Contrasting the chemical evolution of the Milky Way and Andromeda     

Agostino Renda  Daisuke Kawata  Yeshe Fenner  Brad K. Gibson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,356(3):1071-1078

The chemical evolution history of a galaxy hides clues about how it formed and has been changing through time. We have studied the chemical evolution history of the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) to find which are common features in the chemical evolution of disc galaxies as well as which are galaxy-dependent. We use a semi-analytic multizone chemical evolution model. Such models have succeeded in explaining the mean trends of the observed chemical properties in these two Local Group spiral galaxies with similar mass and morphology. Our results suggest that while the evolution of the MW and M31 shares general similarities, differences in the formation history are required to explain the observations in detail. In particular, we found that the observed higher metallicity in the M31 halo can be explained by either (i) a higher halo star formation efficiency (SFE), or (ii) a larger reservoir of infalling halo gas with a longer halo formation phase. These two different pictures would lead to (i) a higher [O/Fe] at low metallicities, or (ii) younger stellar populations in the M31 halo, respectively. Both pictures result in a more massive stellar halo in M31, which suggests a possible correlation between the halo metallicity and its stellar mass.  相似文献   

On the in situ aqueous alteration of soils on Mars     

Ronald Amundson  Stephanie Ewing  Brad Sutter  Oliver Chadwick  Michelle Walvoord 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2008,72(15):3845-3864

Early (>3 Gy) wetter climate conditions on Mars have been proposed, and it is thus likely that pedogenic processes have occurred there at some point in the past. Soil and rock chemistry of the Martian landing sites were evaluated to test the hypothesis that in situ aqueous alteration and downward movement of solutes have been among the processes that have transformed these portions of the Mars regolith. A geochemical mass balance shows that Martian soils at three landing sites have lost significant quantities of major rock-forming elements and have gained elements that are likely present as soluble ions. The loss of elements is interpreted to have occurred during an earlier stage(s) of weathering that may have been accompanied by the downward transport of weathering products, and the salts are interpreted to be emplaced later in a drier Mars history. Chemical differences exist among the sites, indicating regional differences in soil composition. Shallow soil profile excavations at Gusev crater are consistent with late stage downward migration of salts, implying the presence of small amounts of liquid water even in relatively recent Martian history. While the mechanisms for chemical weathering and salt additions on Mars remain unclear, the soil chemistry appears to record a decline in leaching efficiency. A deep sedimentary exposure at Endurance crater contains complex depth profiles of SO₄, Cl, and Br, trends generally consistent with downward aqueous transport accompanied by drying. While no model for the origin of Martian soils can be fully constrained with the currently available data, a pedogenic origin is consistent with observed Martian geology and geochemistry, and provides a testable hypothesis that can be evaluated with present and future data from the Mars surface.  相似文献   

Differential unroofing within the central metasedimentary Belt of the Grenville Orogen: constraints from 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology     

Michael A. Cosca  Eric J. Essene  Michael J. Kunk  John F. Sutter 《Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology》1992,110(2-3):211-225

An ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronological investigation of upper greenschist to granulite facies gneiss, amphibolite and marble was conducted in the Central Metasedimentary Belt (CMB), Ontario, to constrain its cooling history. Incremental ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar release spectra indicate that substantial differential unroofing occurred in the CMB between 1000 and 600 Ma. A consistent pattern of significantly older hornblende and phlogopite ⁴⁰Ar/³Ar cooling ages on the southeast sides of major northeast striking shear zones is interpreted to reflect late displacement due to extensional deformation. Variations in hornblende ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age plateaus exceeding 200 Ma occur over distances less than 50 km with major age discontinuities occurring across the Robertson Lake shear zone and the Sharbot Lake mylonite zone which separate the Sharbot Lake terrane from the Elzevir and Frontenac terranes. Extensional displacements of up to 14 km are inferred between the Frontenac and Elzevir terranes of the CMB. No evidence for significant post argon-closure vertical displacement is indicated in the vicinity of the Perth Road mylonite within the Frontenac terrane. Variations of nearly 100 Ma in phlogopite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages occur in undeformed marble on either side of the Bancroft Shear Zone. Phlogopites from sheared and mylonitized marble within the shear zone yield ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar diffusional loss profiles, but have older geologically meaningless ages thought to reflect incorporation of excess argon. By 900 Ma, southeast directed extension was occurring throughout the CMB, possibly initiated along previous zones of compressional shearing. An easterly migration of active zones of extension is inferred, possibly related to an earlier, overall easterly migration of active zones of regional thrusting and easterly migration of an ancient subduction zone. The duration of extensional shearing is not well constrained, but must have ceased before 600 Ma as required by the deposition of overlying undeformed Cambrian and/or Ordovician sedimentary rocks.Contribution No. 481 from the Mineralogical Laboratory, University of Michigan  相似文献   

