On salinity regimes and the vertical structure of residual flows in narrow tidal estuaries

An examination is made of the circulation in narrow estuaries subject to a predominant tidal forcing. Velocity structures are derived separately for residual flow components associated with (a) river flow, (b) wind stress, (c) a well-mixed longitudinal density gradient and (d) a fully stratified saline wedge. Dimensionless parameters are introduced to indicate the magnitude of each component and these parameters are evaluated for 9 major estuaries, thereby revealing their sensitivity to each component.For a channel of constant breadth and depth, formulae are deduced for the length of saline intrusion, L. Comparisons with observed data show that such formulae may be used with confidence to predict changes in L arising from variations in river flow, tidal range or channel depths.The level of stratification is shown to be related to a product of two parameters, one associated with velocity structure and a second involving the square of the ‘flow ratio’ $\text{u}\text{u}\text{?}$ (i.e. residual velocity/amplitude of the tidal velocity). This relationship provides a simple classification system for estuarine stratification which can be used to indicate the sensitivity of any particular estuary to changing conditions.     

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.     

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。     

雪宝顶碱性花岗岩岩石地球化学与成矿控制

对雪宝顶碱性花岗岩具有高丰度的W、Sn、Be含量和W、Sn矿化花岗岩的微量元素组合特征进行了分析，结果显示：稀土元素具有∑REE含量与LREE／HREE比值偏低和负Eu异常的特点；元素比值K／Rb，U／Th，Nb／Ta的规律性变化以及矿脉产状特征等表明W-(Sn)-Be脉状矿床形成于岩浆演化晚期，与岩浆期后的热液活动有关。     

利用卫星遥感资料对南海北部陆架海洋表层温度锋的分析

利用7年(1993～1999)月平均的SST卫星遥感资料，分析了南海北部陆架区域海洋表层温度锋在一年中的逐月变化特征，表明南海北部陆架海洋表层温度锋存在明显的季节内变化。结合风场的卫星遥感资料，分析了东北季风对南海北部陆架温度锋的影响，表明东北季风风速的增加有利于温度锋强度的增强。通过对黑潮南海流套入侵较强的1999年2月与流套入侵较弱的1998年2月的SST卫星遥感资料的对比分析，考察了黑潮南海流套的入侵对南海北部陆架温度锋的影响，结果表明黑潮流套的较强入侵能够增加陆架温度锋的强度，对温度锋的走向也会产生一定的影响。     

藏东八宿地区泛非期花岗岩锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年

卡穷细粒黑云母碱长花岗岩出露于藏东八宿县同卡地区,是藏东地区首次发现的泛非期花岗岩.卡穷微陆块呈岩片状夹持于班公湖-怒江缝合带内,卡穷岩群构成卡穷微陆块的主体,卡穷岩群是由花岗岩、花岗片麻岩、黑云斜长片麻岩、大理岩、黑云斜长变粒岩、退变榴辉岩等组成的构造地质体.卡穷细粒黑云母碱长花岗岩获得的锆石SHRIMPU-Pb年龄为507Ma±10Ma,为泛非事件的岩浆活动记录,进一步证实班公湖-怒江板块缝合带以南是泛非期基底,为解决青藏高原南部的构造演化问题提供了新资料.     

Provenance of Conglomerate and Sandstone from Early Permian Shoushangou Formation in Xi Ujimqin, Inner Mongolia: Implications for Understanding Paleo-Asian Ocean Subduction

During the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, a rift was formed by post-collisional extension after ocean closure or an island arc-related basin formed by Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO) subduction in the Xi Ujimqin area. Nevertheless, the closure time of the PAO is still under debate. Thus, to identify the origin of the PAO, the geochemistry and U-Pb age of zircons were analyzed for the extra-large deep marine, polymict clastic boulders and sandstones in the Shoushangou Formation within the basin. The analyses revealed magmatic activity and tectonic evolution. The conglomerates include megaclasts of granite (298.8 ± 9.1?Ma) and granodiorite porphyry (297.1 ± 3.1?Ma), which were deposited by muddy debris flow. Results of this study demonstrated that the boulders of granitoids have the geochemistry of typical I-type granite, characterized by low Zr + Nb + Ce + Y and low Ga/Al values. The granitoid boulders were formed in island arc setting, indicating the presence of arc magmatism in the area that is composed of the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian subduction-related granitoid in southern Xi Ujimqin. Multiple diagrams for determining sedimentary provenance using major and trace elements indicate that Shoushangou sediments originated from continental island arc-related felsic rocks. Detrital zircon U-Pb age cluster of 330–280?Ma was obtained, indicating input from granite, ophiolite, Xilin Gol complex, and Carboniferous sources to the south. The basin was geographically developed behind the arc during the Early Permian period because the outcropped intrusive rocks in the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian form a volcanic arc. The comprehensive analyses of source areas suggest that Shoushangou sediments developed in a backarc basin in response to the northward subduction of the PAO. The backarc basin and intrusive rocks, in addition to previously published Late Carboniferous to Early Permian magmatic rocks of arc unit in Xilin Gol, confirm the presence of an Early Permian trench-arc-basin system in the region, represented by the Baolidao arc and Xi Ujimqin backarc basin. This study highlights the importance and potential of combined geochemical and geochronological studies of conglomerates and sandstone for reconstructing the geodynamic setting of a basin.     

