杂岩体形成于碰撞之后的二叠纪早期挤压-伸展转折阶段。岩石学、地球化学和同位素等方面的对比研究表明这两种岩石为同一岩浆演化的产物。与二长花岗岩相比,碱长花岗岩表现为硅、碱的含量较高,而铝的含量较低;富Th、U、Nb、Ta,贫Sr、P、Ti、Sm;DI和Rb/Sr升高,Nb/Ta和Zr/Hf下降,从二长花岗岩到碱长花岗岩表现出连续分异演化的趋势。计算得到二长花岗岩和碱长花岗岩的模式年龄(t_(DM))分别为693Ma和763Ma,ε_(Nd)(t)分别为+4.53和+4.64,(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr)_i分别为0.703858和0.703855,表现出高ε_(Nd)(t)低(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr)_i的特征。这些特征表明,伊吾岩体的岩浆来自新元古代时从亏损地幔分离出来的初生地壳源区。二长花岗岩岩浆是这种初生地壳岩浆演化的产物,而碱长花岗岩形成于二长花岗岩母岩浆经斜长石、磷灰石、钛铁氧化物、榍石、独居石、褐帘石和锆石等矿物分离结晶后的残留岩浆。     

Early Holocene brackish closed basin conditions in Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada: microfossil (thecamoebian and pollen) evidence

Microfossils have been critical in unravelling the complex postglacial history of Georgian Bay. Thecamoebians (testate amoebae/rhizopods) record paleolimnological conditions, and pollen stratigraphy allows correlation across the basin, where sedimentation has been spatially and temporally discontinuous. Because parts of Georgian Bay have been non-depositional or erosional since the end of the Nipissing transgression (~5,000 (5,800 cal) BP), early Holocene features are exposed on the lakebed. Among these are shoreline features, such as submerged beaches and relict channels, associated with low-level Lake Hough that was driven far below the level of basin overflow. Cores taken throughout Georgian Bay record the existence of closed basin conditions that persisted several centuries around 7,500 (8,300 cal) BP, corresponding to the late Lake Hough lowstand. Evidence for hydrologic closure includes a low-diversity centropyxid-dominated thecamoebian fauna around the boundary between pollen subzones 2a and 2b in the Flowerpot Beach core, Flowerpot and Killarney basins, and in Severn Sound. This low-diversity centropyxid-dominated fauna is interpreted as recording the development of slightly brackish conditions as a result of a hydrologic deficit associated with relatively arid conditions in the Great Lakes basin during the early Holocene pine zone (~8,800–7,200 (9,900–8,050 cal) BP). The rest of the Holocene record in Georgian Bay (where it is preserved) is more diverse and dominated by difflugiid thecamoebians: predominantly Difflugia oblonga prior to human settlement, and Cucurbitella tricuspis since high-density human occupation and agriculture (and resulting eutrophication) began with the Wendat First Nations people around Severn Sound about 750 years ago. The implication that water budget fluctuations leading to discernible variations in lake level and water chemistry occurred in the relatively recent geologic past is significant to studies of global climate change and resource management in the Great Lakes, one of the world’s largest freshwater resources.     

Trend and Characteristics of Variation on the Runoff of the …

根据唐乃亥等有关台站的水文气象观测资料,对黄河上 唐乃亥以上流域的径注琢演变规律进行了分析探讨,并在此基础上用灰色拓扑、混合门限自回归及周期外延－逐步回归等数学模型对其未来的变化趋势进行了预测。结果表明,黄河上游唐乃亥以上流域径流目前正处于一个枯水段的底部,并且从现在超的今后若干年里将呈现一个波动状上升的变化趋势。     

准噶尔盆地滴西地区石炭系火山岩识别与预测

准噶尔盆地腹部滴西地区石炭系火山岩储层中已获重要的工业气流。然而由于成岩环境复杂,岩性多变,火山机构受后期风化剥蚀和构造作用的影响,保存不完整,使得该区火山岩研究难度大,认识程度较低。本文对滴西地区石炭系巴塔玛依内山组火山岩特征进行了研究,分析了该区典型岩性的岩心、岩石薄片及测井响应特征,提出了一套火山岩测井识别的方法。在此基础上,总结了典型岩性组合的地震反射特征,并对岩性的展布情况进行了预测。最后,对火山岩形成的环境进行了探讨。研究结果显示,滴西地区巴塔玛依内山组顶面的火山岩分布具有一定的分段特征,可以分为东部、中部、西部三段: 从成分上看,东部以酸性岩为主,西部以基性岩为主,中部则酸性岩、中性岩和基性岩皆较发育; 从火山岩产状上看,东部和西部以喷出产状为主,中部则侵入产状和喷出产状皆发育。巴塔玛依内山组火山岩体具有多期次的特点,各火山机构彼此叠置,时间和空间上具有一定的相关性。层状火山机构发育。本文的研究方法对准噶尔盆地内石炭系火山岩研究及火山机构的解剖具有借鉴意义,同时也为该区的油气勘探和开发提供一定的依据。     

Water levels in Lake Ontario 4230–2000 years B.P.: evidence from Grenadier Pond,Toronto, Canada

Lake Ontario water levels have been rising for the past 11 500 years due to differential isostatic rebound of the St. Lawrence outlet. Small scale fluctuations in water level superimposed on this general trend have received little study, with the exception of the Nipissing Flood.The transgression of a Grenadier Pond was studied from cores along a transect from the bar that separates the pond from Lake Ontario to the marsh on the north shore. Radiocarbon dates of the transition from swamp peat to pond marl in five cores provide estimates of the rate of water level rise since 4230 years B.P. These estimates are supported by changes in sediment type and in abundance of pollen and seeds of aquatic plants. There were three short intervals of accelerated water level rise in Grenadier Pond, around 4200, 3000, and 2000 years B.P., when water levels rose up to 2 m instantaneously, within the resolution of radiocarbon dating. Sedimentological and paleobotanical data suggest that Grenadier Pond was an open embayment of Lake Ontario until 1970–1850 years B.P., when it was isolated by the bar, and therefore sediments deposited prior to this time reflect water levels in Lake Ontario.Short term departure of up to 2 m from the average rate of water level rise over the past 4000 years, as observed in the record at Grenadier Pond, is of the same range as historically observed departures from the mean lake stage of Lake Ontario. This implies that a threshold discharge exists above which broadening of the outflow channel occurs to accommodate further increase in discharge with little rise in lake level. The intervals of accelerated water level rise in Lake Ontario broadly coincide with periods of cool, wet climate, suggesting that increased moisture may have caused the short term fluctuations in water level.This is the second of a series of papers to be published by this journal that was presented in the paleolimnology sessions organized by R. B. Davis and H. Löffler for the XIIth Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), which took place in Ottawa, Canada in August 1987. Drs. Davis and Löffler are serving as guest editors of this series.