Community and Population Responses of the Macroinfauna to Physical Factors over a Range of Exposed Sandy Beaches in South-central Chile

Ten exposed sandy sites covering a range from reflective to dissipative beaches were sampled in south-central Chile to evaluate: (1) spatial changes in species richness, abundance and biomass of the intertidal macroinfauna in response to changes in mean grain size, beach face slope and beach type, and (2) spatial changes in abundance, biomass and body sizes of the most abundant species in response to changes in the physical factors. The number of species, abundance and biomass per beach in general decreased with increasing particle size and beach face slope (steeper beaches) and increased from reflective to dissipative conditions. The best fit for number of species was with Dean's parameter, a measure of beach type, whereas for abundance and biomass the best fits were found with particle size. The isopod Excirolana braziliensis and the anomuran Emerita analoga increased in abundance and biomass towards dissipative conditions, whereas Excirolana hirsuticauda showed the opposite trend in biomass and was significantly larger in beaches with steeper profiles. It is concluded that responses to changes in beach type are more pronounced at community level than within species populations.     

阿根廷米纳毕戈塔地区水系沉积物采样粒度试验研究

中国地质调查局与阿根廷地质矿产调查局合作在阿根廷西北部米纳毕戈塔地区进行1︰25万水系沉积物测量,该区属于干旱-半干旱高寒山区,为突出找矿效果,消除或减少风积物干扰,需要确定适合于该区的水系沉积物采样粒度。为此,在该区选择一个有已知矿床的1︰5万图幅进行采样粒度试验,分别选择10~60目、-60目、60~80目、-80目4个粒度级进行粒度试验;根据我国区域地球化学勘查规范,每个粒度分析39种元素。结果表明,大部分元素在4种粒度水系沉积物中的分布形态基本一致,都能够较好地反映出区内已知矿床,说明采用的采样方法可以有效地避免风成砂干扰;金、银、铜、锡等成矿元素在4种粒度中的分布略有差异,10~60目的金、铜和锡异常对已知矿体的反应更清晰准确。因此,本区水系沉积物地球化学测量的最佳采样粒度是10~60目。根据本次试验结果,中-阿地调局在本区联合开展1︰25万水系沉积物地球化学测量时采用了10~60目水系沉积物作为采样介质,取得了很好的效果。这是本区第一次进行水系沉积粒度试验,对本区将来的地球化学调查和研究具有指导意义。     

Three-dimensional petrographical investigations on borehole rock samples: a comparison between X-ray computed- and neutron tomography

Technical difficulties associated with excavation works in tectonized geological settings are frequent. They comprise instantaneous and/or delayed convergence, sudden collapse of gallery roof and/or walls, outpouring of fault-filling materials and water inflows. These phenomena have a negative impact on construction sites and their safety. In order to optimize project success, preliminary studies on the reliability of rock material found on site are needed. This implies in situ investigations (surface mapping, prospective drilling, waterflow survey, etc.) as well as laboratory investigations on rock samples (permeability determination, moisture and water content, mineralogy, petrography, geochemistry, mechanical deformation tests, etc.). A set of multiple parameters are then recorded which permit better insight on site conditions and probable behavior during excavation. Because rock formations are by nature heterogeneous, many uncertainties remain when extrapolating large-scale behavior of the rock mass from analyses of samples order of magnitudes smaller. Indirect large-scale field investigations (e.g. geophysical prospecting) could help to better constrain the relationships between lithologies at depth. At a much smaller scale, indirect analytical methods are becoming more widely used for material investigations. We discuss in this paper X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) and neutron tomography (NT), showing promising results for 3D petrographical investigations of the internal structure of opaque materials. Both techniques record contrasts inside a sample, which can be interpreted and quantified in terms of heterogeneity. This approach has the advantage of combining genetic parameters (physico-chemical rock composition) with geometric parameters resulting from alteration or deformation processes (texture and structure). A critical analysis of such 3D analyses together with the results of mechanical tests could improve predictions of short- and long-term behavior of a rock unit. Indirect methods have the advantage of being non-destructive. However, as it is the case with large-scale geophysical surveying, XRCT and NT are affected by several error factors inherent to the interaction of a radiation modality (X-ray or neutron beam) with the atomic structure of the investigated materials. Recorded signals are therefore in particular cases not artifact-free and need to be corrected in a subsequent stage of data processing.     

