Biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in north Norfolk,UK

Considerable debate surrounds the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in East Anglia following some recent stratigraphical reinterpretations. Resolution of the stratigraphy here is important since it not only concerns the glacial history of the region but also has a bearing on our understanding of the earliest human occupation of north‐western Europe. The orthodox consensus that all the tills were emplaced during the Anglian (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12) has recently been challenged by a view assigning each major till to a different glacial stage, before, during and after MIS 12. Between Trimingham and Sidestrand on the north Norfolk coast, datable organic sediments occur immediately below and above the glacial succession. The oldest glacial deposit (Happisburgh Till) directly overlies the ‘Sidestrand Unio‐bed’, here defined as the Sidestrand Hall Member of the Cromer Forest‐bed Formation. Dating of these sediments therefore has a bearing on the maximum age of the glacial sequence. This paper reviews the palaeobotany and describes the faunal assemblages recovered from the Sidestrand Unio‐bed, which accumulated in a fluvial environment in a fully temperate climate with regional deciduous woodland. There are indications from the ostracods for weakly brackish conditions. Significant differences are apparent between the Sidestrand assemblages and those from West Runton, the type site of the Cromerian Stage. These differences do not result from contrasting facies or taphonomy but reflect warmer palaeotemperatures at Sidestrand and a much younger age. This conclusion is suggested by the higher proportion of thermophiles at Sidestrand and the occurrence of a water vole with unrooted molars (Arvicola) rather than its ancestor Mimomys savini with rooted molars. Amino acid racemisation data also indicate that Sidestrand is significantly younger than West Runton. These data further highlight the stratigraphical complexity of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ and support the conventional view that the Happisburgh Till was emplaced during the Anglian rather than the recently advanced view that it dates from MIS 16. Moreover, new evidence from the Trimingham lake bed (Sidestrand Cliff Formation) above the youngest glacial outwash sediments (Briton's Lane Formation) indicates that they also accumulated during a Middle Pleistocene interglacial – probably MIS 11. All of this evidence is consistent with a short chronology placing the glacial deposits within MIS 12, rather than invoking multiple episodes of glaciation envisaged in the ‘new glacial stratigraphy’ during MIS 16, 12, 10 and 6. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infiltration at the Tai rain forest (Ivory Coast): Measurements and modelling

Infiltration experiments have been performed at three sites along a well-known catena under virgin tropical rain forest using a portable sprinkling infiltrometer. Experimentally determined infiltration curves are presented. Infiltration curves are also simulated on the basis of the Mein-Larson equation. The parameters for this model have been obtained from the infiltration curves (saturated conductivity) and simple soil moisture determinations (fillable porosity). The agreement between experimentally determined and modelled infiltration is reasonable, provided (a) saturated conductivity as derived from the experimental data is corrected, (b) a storage parameter, also derived from the experimental data, is added to the Mein-Larson model, and (c) the decline in soil porosity with depth is either small or occurs abruptly at shallow depth. Comparison of observed infiltration rates with rainfall intensity shows that Horton Overland Flow has to occur naturally at least on the middle and lower section of the catena. Despite the fact that most parameters can be estimated in principle from basic soil data, it remains advisable to obtain sprinkling infiltrometer field measurements, because of soil variability due to dynamic surface conditions, macroporosity, air entrapment, and irregularity of the wetting front.     

Models of natural and human dynamics in forest landscapes: Cross-site and cross-cultural synthesis

We synthesize the study of coupled natural and human systems across sites and cultures through a process of simplification and abstraction based on multiple dimensions of human-nature connectedness: satisfaction of basic needs, psycho-cultural connectedness and regulation of use of natural resources. We thus provide both a place-based and general understanding of value-driven anthropogenic environmental change and response. Two questions guide this research: what are the crucial stakeholder values that drive land use decisions and thus land cover change? And how can knowledge of these values be used to make decisions and policies that sustain both the human and natural systems in a place? To explore these questions we build simulation models of four study sites, two in the State of Texas, United States, and two in Venezuela. All include protected areas, though they differ in the specifics of vegetation and land use. In the Texas sites, relatively affluent individuals are legally converting forests to residential, commercial, and industrial uses, while in Venezuela landless settlers are extra-legally converting forests for purposes of subsistence agriculture. Contemporary modeling techniques now facilitate simulations of stakeholder and ecosystem dynamics revealing emergent patterns. Such coupled human and natural systems are currently recognized as a form of biocomplexity. Our modeling framework is flexible enough to allow adaptation to each of the study sites, capturing the essential features of the respective natural and anthropogenic land use changes and stakeholder reactions. The interactions between human stakeholders are simulated using multi-agent models that act on forest landscape models, and receive feedback of the effects of these actions on ecological habitats and hydrological response. The multi-agent models employ a formal logic-based method for the Venezuelan sites and a decision analysis approach using multi-attribute utility functions for the Texas sites, differing more in style and emphasis than in substance. Our natural-systems models are generic and can be tailored according to site-specific conditions. Similar models of tree growth and patch transitions are used for all the study sites and the differing responses to environmental variables are specified for each local species and terrain conditions.     

Geochronology of Pliocene volcanism in the Dzhavakheti Highland (the Lesser Caucasus). Part 1: Western part of the Dzhavakheti Highland

Isotopic-geochronological study of the Pliocene magmatic activity in western part of the Dzhavakheti Highland (northwestern region of the Lesser Caucasus) is carried out. The results obtained imply that the Pliocene magmatic activity lasted in this part of the highland approximately 2 million years from 3.75 to 1.75–1.55 Ma. As is established, the studied volcanic rocks correspond in composition mostly to K-Na subalkaline and more abundant normal basalts. Time constraints of main phases in development of basic volcanism within the study region are figured out. We assume that individual pulses of silicic to moderately silicic volcanism presumably took place in the Dzhavakheti Highland about 3.2 and 2.5 Ma ago.     

