Human spaceflight in the UK: the cost of non-participation

Human space exploration is not considered a strategic priority in the United Kingdom at present. However the UK would benefit from participating in human spaceflight, for both scientific and social reasons. From the point of view of medical science there are many parallels between the physiology of spaceflight and terrestrial disease processes, and studies of the response of astronauts to long-duration spaceflight can therefore help in the development of therapeutic strategies on Earth. On the social side, human spaceflight is an attractive vehicle for stimulating the interest of young people in science and engineering, something that must be of value for an aspiring ‘knowledge-based’ economy.     

柴达木盆地东北缘古元古代变质镁铁—超镁铁质岩的地质特征及成因探讨

1:5万区域地质调查工作中,在柴达木陆块北缘首次发现古元古代变质镁铁—超镁铁质岩,获得成岩年龄为1952±15Ma,其岩石化学、地球化学特征反映出岩浆来源于亏损地幔,反映出该地区克拉通在古元古代(19亿年)发生了一次强烈的裂解(洋)事件,对于研究柴达木盆地北缘元古代结晶基底地质构造演化及进一步探讨柴达木盆地的起源及构造演化过程提供了重要地质线索。     

The chronology of a large ice-dammed lake and the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet advances, Northern Russia

Beach and shoreface sediments deposited in the more than 800-km long ice-dammed Lake Komi in northern European Russia have been investigated and dated. The lake flooded the lowland areas between the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet in the north and the continental drainage divide in the south. Shoreline facies have been dated by 18 optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates, most of which are closely grouped in the range 80–100 ka, with a mean of 88±3 ka. This implies that that the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet had its Late Pleistocene maximum extension during the Early Weichselian, probably in the cold interval (Rederstall) between the Brørup and Odderade interstadials of western Europe, correlated with marine isotope stage 5b. This is in strong contrast to the Scandinavian and North American ice sheets, which had their maxima in isotope stage 2, about 20 ka. Field and air photo interpretations suggest that Lake Komi was dammed by the ice advance, which formed the Harbei–Harmon–Sopkay Moraines. These has earlier been correlated with the Markhida moraine across the Pechora River Valley and its western extension. However, OSL dates on fluvial sediments below the Markhida moraine have yielded ages as young as 60 ka. This suggests that the Russian mainland was inundated by two major ice sheet advances from the Barents–Kara seas after the last interglacial: one during the Early Weichselian (about 90 ka) that dammed Lake Komi and one during the Middle Weichselian (about 60 ka). Normal fluvial drainage prevailed during the Late Weichselian, when the ice front was located offshore.     

河西走廊东部地区早二叠世地层研究的新认识

本文讨论了河西走廊东部地区早二叠世地层研究的有关问题,认为甘肃山丹青羊泉下二叠统剖面是北祁连山—河西走廊地区的重要代表剖面之一。以该剖面研究为依据,提出走廊东部地区下二叠统的进一步划分方案,分析该区早二叠世地层岩性特征差异的原因,并与走廊西部地区同期地层进行对比,进一步明确了大黄沟组的含意。     

浅析宁波盆地膏盐地层的时代──兼对“宁波盆地北部的长河群”之时代质疑

宁波盆地地下揭示的一套包含暗色膏硝质泥岩、泥质白云岩在内的紫红、灰紫色泥岩、棕褐色砂砾岩、细砂岩和玻屑凝灰岩的地层，均称方岩组，内含膏盐并具油色显示。对其时代有早、晚白垩世和早第三纪之认识，笔者从70～90年代地质工作中所获化石分析认为，虽然宁波盆地这一层位含化石不丰，但从分布及数量上比较，相对占优势的应该是孢粉和植物化石，其时代意见也较为一致，指示为早白垩世。     

The Early Pleistocene Praetiglian and Ludhamian pollen stages in the North Sea Basin and their relationship to the marine isotope record

In this paper, the currently accepted correlation of the Early Pleistocene Ludhamian stage of England with the Tiglian‐A sub‐stage of the Netherlands is challenged. Recent investigations of Early Pleistocene marine North Sea deposits from a borehole near Noordwijk (the Netherlands) yielded evidence from molluscs, dinoflagellate cysts and sporomorphs for an alternation of warm‐temperate and arctic intervals within the Praetiglian and Tiglian stages. Marine equivalents of the terrestrial‐based pollen sub‐stages Tiglian A and B have been recognised in the upper part of the sequence. A Praetiglian age can be assigned to the lower part of the sequence on the basis of mollusc analysis. Within the Praetiglian, an alternation of warm and cold phases has been recognised from both the dinoflagellate cyst and molluscan records. Three cold phases within the Praetiglian are tentatively correlated with marine isotope stages (MIS) 96–100. The molluscan assemblages provide evidence for climate forcing of the sea level: highest sea levels are reached in the warm‐temperate intervals. Within the Praetiglian, an interval with an acme zone of the dinoflagellate cyst Impagidinium multiplexum, is correlated with the Ludhamian and tentatively linked to MIS 97 and/or MIS 96. The cold molluscan assemblages from the Noordwijk borehole include an acme zone of Megayoldia thraciaeformis, the first and only occurrence of this North Pacific bivalve in the North Sea Basin. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decoupling of stalagmite-derived Asian summer monsoon records from North Atlantic temperature change during marine oxygen isotope stage 5d

The Asian monsoon is an important component of the global climate system. Seasonal variations in wind, rainfall, and temperature associated with the Asian monsoon systems affect a vast expanse of tropical and subtropical Asia. Speleothem-derived summer monsoon variation in East Asia was previously found to be closely associated with millennial-scale change in temperature in the North Atlantic region between 75 and 10 ka. New evidence recovered from East Asia, however, suggests that the teleconnection between summer monsoon in East Asia and temperature change in the North Atlantic region may have significantly reduced during 120 to ~ 110 ka, a period directly after the full last interglaciation and corresponding roughly to marine oxygen isotope stage 5d. This reduction may be due to the low ice volume in the North Hemisphere at that time, which makes the millennial-scale change in temperature in the North Atlantic region less effective in influencing the Asian summer monsoon. This is important for investigating the mechanisms controlling the Asian summer monsoon and the paleoclimatic teleconnection between East Asia and the North Atlantic region, and for predicting monsoon-associated precipitation in East Asia under a global-warming trend.     

藏北南羌塘盆地毕洛错地区下侏罗统曲色组石膏岩层

对西藏自治区北部南羌塘盆地毕洛错地区下侏罗统曲色组石膏岩层进行了研究。根据岩石地层和生物地层资料,确认毕洛错地区的石膏岩层和油页岩为曲色组的一部分,地质时代为早侏罗世,并确认下侏罗统曲色组在区域上可能是寻找油气、油页岩资源的重要层位之一。     

新疆境内塔拉斯 费尔干纳断裂早侏罗世走滑的古地震证据

在野外考察过程中,于新疆乌恰地区早侏罗世康苏组沼泽相砂岩层中,发现并识别出软沉积物液化变形层,变形包括负载构造,球枕构造及卷曲变形构造。通过模拟试验的对比研究认为,该软沉积物变形机制与液化作用有关,触发沉积物液化的动力是古地震,并且根据地震震级与液化最大震中距的关系,推测出造成早侏罗世软沉积物变形的里氏地震震级为6相似文献