Middle Stone Age starch acquisition in the Niassa Rift, Mozambique

The quest for direct lines of evidence for Paleolithic plant consumption during the African Middle Stone Age has led scientists to study residues and use-wear on flaked stone tools. Past work has established lithic function through multiple lines of evidence and the spatial breakdown of use-wear and microscopic traces on tool surfaces. This paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of starch assemblages and the botanical identification of grains from flake and core tools to learn about human ecology of carbohydrate use around the Niassa woodlands, in the Mozambican Rift. The processing of starchy plant parts is deduced from the occurrence of starch assemblages that presumably got attached to stone tool surfaces by actions associated with extractive or culinary activities. Specifically, we investigate starch grains from stone tools recently excavated in northern Mozambique at the site of Mikuyu; which presumably spans the middle to late Pleistocene and represents similar sites found along the Malawi/Niassa corridor that links East, Southern, and Central Africa. Starch was extracted and processed with a diverse tool kit consisting of scrapers, cores, points, flakes, and other kinds of tools. The microbotanical data suggests consumption of seeds, legumes, caryopses, piths, underground storage organs, nuts, and mesocarps from more than a dozen families. Our data suggest a great antiquity for starch use in Africa as well as an expanded diet and intensification.     

新生相形成的模拟实验研究

通过模拟实验制备了硅酸盐类不溶性固体，从Ｘ射线衍射特征和红外光谱特征两方面看，制得的硅酸盐类与河口新生相成分，结构相似，表明铁水解成的β－ＦｅＯＯＨ胶体吸附Ｓｉ，Ａｌ，Ｍｇ，Ｋ等元素，经结构重组可形成硅酸盐矿物，这可能是河口体系新生相的形成原因。     

东海沉积物间隙水中硅酸盐和硫酸盐“扩散-平流-反应”模式的研究

本文提出了东海沉积物间隙水中溶解硅酸盐和硫酸盐的“扩散-平流-反应”模式。研究结果表明,由于间隙水受到硅酸盐溶解、吸附和沉淀不同体系的控制,因而间隙水中的硅酸盐具有三种不同形式的垂直分布,并从模式中得到了上述反应的反应常数,其中E柱硅溶解的一级动力学反应常数为0.00l 42a~(-1)。首次发现了东海沉积物间隙水中硅酸盐指数下降的垂直分布规律,并从数学模式上进行了处理。本文还研完了由于有机质还原sO_4~(2-)而产生的硫酸盐指数下降垂直分布,提出其模式,结果表明,SO_4~(2-)还原最大速率发生在沉积物-水界面附近,每年可达lmmo1/dm~3。     

Pressure effect on Ti- or P-rich accessory mineral saturation in evolved granitic melts with differing K2O/Na2O ratios

The solubility of Ti- and P-rich accessory minerals has been examined as a function of pressure and K₂O/Na₂O ratio in two series of highly evolved silicate systems. These systems correspond to (a) alkaline, varying from alkaline to peralkaline with increasing K₂O/Na₂O ratio; and (b) strongly metaluminous (essentially trondhjemitic at the lowest K₂O/Na₂O ratio) and remaining metaluminous with increasing K₂O/Na₂O ratio (to 3). The experiments were conducted at a fixed temperature of 1000 °C, with water contents varying from 5 wt.% at low pressure (0.5 GPa), increasing through 5–10 wt.% at 1.5–2.5 GPa to 10 wt.% at 3.5 GPa. Pressure was extended outside the normal crustal range, so that the results may also be applied to derivation of hydrous silicic melts from subducted oceanic crust.

For the alkaline composition series, the TiO₂ content of the melt at Ti-rich mineral saturation decreases with increasing pressure but is unchanged with increasing K content (at fixed pressure). The P₂O₅ content of the alkaline melts at apatite saturation increases with increased pressure at 3.5 GPa only, but decreases with increasing K content (and peralkalinity). For the metaluminous composition series (termed as “trondhjemite-based series” (T series)), the TiO₂ content of the melt at Ti-rich mineral saturation decreases with increasing pressure and with increasing K content (at fixed pressure). The P₂O₅ content of the T series melts at apatite saturation is unchanged with increasing pressure, but decreases with increasing K content. The contrasting results for P and Ti saturation levels, as a function of pressure in both compositions, point to contrasting behaviour of Ti and P in the structure of evolved silicate melts. Ti content at Ti-rich mineral saturation is lower in the alkaline compared with the T series at 0.5 GPa, but is similar at higher pressures, whereas P content at apatite saturation is lower in the T series at all pressures studied. The results have application to A-type granite suites that are alkaline to peralkaline, and to I-type metaluminous suites that frequently exhibit differing K₂O/Na₂O ratios from one suite to another.     

