Carbon-isotopic analysis of individual pollen grains from C₃ and C₄ grasses using a spooling-wire microcombustion interface     

David M. Nelson  Feng Sheng Hu  Jill A. Mikucki  Ann Pearson 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2007,71(16):4005-4014

Pollen grains from grasses using the C₃ and C₄ photosynthetic pathways have distinct ranges of δ¹³C values that may be used to estimate their relative abundance in paleorecords. We evaluated a spooling-wire microcombustion device interfaced with an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (SWiM-IRMS) for δ¹³C analysis of individual grass-pollen grains. Pollen from four C₃ and four C₄ grass species was isolated through micromanipulation and analyzed as single grains suspended in water. A carbon yield greater than the 2σ range of the carbon content of blanks containing only water was used to distinguish samples containing pollen (“pollen present”) from those not containing pollen. This criterion resulted in the exclusion of ∼45% of the 946 samples applied to the wire. The average δ¹³C values (±1σ) of the remaining samples were −26.9‰ (±6.3‰) and −11.5‰ (±9.6‰) for C₃ grasses and C₄ grasses, respectively, after blank-correcting the δ¹³C data. These results suggest that the SWiM-IRMS system can be used to distinguish C₃ from C₄ grass pollen. The high variability in measured δ¹³C values is likely caused by a combination of factors. These include natural isotopic variability among individual pollen grains; the relatively poor precision that can be obtained when determining δ¹³C values of such small samples; and the uncertainty in the magnitude, isotopic composition, and stability of the analytical blank. Nonetheless, high percentages of individual pollen grains were correctly classified as being of either C₃ or C₄ origin. On average, 90% (range = 78-100%) of pollen grains from C₃ grasses had δ¹³C values more negative than the cutoff threshold of −19.2‰; while 84% (range = 77-90%) of pollen grains from C₄ grasses had δ¹³C values more positive than −19.2‰. Compared with analysis using an elemental analyzer interfaced with an IRMS (EA-IRMS), the number of pollen grains required for δ¹³C-based evaluation of C₃/C₄ grass composition is many times lower with the SWiM-IRMS. Additionally, δ¹³C data from the SWiM-IRMS does not need to be incorporated into a mixing model to derive estimates of the abundance of C₃ and C₄ grass pollen. Carbon-isotopic analysis of individual grass-pollen grains using the SWiM-IRMS system may help improve our understanding of the evolutionary and ecological significance of grass taxa in the paleorecord.  相似文献   

Activation Energy of Cation Migration in Titanomagnetites     

K. M. Creer  Jill Ibbetson  W. Drew 《Geophysical Journal International》1970,19(1):93-101

  相似文献   

The cradle of life     

T. Joseph W. Lazio  Jill C. Tarter  D.J. Wilner 《New Astronomy Reviews》2004,48(11-12):985

The emerging field of bioastronomy is beginning to address one of the oldest questions in science and philosophy: Are we alone? By virtue of its sheer sensitivity, high frequency coverage, and long baselines, the SKA will play a pivotal role in bioastronomical studies. It will be a unique instrument with the capability to image proto-planetary disks in nearby star-forming regions and monitor the evolution of structures within those disks (“movies of planetary formation”). It will also be able to assess the extent to which interstellar molecules are incorporated into proto-planetary disks. It will also be able to reach qualitatively new levels of sensitivity in the search for intelligence elsewhere in the Galaxy, including for the first time the realistic possibility of detecting unintentional emissions or “leakage” (such as from TV transmitters) from nearby stars.  相似文献   

Solution of Lambert's problem for short arcs     

E. R. Lancaster 《Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy》1970,2(1):60-63

Approximation formulas are found for and , wherex(t) satisfies ,x(0)=x ₀,x(1)=x ₁. The results are applied to an example of two-body motion.  相似文献   

The response of phytoplankton to iron enrichment in Sub-Antarctic HNLCLSi waters: Results from the SAGE experiment     

Jill Peloquin  Julie HallKarl Safi  Walker O. Smith Jr.Simon Wright  Rick van den Enden 《Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography》2011,58(6):808-823