Matuyama-Brunhes reversal and Kamikatsura event on Maui: paleomagnetic directions, Ar/Ar ages and implications     

Robert S. Coe  Brad S. Singer 《Earth and Planetary Science Letters》2004,222(2):667-684

Eighty-nine basaltic lava flows from the northwest wall of Haleakala caldera preserve a concatenated paleomagnetic record of portions of the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) reversal and the preceding Kamikatsura event as well as secular variation of the full-polarity reversed and normal geomagnetic field. They provide the most detailed volcanic record to date of the M-B transition. The 24 flows in the transition zone show for the first time transitional virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) that move from reverse to normal along the Americas, concluding with an oscillation in the Pacific Ocean to a cluster of VGPs east of New Zealand and back finally to stable polarity in the north polar region. All but one of the 16 Kamikatsura VGPs cluster in central South America. The full-polarity flows, with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages spanning a total of 680 kyr, pass a reversal test and give an average VGP insignificantly different from the rotation axis, with standard deviation consistent with that for other 0-5 Ma lava flows of similar latitude. Precise ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating consisting of 31 incremental heating experiments on 12 transitional flows yields weighted mean ages of 775.6±1.9 and 900.3±4.7 ka for the M-B and Kamikatsura transitional flows, respectively. This Matuyama-Brunhes age is ∼16 kyr younger than ages for M-B flows from the Canary Islands, Tahiti and Chile that were dated using exactly the same techniques and standards, suggesting that this polarity transition may have taken considerably longer to complete and been more complex than is generally believed for reversals.  相似文献   

Shrubland encroachment in southern New Mexico,U.S.A.: An analysis of desertification processes in the American southwest   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Herbert D. Grover  H. Brad Musick 《Climatic change》1990,17(2-3):305-330

The area dominated by the shrubs creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) and mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) in the American southwest has increased several-fold over the last century, with a corresponding decrease in areal coverage of productive grasslands and increased surface soil erosion throughout the region. The factors thought to be responsible for this regional shift in vegetation are: (1) overgrazing by domestic livestock; (2) fire suppression; and (3) historical changes in climate. We examine the evidence concerning each of these factors and develop a synthetic model outlining the principles affecting shrubland encroachment, which focuses on life history characteristics of the dominant shrubs and a number of positive biotic and edaphic feedback mechanisms contributing to their establishment and persistence. We conclude that the expansion of shrub dominance that has occurred over the last century may have been triggered by extreme live-stock overgrazing at the end of the nineteenth century, which coincided with rainfall regimes that were unfavorable for perennial grass growth. Hence, the landscape we observe today may be a product of positive feedback mechanisms triggered over a century ago by management practices that were uninformed with regard to the importance of historical climate patterns and the life history characteristics of important rangeland species. Our consideration of these issues also addresses potential land surface - climate interactions that could occur as a result of regional alterations in vegetation dominance and physiognomy.  相似文献   

Short polarity intervals within the Matuyama: transitional field records from hydraulic piston cored sediments from the North Atlantic     

Brad M. Clement  Dennis V. Kent 《Earth and Planetary Science Letters》1987,81(2-3)

