The prelude of the end-Permian mass extinction predates a postulated bolide impact     

Hongfu Yin  Qinglai Feng  Aymon Baud  Shucheng Xie  Mike J. Benton  Xulong Lai  David J. Bottjer 《International Journal of Earth Sciences》2007,96(5):903-909

The mass extinction at the Permian–Triassic Boundary (PTB) is said to have been abrupt and probably caused by an extraterrestrial impact. However, evidence from the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the base of the Induan at Meishan, China, shows that the biotic crisis began prior to the level, in beds 25 and 26 at which the postulated impact event occurred. Evidence of such an earlier biotic crisis occurs in other sections in South China, and in central and western Tethyan regions. This event is characterized by the extinction of a range of faunas, including corals, deep-water radiolarians, most fusulinids and pseudotirolitid ammonoids, and many Permian brachiopods. In all sections, this extinction level is usually a few decimeters to meters below that of the main mass extinction in the event beds (25 and 26) at Meishan, and their correlatives elsewhere. This earlier extinction event happened before the postulated bolide impact at the level of beds 25 and 26, and constrains interpretation of the mechanisms that brought about this greatest mass extinction. Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.  相似文献   

Gully systems under undisturbed indigenous forest, East Coast Region, New Zealand   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Thomas Parkner  Mike Page  Mike Marden  Tomomi Marutani 《Geomorphology》2007,84(3-4):241

Gully erosion is commonly associated with agricultural landscapes where vegetation clearance and farming practices increase runoff, leading to fluvial incision. However, gully erosion can also occur in forests that have undergone some form of disturbance, either natural or resulting from human impacts. This paper reports on recent gully development within areas of undisturbed indigenous forest as a result of a high magnitude rainfall event on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island. This region, through a combination of crushed and sheared rock types, steep topography, and tectonic and climatic setting, has high natural rates of erosion, exacerbated by European deforestation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Sequential air photographs, spanning a 58 year period between 1939 and 1997 were used to classify and document the growth and recovery of gully systems in the 14.1 km² headwaters of the Mangaoporo catchment. Following a severe cyclone in 1988, with a rainfall of 535 mm, there were 21 active gully systems within the indigenous forest. On photography prior to 1988 only four gully systems were present. During this period there were 8 major rainfall events (150–250 mm). Despite further 5 rainfall events of 150–250 mm between 1988 and 1997 all gully systems showed signs of recovery, with a combined reduction in active area of 37%. The nature and location of these features is strongly influenced by lithology (orientation of jointing and bedding), and to a topographic threshold defined by catchment slope and catchment area.  相似文献   

Editorial report for 2003     

Mike Kirkby 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2003,28(13):1377-1378

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RAS helps to reconnect scientists     

Mervyn Freeman  Gareth Chisham  Iain Coleman  Mike Pinnock 《Astronomy& Geophysics》2003,44(3):3.33-3.34

Mervyn Freeman, Gareth Chisham, Iain Coleman and Mike Pinnock report on the November discussion meeting "Temporal and spatial structure of magnetic reconnection on the Earth's magnetopause", the only natural environment in which this universal astrophysical phenomenon can be observed locally and globally.  相似文献   

Driving environmental certification: its impact on the furniture and timber products value chain in South Africa     

Mike Morris  Nikki Dunne 《Geoforum》2004,35(2):251-266

In this new globalised era there is an increasing demand in the developed world for environmental certification (Forestry Stewardship Council) of furniture and timber products. The imposition of this requirement has major implications for producers in developing countries. This paper examines this issue from a value chain perspective, exploring how certification requirements are driven through the links of the global furniture value chain. It does so by focusing on the dynamic underlying the spread of FSC certification through the furniture and timber industry in South Africa, and investigates the role of the various organisational ‘drivers’ of the system. In doing so it explores how developing country firms relate to these opportunities and pressures, drawing out the logistical implications, the costs and benefits, as well as the future for FSC certification. It concludes with a discussion of the role of buyers, agents, certification agencies and manufacturers in driving FSC certification through the wood products value chain in South Africa.  相似文献   

Compositional classification of “kimberlitic” and “non-kimberlitic” ilmenite     

Bruce A. Wyatt  Mike Baumgartner  Eva Anckar  Herman Grutter 《Lithos》2004,77(1-4):819-840

Ilmenite is one of the common kimberlitic indicator minerals recovered during diamond exploration, and its distinction from non-kimberlitic rock types is important. This is particularly true for regions where these minerals are present in relatively low abundance, and they are the dominant kimberlitic indicator mineral recovered. Difficulty in visually differentiating kimberlitic from non-kimberlitic ilmenite in exploration concentrates is also an issue, and distinguishing kimberlitic ilmenite from those derive from other similar rocks, such as ultramafic lamprophyres, is practically impossible. Ilmenite is also the indicator mineral whose compositional variety has the most potential to resolve provenance issues related to mineral dispersions with contributions from multiple kimberlite sources.