Areas of high nutrients and low chlorophyll a comprise nearly a third of the world’s oceans, including the equatorial Pacific, the Southern Ocean and the Sub-Arctic Pacific. The SOLAS Sea-Air Gas Exchange (SAGE) experiment was conducted in late summer, 2004, off the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The objective was to assess the response of phytoplankton in waters with low iron and silicic acid concentrations to iron enrichment. We monitored the quantum yield of photochemistry (F_v/F_m) with pulse amplitude modulated fluorometry, chlorophyll a, primary productivity, and taxonomic composition. Measurements of F_v/F_m indicated that the phytoplankton within the amended patch were relieved from iron stress (F_v/F_m approached 0.65). Although there was no significant difference between IN and OUT stations at points during the experiment, the eventual enhancement in chlorophyll a and primary productivity was twofold by the end of the 15-day patch occupation. However, no change in particulate carbon or nitrogen pools was detected. Enhancement in primary productivity and chlorophyll a were approximately equal for all phytoplankton size classes, resulting in a stable phytoplankton size distribution. Initial seed stocks of diatoms were extremely low, <1% of the assemblage based on HPLC pigment analysis, and did not respond to iron enrichment. The most dominant groups before and after iron enrichment were type 8 haptophytes and prasinophytes that were associated with ∼75% of chlorophyll a. Twofold enhancement of biomass estimated by flow cytometry was detected only in eukaryotic picoplankton, likely prasinophytes, type 8 haptophytes and/or pelagophytes. These results suggest that factors other than iron, such as silicic acid, light or physical disturbance limited the phytoplankton assemblage during the SAGE experiment. Furthermore, these results suggest that additional iron supply to the Sub-Antarctic under similar seasonal conditions and seed stock will most likely favor phytoplankton <2 ??m. This implies that any iron-mediated gain of fixed carbon will most likely be remineralized in shallow water rather than sink and be sequestered in the deep ocean.  相似文献   

Reflections on a Vision for Integrated Research and Monitoring After 15 Years     

Peter S. Murdoch  Michael McHale  Jill Baron 《Aquatic Geochemistry》2014,20(2-3):363-380

In May of 1998, Owen Bricker and his co-author Michael Ruggiero introduced a conceptual design for integrating the Nation’s environmental research and monitoring programs. The Framework for Integrated Monitoring and Related Research was an organizing strategy for relating data collected by various programs, at multiple spatial and temporal scales, and by multiple science disciplines to solve complex ecological issues that individual research or monitoring programs were not designed to address. The concept nested existing intensive monitoring and research stations within national and regional surveys, remotely sensed data, and inventories to produce a collaborative program for multi-scale, multi-network integrated environmental monitoring and research. Analyses of gaps in data needed for specific issues would drive decisions on network improvements or enhancements. Data contributions to the Framework from existing networks would help indicate critical research and monitoring programs to protect during budget reductions. Significant progress has been made since 1998 on refining the Framework strategy. Methods and models for projecting scientific information across spatial and temporal scales have been improved, and a few regional pilots of multi-scale data-integration concepts have been attempted. The links between science and decision-making are also slowly improving and being incorporated into science practice. Experiments with the Framework strategy since 1998 have revealed the foundational elements essential to its successful implementation, such as defining core measurements, establishing standards of data collection and management, integrating research and long-term monitoring, and describing baseline ecological conditions. They have also shown us the remaining challenges to establishing the Framework concept: protecting and enhancing critical long-term monitoring, filling gaps in measurement methods, improving science for decision support, and integrating the disparate integrated science efforts now underway. In the 15 years since the Bricker and Ruggiero (Ecol Appl 8(2):326–329, 1998) paper challenged us with a new paradigm for bringing sound and comprehensive science to environmental decisions, the scientific community can take pride in the progress that has been made, while also taking stock of the challenges ahead for completing the Framework vision.  相似文献   

TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL ASPECTS OF BLOWING DUST IN THE MOJAVE AND COLORADO DESERTS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 1973–1994     

