RESIDENCE TIME OF WATER DISCHARGING FROM THE HANGING GARDENS OF ZION PARK1

ABSTRACT: The Hanging Gardens are a unique feature of Zion National Park. Knowledge of the source and residence time of water discharging from the Hanging Gardens is necessary to help preserve these features. Ground-water chemical and isotopic data distinguish the discharge from seeps and springs into two groups, one of low and one of high conductivity. Water with low conductivity likely originates as recharge near the seeps and springs, and it only interacts with the Navajo Sandstone. High conductivity water, on the other hand, originates as recharge on the tops of plateaus to the east, where it interacts with marine rocks of the Carmel Formation. Carbon dating of these ground waters indicates that the low conductivity water is essentially modern recharge, while the high conductivity water was recharged 1,000 to 4,000 years ago.     

Pesticide and Transformation Product Detections and Age‐Dating Relations from Till and Sand Deposits1

Abstract:  Pesticide and transformation product concentrations and frequencies in ground water from areas of similar crop and pesticide applications may vary substantially with differing lithologies. Pesticide analysis data for atrazine, metolachlor, alachlor, acetochlor, and cyanazine and their pesticide transformation products were collected at 69 monitoring wells in Illinois and northern Indiana to document occurrence of pesticides and their transformation products in two agricultural areas of differing lithologies, till, and sand. The till is primarily tile drained and has preferential fractured flow, whereas the sand primarily has surface water drainage and primary porosity flow. Transformation products represent most of the agricultural pesticides in ground water regardless of aquifer material – till or sand. Transformation products were detected more frequently than parent pesticides in both the till and sand, with metolachlor ethane sulfonic acid being most frequently detected. Estimated ground‐water recharge dates for the sand were based on chlorofluorocarbon analyses. These age‐dating data indicate that ground water recharged prior to 1990 is more likely to have a detection of a pesticide or pesticide transformation product. Detections were twice as frequent in ground water recharged prior to 1990 (82%) than in ground water recharged on or after 1990 (33%). The highest concentrations of atrazine, alachlor, metolachlor, and their transformation products, also were detected in samples from ground water recharged prior to 1990. These age/pesticide detection relations are opposite of what would normally be expected, and may be the result of preferential flow and/or ground‐water mixing between aquifers and aquitards as evident by the detection of acetochlor transformation products in samples with estimated ground‐water ages predating initial pesticide application.     

湘北华容地区小墨山花岗岩体SHRIMPU—Pb年龄及地球化学特征

小墨山岩体侵位于中元古代冷家溪群中,由两期侵入体组成,早期为粗中粒—中粒斑状黑云母二长花岗岩;末期为细粒黑(二)云母二长花岗岩。通过锆石SHRIMP U-Pb法测得岩体侵位年龄为122.5±2.1 Ma(2σ),MSWD=1.9,成岩时代为早白垩世。主元素中,SiO2变化于67.20%~75.16%,K2O含量高,且K2O>Na2O,K2O/Na2O为1.16~1.72;ASI值变化于0.96~1.10之间,平均1.02,属准铝质-微过铝质、高钾钙碱性系列。岩石明显富集大离子亲石元素,亏损高场强元素,Rb/Sr=0.27~15.13;Nb/Ta=15.9~17.1,为锶和铌亏损型。ΣREE总体较高,重稀土含量相对较高,轻重稀土分馏稍弱,ΣCe/ΣY为0.49~6.18,(La/Yb)N为0.66~15.54。有较高的εNd(t),为-6.8~-8.7;T2DM相对较小(1.47~1.62 Ga)。综合研究表明,小墨山花岗岩石为壳源型富黑云母过铝花岗岩类(CPG),其成因应为下地壳物质和上地壳物质混合而成,与花岗岩底侵作用或注入地壳中的幔源岩浆有关,形成的构造背景为陆内挤压造山向非造山转换的后造山拉张环境,是在...     