Granitoids in the Rozvadov Pluton,Western Bohemia and Oberpfalz

The Rozvadov Pluton is a complex of mainly Variscan granitoid rocks situated near the Bohemian-Bavarian border between Bärnau, Tachov, Rozvadov and Waidhaus, 25 km ESE of the KTB site. Five mappable units can be distinguished, which intruded as folows: (1) slightly deformed leucocratic meta-aplite/metapegmatite dykes with garnet and tourmaline; (2) a complex of cordierite-bearing granitoids, which have been divided into three facies (a) biotite granite with cordierite (at the margin of the complex), (b) biotite-cordierite granite and (c) cordierite tonalite (in the centre of the complex; (3) fine-grained biotite granite of the Rozvadov type with associated pegmatite bodies; (4) two-mica Bärnau granite; and (5) geochemically specialized albite-zinnwaldite-topaz granite (Kríový kámen/Kreuzstein granite) with indications of Sn-Nb-Ta mineralization and associated phosphorus-rich pegmatite cupolas. Rare earth element data suggest that meta-aplite/pegmatite dykes are the result of a batch partial melting process, whereas the compositional variation of the other rock types was mainly controlled by fractional crystallization. The genesis of the cordierite granitoid suite is best explained in terms of a batch melting of metapelitic source followed by crystallization of a cordierite-rich cumulate and K-feldspar enriched melt. The leucocratic pluton constituents — the meta-aplites and the Bärnau and Kíový kámen granites are rich in phosphorus (0.5–0.8%). The main carriers of phosphorus are alkali feldspars, especially K-feldspar (up to 0.8% P₂O₅). The presence of P-rich leucocratic granites is one of the features distinguishing the Variscan granitoids within the Moldanubian zone from the nearly contemporaneous granitoids in the Saxothuringian zone.     

Holocene climate variability in Sicily from a discontinuous stalagmite record and the Mesolithic to Neolithic transition

Fabric and stable isotopic composition of a Holocene stalagmite (CR1) from a cave in northern Sicily record changes in paleorainfall in the early Holocene. High δ¹³C stable isotope values in the calcite deposited from ca. 8500 to ca. 7500 yr ago are interpreted as reflecting periods of high rainfall. The wet phase was interrupted by two periods of multi-century duration characterized by relatively cool and dry winters centered at ca. 8200 and ca. 7500 yr ago, highlighted by low δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values. A high variability of δ¹³C values is recorded from ca. 7500 to ca. 6500 yr ago and indicates that the transition from a pluvial early Holocene to the present-day climate conditions was punctuated by decadal-scale periods of relatively dry winters. In northern Sicily, the traditional elements of the Neolithic appear at ca. 7700 yr ago. It is possible that changes in rainfall influenced the passage from hunter-gathering to farming and sheep-herding economies.     

Study of geothermal water intrusion due to groundwater exploitation in the Puebla Valley aquifer system, Mexico

Significant intrusion of geothermal water into fresh groundwater takes place in the Puebla Valley aquifer system, Mexico. The decline in the potentiometric surface due to the overexploitation of the groundwater induces this intrusion. This hydrological system comprises three aquifers located in Plio-Quaternary volcanic sediments and Mesozoic calcareous rocks. The hydraulic balance of the aquifer shows that the annual output exceeds the natural inputs by 12 million m³. Between 1973 and 2002, a drop in the potentiometric surface, with an 80 m cone of depression, was identified in a 5-km-wide area located southwest of the city of Puebla. Chemical analyses performed on water samples since 1990 have shown an increase in total dissolved solids (TDS) of more than 500 mg/L, coinciding with the region showing a cone of depression in the potentiometric surface. A three-dimensional flow and transport model, based on the hydrogeological and geophysical studies, was computed by using the MODFLOW and MT3D software. This model reproduces the evolution of the aquifer system during the last 30 years and predicts for 2010 an additional drawdown in the potentiometric surface of 15 m, and an increase in the geothermal water intrusion.