Andrew J. Bach  Anthony J. Brazel  Nicholas Lancaster 《自然地理学》2013,34(4):329-353

Although dust storms rarely occur in southern California's deserts, blowing dust often reduces visibility, and large spatial and temporal variability in the frequency of blowing dust occurs throughout the region. On average only 1.3 dust storms occur in the study area each year. The annual average number of dust events (visibility <11 km) is 18.0, with the Coachella Valley being dustiest region, averaging 37.8 dust events each year. Mean annual frequencies of dust events for 1973–1994 are mapped, showing a core of activity centered over the Imperial/Coachella Valley region, with fewer dust events around the periphery of the study area. Most stations show a coherent temporal pattern of dust frequency during the period 1973–1994, with the mid-1970s experiencing the most dust. Blowing dust generally was absent from all stations during 1979–1983, 1987–1989, and 1992–1994. The mid-1980s were moderately dusty and 1990–1991 saw a return to very dusty conditions, possibly resulting from below-normal precipitation and increased anthropogenic disturbances. Dust events in the Mojave Desert characteristically occur during the winter to spring months (February-May), associated with dry frontal activity, and are largely absent during the dry summer months. The Colorado Desert experiences a similar seasonal distribution of dust events, but has more summer events, usually associated with convective thunderstorms. Frequencies of blowing dust have weak, but statistically significant, correlations with mean annual and antecedent precipitation, suggesting that complex processes control dust emission. [Key words: blowing dust, dust storms, Mojave Desert, Colorado Desert, wind erosion.]  相似文献   

Lichenometric dating of Little Ice Age glacier activity in the central British Columbia Coast Mountains,Canada     

Jill E. Harvey  Dan J. Smith 《Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography》2013,95(1):1-14

  相似文献   

Mining soil databases for landscape‐scale patterns in the abundance and size distribution of hillslope rock fragments     

Jill A. Marshall  Leonard S. Sklar 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2012,37(3):287-300

Landscape‐scale variation in rock fragments on soil‐mantled hillslopes is poorly understood, despite the potential importance of rock fragments in soil weathering and coarse sediment supply to river networks. We explored the utility of soil survey databases for data mining, with the goals of identifying landscape‐scale patterns in the abundance and size distribution of rock fragments (diameter D > 2 mm) and potential controls on grain size production. We focus on data from three regions: the Hawaiian Islands, and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, where elevation transects span a range of environmental conditions. We selected pedons from pits dug on hillslopes with active soil production and transport. For the 27 pedons selected, we constructed depth‐averaged grain size distributions and calculated the mass fraction of rock fragments (F_RF) and the median rock fragment grain size (D_50RF). We also categorized as bimodal, size distributions with a clear ‘breakpoint’ between fine and coarse modes. Several strong patterns emerge from the data. We find rock fragments in 85% of the pedons, primarily in distinct coarse modes within bimodal size distributions. Values of F_RF and D_50RF are strongly correlated, although the best‐fit power law scaling between F_RF and D_50RF differs between the warmer Hawaiian, and colder Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountain sites. We also find a regional contrast in the variation in F_RF with elevation; F_RF declines with elevation in Hawaii, but increases in the mainland sites. Although this contrast could be an artifact of variable lithology, precipitation may influence many patterns in the data. Lower mean‐annual precipitation correlates with higher F_RF, dominantly bimodal distributions and surface enrichment in the vertical distribution of rock fragments. These observations may be useful in refining models of coarse sediment supply to rivers, and suggest opportunities for future work to test mechanistic hypotheses for rock fragment production on soil‐mantled hillslopes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

对青海省1990年以来年度地震危险区的初步探讨     

杨积礼  杨丽萍 《高原地震》2009,21(3):28-34

对青海省1990年以来年度地震危险区进行了分析,整理总结了青海省年度地震危险区的分布、预测面积及地震对应情况,得出预测正确率为52％。将预测基本准确的地震危险区进行归并,得到确定的地震危险区共有5块：祁连地震带、三湖地区、库玛地震带东段甘青川交界地区及共和地区、唐古拉地区、茫崖地区。对历史地震危险区的整理和初步研究,对今后地震趋势预测研究积累一些值得参考的认识和经验。  相似文献