pUCD-recA重组发光菌构建及对遗传毒性污染物响应作用

基因重组发光菌在水质毒性的评价中具有重要的作用,本研究从分析污染物毒性损伤的机制出发,构建新型pUCD-recA基因重组发光菌. 用PCR法从大肠杆菌W3110中扩增recA基因,将其与pGEM-T easy载体连接后测序.测序正确的recA片段及pUCD615载体均用BamHⅠ、EcoRⅠ双酶切,连接后电转化导入宿主菌JM109.挑取克隆,提取质粒用PCR鉴定,阳性克隆再进行测序.将构建成功的pUCD-recA载体转化入大肠杆菌RFM443,加入相应的遗传毒性污染物,观察发光响应作用.结果表明,recA基因PCR扩增出的片段为293　bp,测序结果与GenBank中的recA序列进行BLAST比对,同源性为99％,表明扩增序列正确.与pUCD615载体连接后的测序结果表明,recA基因已正确地插入到pUCD615的多克隆位点,方向和读码框正确,重组发光菌载体构建成功.将构建好的重组载体转化入RFM443宿主菌,加入遗传毒性污染物观察响应效果.丝裂霉素C（MMC）对pUCDrecA重组发光菌诱导效果最好,0.01 mg/L即可有很好的响应曲线;N′-甲基N′-硝基亚硝基胍（MNNG）则在50～100 mg/L时可发挥最佳响应作用.     

狮子洞铀系测年与百色盆地第Ⅲ级阶地的年代

布兵盆地是广西百色盆地东南缘一小型附属盆地,狮子洞位于其南侧喀斯特峰林中,其内堆积由上部砂质粘土与下部砾石层构成,类似河流相二元结构。狮子洞与其周围分布广泛的河流第III阶地海拔高度相当,表明洞穴与阶地堆积时代的一致性。本文报道狮子洞内夹生于砂质粘土层次生碳酸盐岩样的铀系测年结果。位于砂质粘土与砾石层界面处的钙板,高精度质谱铀系年代为366±19ka。其左上1.4m贴附于洞壁突岩的石幔,质谱年代为517±42ka。鉴于具明确层位意义、纯净致密次生碳酸盐岩质谱铀系年代高度可信,并基于狮子洞堆积与布兵盆地第Ⅲ级阶地同时、附属盆地与主盆地同步发育的认识,这二个盆地第Ⅲ级阶地应在366～517ka间形成。本文结果对系统研究百色盆地地貌和旧石器文化演化具重要性。     

洞穴上覆土壤层~(210)Pb放射性活度变化特征及其环境意义

土壤210Pb放射性活度变化可以用来指示土壤侵蚀速率变化、计算水土流失速率,但是在其他方面的应用,特别是岩溶环境的应用相对较少。在进行洞穴年轻沉积石笋年代测试过程中,发现目前应用的CIC(恒定初始放射性活度模式)初始活度恒定的假设需要进行验证。通过对广西桂林茅茅头大岩上覆土壤层进行季节采样和210Pb放射性活度、土壤有机质、粒径等分析,发现土壤剖面表层20~30cm内的210Pb放射性活度季节变化明显,可能响应了大气环境、土壤生态环境的变化。但是土壤剖面基底210Pb放射性活度基本保持恒定,说明土壤层厚度大于20~30cm时,土壤层中210 Pb变化对洞穴年轻沉积物表层210Pb活度变化影响不大,洞穴上覆层对洞穴沉积物210Pb放射性活度的影响主要在于土壤有机质和粘粒向下迁移。因此,影响洞穴石笋210Pb放射性活度的关键因素在土壤厚度、土壤中随有机质和粘粒迁移的210 Pb量的变化,进而推广到洞穴年轻沉积物210Pb定年,在土壤层厚度大于20~30cm时,洞穴相对封闭环境下,可以应用CIC模式对洞穴沉积物进行年龄计算。     

西沙赵述岛和北岛海鸟遗迹14C年代模型及意义

对采自西沙赵述岛和北岛的沉积剖面ZS2、BD1进行分析,两个剖面具有十分相似的物源组成和岩性变化。通过测定剖面中海鸟残体的~(14)C年龄,运用传统方法以及Clam和Bacon程序建立了ZS2和BD1沉积剖面的年龄-深度模型。对比年龄-深度模型发现,Bacon程序运用MCMC作为迭代算法,排除异常数据影响,拟合得到的曲线单调相比较于Clam年龄模型显得更为合理。所建立的年代学模型为后期的气候环境演变研究提供了基础。根据Bacon程序所构建的年龄-深度模型结果,我们发现近千年来ZS2和BD1剖面处的平均沉积速率分别为0.86 mm?a~(-1)和1.26 mm?a~(-1)。采样点的沉积速率在一定程度上代表了岛屿的垂向生长速率,均低于当前海平面的平均上升速率。同时,鸟骨的~(14)C年龄也揭示了赵述岛海鸟活动时间应不晚于AD 1172—1290,而海鸟开始在北岛活动的时间则不晚于AD 984—1140。     