TRANSFERABLE PHOSPHORUS IN SEDIMENTS OF THE HUANGHE RIVER ESTUARY ＇S ADJACENT WATERS

Based on a new idea for research on cycling of marine biogenic elements, this study showed that only the leachable form phosphorus in natural grain sizes manne sediments constitutes the transferable phosphorous in the sediments. The transferable phosphorus content in the natural grain sizes surface sediments in the Huanghe River estuary adjacent waters ranges from 58.5-69.8 μg/g, accounting for only 9.1%-11.0% of the total phosphorus content, whereas the leachable form (“transferable” )phosphorus content in the sediment after it was totally ground into powder was found to be 454.8-529.2μg/g, accounting for 73.4%-89.1% of the total phosphorus. Analysis of the correlation between thebill,ass of benthos and the leachable form (“transferable” ) phosphorus showed that most of the leachableform (“transferable”) phosphorus in the totally ground sediment did not participate in the marine biogeo chemical cycling. Furthermore, a synchronous survey on benthos showed that the biornass of meio-and maero-benthos exhibited good positive correlation with the leachable form of phosphorus in the naturalgrain sizes sediment, but peorer correlation with the leachable form (“transferable”) phosphorus in the totally ground sediment, indicating that transferable phosphorus in marine sediment is the leachable form of phosphorus in the natural grain sizes sediments, and is not the previously known leachable form(“transferable”) phosphorus obtained from the totally ground sediment.     

石家庄市大气PM1、PM2.5和PM10中重金属元素分布特征及来源的对比研究

为了解元素(尤其是重金属元素)在不同粒径大气颗粒物中的分布规律、污染特征及来源,于2016年在石家庄市采集PM1、PM2.5和PM10样品。利用等离子体质谱仪(ICP-MS)测定了Al、Ti、V、Cr、Mn、Fe、Cu、Zn、As、Sb、Hg、Pb和Cd共13种元素的质量浓度,采用富集因子(EF)法分析各种元素在PM1、PM2.5和PM10中的分布特征,并通过主成分分析法讨论了这些元素的主要来源。富集因子分析显示出Al、Fe、Ti、Mn受人为因素影响较少(EF<10),其他元素则出现显著至极强的人为影响,尤其是Cd元素(EF>103),并发现颗粒物粒径较小时,富集因子较大,即人为因素影响更重。主成分分析表明：PM1中元素有工业冶炼及燃煤活动、机动车燃油排放、生活燃煤3个来源,PM2.5中元素有地壳源、电厂及居民生活燃煤、金属冶炼等工业活动、机动车尾气4个来源,PM10中元素有化石燃料燃烧和地壳源、与机动车相关的道路扬尘及工业尘、垃圾焚烧及机动车排放与磨损、燃煤活动4个来源。     

Colloid particle sizes in the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries,from Minneapolis to below New Orleans

An on-board technique was developed that combined discharge-weighted pumping to a high-speed continuous-flow centrifuge for isolation of the particulate-sized material with ultrafiltration for isolation of colloid-sized material. In order to address whether these processes changed the particle sizes during isolation, samples of particles in suspension were collected at various steps in the isolation process to evaluate changes in particle size. Particle sizes were determined using laser light-scattering photon correlation spectroscopy and indicated no change in size during the colloid isolation process. Mississippi River colloid particle sizes from twelve sites from Minneapolis to below New Orleans were compared with sizes from four tributaries and three seasons, and from predominantly autochthonous sources upstream to more allochthonous sources downstream. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seamount Characteristics and Mine-Site Model Applied to Exploration- and Mining-Lease-Block Selection for Cobalt-Rich Ferromanganese Crusts