山西榆社-太谷盆地上新世中晚期的植被与环境

山西中、东部的榆社、太谷盆地发育了良好的上新世河湖相地层，其丰富的植物、鱼类和哺乳类化石为我们提供了一个古植被和古环境研究的理想场所。根据榆社盆地磁笥年表以及化石组合特征，榆社、太谷盆地约为5．5MaBP以来的套沉积、榆社张村组与太谷小白组的沉积时代相当，大约形成于3．5－2．3MaBP。从大约4．4MaBP开始，较高含量的云杉、冷杉花粉显示研究区已有暗针叶林生长，从3．5MaBP开始，暗针叶林有了较大的发展，存在大面积的暗针叶林纯林。大致从上新世中期的4．4MaBP开始，气候已经开始变冷，并有较明显的干湿波动，蒿、藜为主的干草原大约从2．3MaBP开始繁盛，表明研究区转变为干冷气候。     

东营市东辛2-4井磁性地层划分对比研究

本文通过东辛2—4井岩心样品的古地磁学研究,整段岩心呈现以正极性为主的混合极性特征。自上而下划分的布容、松山、高斯和吉尔伯特极性时和布容极性时内清晰显示出的哥德堡和布莱克亚时的界限分别位于井深28.0m、161.0m、274.5m和452.0m。据黄河口南北5个钻孔磁性地层的划分对比,长江口、苏北盆地和东营地区,吉尔伯特、高斯和布容极性时的沉积速度较快,松山极性时较慢或近于缺失;黄河口以北至河北地区,高斯极性时地层不发育,吉尔伯特、松山和布容极性时则较厚,表明它们所处的构造单元、地质基础和沉积环境有较大的不同。     

中国海域的天然气水合物资源

天然气水合物是甲烷等天然气在高压、低温条件下形成的冰状固体物质。据估算,全球天然气水合物中碳的含量等于石油、煤等化石能源中碳含量的2倍。在人类面临化石能源即将枯竭的时候,各国科学家和政府都把目光投向这一未来能替代化石能源的新能源。新生代构造演化历史、沉积条件、沉积环境等显示,南海具有生成和蕴藏巨大天然气水合物资源的条件;南海海域的地震反射剖面多处显示存在BSR反射波;2007年已钻探见到水合物样品。东海冲绳海槽在第四纪的沉积速率高(10~40cm/ka),槽坡存在泥底辟构造和断裂活动,从上新世以来发生过两次构造运动,这些对天然气水合物的形成是十分有利的;因此,中国海域的天然水合物资源是十分丰富的,在不远的将来它可能成为新的替代能源。     

Anomalous geochemical provenance and weathering history of Plio-Pleistocene glaciomarine fjord strata, Bardin Bluffs Formation, East Antarctica

Major and trace element chemical analyses of the Plio‐Pleistocene Bardin Bluffs Formation, on the margin of a major ice‐stream of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, yield an anomalous chemically altered sediment composition. The Bardin Bluffs Formation of the Pagodroma Group is one of the key deposits on the Antarctic continent recording glaciomarine sedimentation under open marine fjord conditions as recently as the Plio‐Pleistocene. In modern fjords occupied by outlet glaciers of ice sheets, the composition of fine‐grained terrigenous sediments approaches that of unweathered rock types exposed upstream. In the Bardin Bluffs Formation, average abundances of stable elements (Ti, Al, Zr) approach average upper crustal compositions and the element ratios are consistent with sediments with a cratonic source, implying glacial dispersal from a large shield area through the Lambert Glacier drainage system. Interestingly, the chemical index of alteration (CIA) of these sediments has values similar to those of average shales formed under conditions of chemical weathering. The sediments are particularly depleted in silicate Ca, which has been observed elsewhere in glacial muds sourced from pre‐glacial saprolites. The anomalous chemistry of the Bardin Bluffs Formation can be explained by a sequence of events, involving chemical weathering prior to glacial expansion and erosion. The presence of a remnant 1·5 m deep late Neogene weathering profile at the base of the Bardin Bluffs sequence corroborates this conclusion. Supply of large quantities of chemically weathered materials to Antarctic marginal basins requires at least partial deglaciation of the continent and was previously regarded as uncharacteristic for late Neogene Antarctica.     

Exploring the spatial and temporal dynamics of land use in Xizhuang watershed of Yunnan, southwest China

Over the last two decades, China has introduced a series of agricultural and forestland use reforms, aiming to feed the largest population in the world and maintain ecological services locally and nationally. This paper studies the impacts of local government-driven reforestation on land use and land cover change, as well as its further impacts on livelihoods of upland farmers in Xizhuang watershed. An analysis of aerial photographs and ASTER satellite imagery from 1987 to 2002, respectively, showed that the forest has significantly increased at the expense of decreasing farmland. However, the monoculture reforestation of pine has caused both biophysical and socio-economic consequences. This case study also shows forestry decentralization in China remains incomplete. Land use and land cover change is also a political economic issue. Some of the reforms designed to protect forest resources have had a negative impact on rural livelihoods.     

东营市森林火险天气等级预报系统

利用9210传输的气象资料，选用国家气象中心T106和HLAFS数值预报产品中的要素作为火险天气因子，根据森林火险原因，建立了东营市森林火险天气等级预报系统。