砂岩和花岗岩岩石表层光释光信号晒退速率对比及测年意义

光释光信号已被成功地应用于岩石表层暴露、埋藏年龄的测定以及判别岩石经历的曝光和埋藏历史。本文选择红褐色石英砂岩和灰白色黑云母花岗岩进行了岩块和岩片晒退不同时间的实验研究,结果显示:岩石光释光信号(IR_(50);IRSL)可被光(阳光和全光谱模拟太阳灯灯光)快速晒退。曝光一定时间后,岩块表层一定深度的光释光信号可以归零,且随曝光时间的延长,自暴露面向内的光释光信号归零深度也随之加深。砂岩和花岗岩光晒退对比实验结果显示:与深色砂岩相比,浅色的花岗岩有更高的光释光信号晒退速率。实验同时揭示:本研究所采用的红外光源激发获得的光释光信号来自岩片(1.2 mm)表层一定深度,并没有完全穿透该岩片。该研究为了解不同岩性岩石的光释光信号晒退速率、测年对象的合理选择以及岩石样品采集、前处理和测试等提供了实验数据支持。     

冰碛物电子自旋共振信号测量的基本流程

电子自旋共振（ESR）法是一种用于直接测量和研究含有未成对电子的顺磁性物质的分析方法。ESR测年是应用这种分析方法对沉积物最后一次埋藏以来的年代进行测定。相比于其他方法,它具有测年范围广,测试的样品种类多,样品可以重复测量,测量周期短等优势。20世纪80年代以来我国开始进行沉积物ESR测年与研究,但是在冰碛物ESR测年的制样和测量过程中存在一些问题。本文介绍冰碛物ESR测年的过程：样品野外采集时剖面的选取及其注意事项;详细描述提纯冰碛物中石英颗粒的前处理过程;石英颗粒经过人工辐照后在顺磁波谱仪上测试ESR信号并拟合古剂量过程中的具体方法和需要注意的问题。从实验中得到,用0.063 —0.125 mm粒径的组分提纯石英砂比较困难,前处理过程中试剂和时间消耗量大,因此建议ESR测年时：在样品充足的情况下选用细颗粒组分（0.063—0.125 mm）,样品不充足的情况下选用中颗粒部分（0.125—0.25 mm）。待测样品中存在其他矿物会对石英的ESR信号有影响,因此在提纯石英过程中用重液分选提高石英纯度并可以增强测量的ESR信号的稳定性。经过氢氟酸刻蚀后的样品,石英的纯度要达到95%—99%或以上。对于冰碛物ESR测年过程中ESR信号的选择需要参照样品自身的特点,综合考虑多次尝试才能确定用常温Ge心信号还是低温的Al心、Ti心作为样品中石英的ESR测年信号。通过规范的采样、制样和ESR信号测量流程,使样品的定年能够被不同的人重复,并能够进行不同区域之间的对比。     

Catastrophic Decline in Mollusc Diversity in Eastern Tasmania and Its Concurrence with Shellfish Fisheries

Abstract:  We used historical patterns of deposition of mollusc shells to infer changes to inshore benthic assemblages in the southeastern Tasmanian region over the past 120 years. We identified and counted shells in slices embedded within 1m long ²¹⁰Pb-dated sediment cores were collected at 13 sites in water depths of 8–16 m. Declines in mollusc species richness and shell production occurred during the past century at all sites studied, with a mean decline per 5-cm sediment slice from 21 species in 1890 to 7 species in 1990 and in shell abundance from 150 to 30 individuals over the same period. The time course of decline notably corresponded with the history of the scallop dredge fishery, presumably either because scallop dredging caused general declines in populations of mollusc species or because other factors caused a catastrophic regional decline in molluscs that included scallops. As a consequence, the fishery was forced to close. Of major concern is that losses had not previously been recognized but extended throughout the 100-km coastal span of the study. Given that fishing and other anthropogenic impacts, as well as a lack of observational data, are virtually ubiquitous for the coastal zone, major recent losses in mollusc biodiversity may be globally widespread but have gone unnoticed.