Regulations are being developed through the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) for the exploration and mining of cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts. This paper lays out geologic and geomorphologic criteria that can be used to determine the size and number of exploration and mine-site blocks that will be the focus of much discussion within the ISBA Council deliberations. The surface areas of 155 volcanic edifices in the central equatorial Pacific were measured and used to develop a mine-site model. The mine-site model considers areas above 2,500 m water depth as permissive, and narrows the general area available for exploration and mining to 20% of that permissive area. It is calculated that about eighteen 100 km² exploration blocks, each composed of five 20 km² contiguous sub-blocks, would be adequate to identify a 260 km² 20-year-mine site; the mine site would be composed of thirteen of the 20 km² sub-blocks. In this hypothetical example, the 260 km² mine site would be spread over four volcanic edifices and comprise 3.7% of the permissive area of the four edifices and 0.01% of the total area of those four edifices. The eighteen 100 km² exploration blocks would be selected from a limited geographic area. That confinement area is defined as having a long dimension of not more than 1,000 km and an area of not more than 300,000 km².     

新型平口式集沙仪对不同粒级颗粒的收集效率

目前,国内缺少对集沙仪集沙效率问题的深入研究。采用风洞实验手段,就新型平口式集沙仪对不同粒级颗粒的收集效率进行了研究。结果表明：该集沙仪对1～0.85、0.85～0.5、0.5～0.25、0.5～0.1、0.25～0.1、0.1～0.05、<0.1、<0.05mm粒级颗粒的平均收集效率分别为54.9%、59.6%、69.7%、52.6%、24.6%、21.0%、17.7%、13.2%,表现出对>0.25mm粒级颗粒收集效率较高、对<0.25mm粒级颗粒收集效率较低的特点。该集沙仪的集沙效率不是随着颗粒粒级增大而一直增大的,而是在0.5mm左右存在一个峰值。集沙仪的集沙效率没有表现出随风速变化的明显规律性,与各粒级颗粒风蚀强度之间也没有必然的联系。造成集沙仪对不同粒级颗粒收集效率差距较大的原因可能是不同粒级颗粒运动状态的差异和沙网孔径的大小。     

Box fractal dimension as a measure of statistical homogeneity of jointed rock masses

A written computer programme to estimate the box fractal dimension (D_B) is verified by estimating D_B of the triadic Koch curve for which the theoretical D is known. The influence of a number of input parameters of the box-counting method on the accuracy of estimated D_B is evaluated using the same Koch curve. The employed size range of the applied box networks was found to be the parameter which has the strongest influence on the accuracy of estimated D_B. This indicated the importance of finding the range of self-similarity or self-affinity for the object considered to select the proper range for the box sizes and, in turn, to obtain accurate estimates of D_B. By calculating D_B for different block sizes sampled from three generated two-dimensional joint patterns, it is shown that D_B can capture the combined effect of joint-size distribution and joint density on the statistical homogeneity of rock masses. The spatial variation of D_B along a 350 m stretch of a tunnel in the shiplock area of the Three Gorges dam site is computed using the joint data mapped on the walls and the roof of the tunnel. This spatial variation of D_B is used, along with the visual geological evaluation of the joint trace maps of the tunnel, in making decisions about statistical homogeneity of the rock mass around the tunnel. The results obtained on statistically homogeneous regions were found to be quite similar to the results obtained from a previous statistical homogeneity investigation which incorporated the effect of number of joint sets and their orientation distributions, but not the spatial variation of D_B. It is recommended that the spatial variation of D_B is used, along with the results of other methods such as contingency table analysis and equal area plots, which incorporate the effect of joint orientation distribution, in addition to the geology of the site, in determining the statistically homogeneous regions of jointed rock masses.     

Report of the IAU/IAG/COSPAR working group on cartographic coordinates and rotational elements of the planets and satellites: 1991

Every three years the IAU/IAG/COSPAR Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements of the Planets and Satellites revises tables giving the directions of the north poles of rotation and the prime meridians of the planets and satellites. Also presented are revised tables giving their sizes and shapes.