四川盆地白垩纪沙漠石英沙颗粒表面特征

石英具有较大的硬度和较高的化学稳定性，因而其颗粒表面特征能很好地反映沉积环境。而通过扫描电镜研究石英颗粒表面微细特征是分析沉积环境行之有效的方法。虽然多数人认为四川盆地白垩纪地层存在沙漠沉积(打儿凼组和夹关组)，但仍有人对沙漠沉积的存在持怀疑态度，并认为是河流成三角洲沉积。过去关于其沉积环境的判别主要是根据沉积结构和构造，并未对其石英沙颗粒表面特征进行过系统分析。笔者对采自四川盆地白垩系不同层位地层的样品进行了石英沙颗粒表面特征系统分析。结果表明，石英沙颗粒表面特征分析可以成功地将石英沙区分为风成和水成沉积。因此，本文从石英沙颗粒表面特征方面进一步肯定了四川盆地白垩纪古沙漠的存在。     

程海断裂带断层泥中石英碎砾表面SEM特征及断层活动状态的分析

根据断层泥中石英碎砾表面SEM特征的鉴定研究，可将程海断裂中、北段断层泥中石英碎砾表面SEM形貌特征分为6类，这表明该段断裂经历了长期多期次活动，强烈活动时间在中晚更新世；5件样品中均未见破裂类(Io)的石英颗粒，表明程海断裂全新世以来强烈活动的频度相对较低。石英碎砾表面机械作用特征的分类统计研究显示：程海断裂中、北段晚更新世以来，断层所经历的活动方式以粘滑活动为主。     

The structural role of Ti in aluminosilicate liquids in the glass transition range: insights from heat capacity and shear viscosity measurements

The shear viscosities and 1 bar heat capacities of glasses and melts along the 67mol% silica isopleth in the system SiO₂-Al₂O₃-Na₂O-TiO₂ have been determined in the temperature ranges 780-1140 K and 305-1090 K respectively. Anomalous behaviour of both these properties is observed for compositions rich in TiO₂ and/or Al₂O₃, an observation attributed to liquid-liquid phase separation followed by anatase crystallization. For samples which do not show anomalous behaviour, it is found that the partial molar heat capacity of the TiO₂ component previously determined in Al-free compositions reproduces our heat capacities to within 1.3%. Viscosity data show that addition of TiO₂ tends to increase viscosity and melt fragility at constant temperature. Furthermore, heat capacity and viscosity data may be combined within the framework of the Adam-Gibbs theory to extract values of the configurational entropy of the liquids and qualitative estimates of the variation of the average energy barrier to viscous flow. Configurational entropy at 900K is inferred to decrease upon addition of TiO₂, in contrast to previous results from Al-free systems. The compositional limit separating normal from anomalous behaviour, as well as the data for homogenous melts have been used to constrain the structural role of Ti in these samples. Our data are consistent with a majority of Ti in five-fold coordination associated with a titanyl bond, in agreement with previous spectroscopic studies. Furthermore, we find no evidence for a Ti-Al interaction in our samples, and we are led to the conclusion that Al and Ti are incompletely mixed, a hypothesis consistent with the observed reduction of configurational entropy upon addition of TiO₂, suggesting an important role of medium range order in controlling the variations in thermodynamic properties.     

Viscosity of peridotite liquid up to 13 GPa: Implications for magma ocean viscosities

The viscosity of synthetic peridotite liquid has been investigated at high pressures using in-situ falling sphere viscometry by combining a multi-anvil technique with synchrotron radiation. We used a newly designed capsule containing a small recessed reservoir outside of the hot spot of the heater, in which a viscosity marker sphere is embedded in a forsterite + enstatite mixture having a higher solidus temperature than the peridotite. This experimental setup prevents spheres from falling before a stable temperature above the liquidus is established and thus avoids difficulties in evaluating viscosities from velocities of spheres falling through a partially molten sample.

Experiments have been performed between 2.8 and 13 GPa at temperatures ranging from 2043 to 2523 K. Measured viscosities range from 0.019 (± 0.004) to 0.13 (± 0.02) Pa s. At constant temperature, viscosity increases with increasing pressure up to  8.5 GPa but then decreases between  8.5 and 13 GPa. The change in the pressure dependence of viscosity is likely associated with structural changes of the liquid that occur upon compression. By combining our results with recently published 0.1 MPa peridotite liquid viscosities [D.B. Dingwell, C. Courtial, D. Giordano, A. Nichols, Viscosity of peridotite liquid, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 226 (2004) 127–138.], the experimental data can be described by a non-Arrhenian, empirical Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman equation, which has been modified by adding a term to account for the observed pressure dependence of viscosity. This equation reproduces measured viscosities to within 0.08 log₁₀-units on average. We use this model to calculate viscosities of a peridotitic magma ocean along a liquid adiabat to a depth of  400 km and discuss possible effects on viscosity at greater pressures and temperatures than experimentally investigated.     

Supply and Demand Levels for Livestock and Poultry Products in the Chinese Mainland and the Potential Demand for Feed Grains

The widening gap between the supply and demand levels for livestock and poultry products in the Chinese mainland poses a significant challenge to the secure supply of feed grains. Therefore, the accurate prediction of the demand potential for feed grains represents a key scientific issue for ensuring food security in the Chinese mainland. This study is based on an analysis of several factors, such as the Chinese mainland’s output, trade volume, apparent consumption of livestock and poultry products, and two different scenarios for predicting the future demand for feed grains are assessed. The results indicate that output and consumption of livestock and poultry products, as well as the country’s trade deficit and the pressure of the supply and demand balance with respect to these products, have been increasing in recent years. The analysis predicts that the demand for feed grains in the Chinese mainland will reach 425.5 or 389.6 million tons in 2030 based on the two scenarios. This finding indicates that with the increasing demand for livestock and poultry products in the Chinese mainland, the demand for feed grains will continue to increase, and the shortfall in feed grains and raw materials will expand further, especially dependence on external sources of protein-rich feed grains will remain high.