Various published data sets from selected kimberlitic (including kimberlites, lamproites, and various ultramafic lamprophyres) and non-kimberlitic rock types have been compiled and evaluated in terms of their major element compositions. Compositional fields and bounding reference lines for ilmenites derived from kimberlites (sensu stricto), ultramafic lamprophyres, and other non-kimberlitic rock types have been defined primarily on MgO–TiO₂ graphs as well as MgO–Cr₂O₃ relationships.  相似文献   

Provenance patterns in a neotectonic basin: Pliocene and Quaternary sediment supply to the South Caspian   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4  

Andrew Morton †  Mark Allen‡  Mike Simmons‡  Fivos Spathopoulos§  John Still†  David Hinds†‡  Arif Ismail-Zadeh¶  Salomon Kroonenberg&#; 《Basin Research》2003,15(3):321-337

The South Caspian Basin has accumulated a sedimentary succession ～20 km thick. Roughly half of this was deposited in the last 5.5 Ma, mainly in the largely lower Pliocene, fluvio‐lacustrine Productive Series, which is also the principal hydrocarbon reservoir succession in the basin. Heavy mineral data identify different sediment sources for both Productive Series sandstones and modern river sands. Lesser Caucasus sediment was supplied by the Palaeo‐Kura into the western part of the South Caspian Basin. Productive Series strata in the north of the basin were supplied by the Palaeo‐Volga, and represent a mixture of sediment from the Greater Caucasus and Russian Platform/Urals. Greater Caucasus sand input to the Palaeo‐Volga increased at the start of deposition of the Pereriva Suite, which is an important reservoir subunit of the Productive Series. We interpret this provenance shift as indicating enhanced uplift and exhumation of the Greater Caucasus within the Pliocene, during regional re‐organization of the Arabia–Eurasia collision, although late Cenozoic climate changes may have played a role.  相似文献   

High resolution images of Cygnus X-1     

Alastair Stirling  Ralph Spencer  Mike Garrett 《New Astronomy Reviews》1998,42(9-10)

The classic black hole candidate Cygnus X-1 exhibits many similarities to Galactic jet sources (micro-quasars) in soft gamma and hard X-ray rays. This has fuelled suspicions that radio jets also may be present in Cygnus X-1. The lack of radio flaring in Cygnus X-1 has been associated with the presence of continuous jets rather than multiple plasmon ejection however no evidence for this has been observed with the VLA, or with MERLIN. Recent VLBA observations at 15 GHz have detected extended emission and further multi frequency observations are required to confirm the presence of jets on a milliarcsecond level.  相似文献   

GLONASS Broadcast Orbit Computation     

Mike Stewart  Maria Tsakiri 《GPS Solutions》1998,2(2):16-27

The potential 48-satellite constellation offered by the combination of observations from both the GPS and GLONASS positioning systems has created considerable interest among existing GPS users. In the published literature, a considerable amount of work has been devoted to the theoretical issue of algorithm design for combined GPS/GLONASS positioning solutions. Little work has been published, however, on the practical conversion of existing GPS software to include GLONASS observations. This paper considers the computation issues pertaining to the GLONASS broadcast ephemeris for inclusion of GLONASS observations into existing GPS software. The format of the GLONASS broadcast ephemeris is discussed and theory of satellite orbits and their stepwise numerical integration is reviewed. Finally, a strategy for GLONASS broadcast ephemeris computation is proposed to facilitate combination of GPS and GLONASS observations. ? 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  相似文献   

Sedimentary thickness variations and deformation intensity during basin inversion in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia     

Mike Sandiford  Eike Paul  Thomas Flottmann 《Journal of Structural Geology》1998,20(12):1721-1731

The central and northern parts of the Adelaide fold belt in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, consist of a sequence of Neo-Proterozoic–Cambrian sediments overlying a Meso-Proterozoic basement complex, both of which were mildly deformed in an intracratonic setting during the 500 Ma Delamerian orogeny. The fold belt lies within a prominent heat flow anomaly (average heat flows of 90 mWm⁻²) reflecting extraordinary enrichments in heat producing elements in the Meso-Proterozoic basement, suggesting that anomalous thermal regimes may have been significant in localising Delamerian deformation. However, spatial variations in deformation intensity correlate more closely with variations in the thickness of the sedimentary sequence than with observed variations in heat flow, suggesting that the thickness of the sedimentary blanket plays a crucial role in localising Delamerian deformation during basin inversion. We use simple numerical models of lithospheric strength to investigate the potential role of sedimentary thickness variations on the distribution and style of deformation, focussing on the impact of a variable thickness sediment pile deposited above a ‘radioactive’ basement. We show that for thermal parameters appropriate to the Flinders Ranges, Moho temperatures may vary by 25–30°C for every additional kilometre of sediment. For a ‘Brace–Goetze’ lithospheric rheology, controlled by a combination of temperature-dependent creep processes and frictional sliding, the observed variations in thickness of the sedimentary pile are sufficient to cause dramatic reductions in the vertically-integrated strength of the lithosphere (by many orders of magnitude), thereby providing a plausible explanation for observed correlation between sediment thickness and deformation intensity during basin inversion.  相似文献