Detailed sampling of two short magnetozones within the Matuyama Chronozone recorded at DSDP Site 609 (49.86°N, 335.77°E) confirms that one, the Cobb Mountain Subchronozone (1.12 Ma), is a very short, full normal polarity interval and that the other, the older interval, is a record of a geomagnetic excursion which occurred at approximately 1.55 Ma. The Cobb Mountain Subchron lasted approximately 25,000 years, one third the duration of the Jaramillo Subchron. The normal polarity interval is bounded by two transition zones which document an antisymmetry in the sequence of directions in the reverse to normal and normal to reverse polarity transitions. We interpret the antisymmetry as reflecting a dependence upon the sense of the reversal, without significant changes in the relative contributions of non-dipole terms. The polarity interval recorded at 1.55 Ma lasted only 8,800 years with what may be regarded as full polarity directions observed across only 3 cm of stratigraphic section. This feature is interpreted as an excursion of the geomagnetic field and appears to be correlative with the Gilsa Subchron. Similarities between the transition bounding these two magnetozones suggest that these features occur as the result of the same process or triggering mechanisms in the earth's outer core.  相似文献   

Reducing model complexity for explanation and prediction   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：1  

A. Brad Murray   《Geomorphology》2007,90(3-4):178

Numerical models can be useful for explaining poorly understood phenomena or for reliable quantitative predictions. When modeling a multi-scale system, a ‘top-down’ approach—basing models on emergent variables and interactions, rather than explicitly on the much faster and smaller scale processes that give rise to them—facilitates both goals. Parameterizations representing emergent interactions range from highly simplified and abstracted to more quantitatively accurate. Empirically based large-scale parameterizations lead more reliably to accurate large-scale behavior than do parameterizations of much smaller scale processes. Conversely, purposefully simplified representations of model interactions can enhance a model's utility for explanation, clarifying the key feedbacks leading to an enigmatic behavior. For such potential insights to be relevant, the interactions in the model need to correspond to those in the ‘real’ system in some straightforward way. Such a correspondence usually holds for models constructed for predictive purposes, although this is not a requirement. The goals motivating a modeling endeavor help determine the most appropriate modeling strategies, as well as the most appropriate criteria for judging model usefulness.  相似文献   

Energetic Compound False Positives in Ground Water Profile Samples     

Jay Clausen  Elizabeth Wessling  Brad Chirgwin 《Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation》2007,27(3):90-101

  相似文献   

不同类型草地挥发性有机物排放特征的研究   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：1  

白建辉  Brad Baker 《大气科学》2006,30(1):119-130

2003年9月,对内蒙古草原不同类型草地挥发性有机物(VOC)的排放、太阳辐射、气象参数等进行观测,结果表明,固定和新的羊草样地、封育样地、不同程度放牧样地异戊二烯、α蒎烯、β蒎烯、柠檬烯、蒈烯的排放均有明显的日变化规律,并与可见光辐射以及温度有较好的一致性.羊草样地、封育样地、过度放牧、适度放牧样地异戊二烯排放的最大值分别为139.5、25.9、132.3、107.1(单位:μg·m-2·h-1,以碳计).多数情况下,异戊二烯排放通量的测定结果为羊草样地高于封育样地、过度放牧样地高于适度放牧样地.不同程度放牧样地α蒎烯、β蒎烯、柠檬烯、蒈烯等的排放具有明显差别,一般是过度放牧草地高于适度放牧草地.剪草增大了绝大部分VOC组分的排放、以及过度和适度放牧草地VOC的排放,剪草可以造成过度和适度放牧草地异戊二烯排放在中午前后的增加.剪草后,过度放牧草地异戊二烯、α蒎烯、β蒎烯、柠檬烯、蒈烯等的排放通量均远大于适度放牧草地的相应值.土壤异戊二烯、α蒎烯、β蒎烯等的排放很小,分别占相近可见光辐射和温度条件下固定羊草样地排放的0.2%、0、3.0%.  相似文献   

Defending community? Indigeneity, self-determination and institutional ambivalence in the restoration of Lake Whakaki     

Brad Coombes 《Geoforum》2007,38(1):60-72

Conservation practitioners have scrutinized the credibility and effectiveness of community-based natural resource management, noting its romantic misconceptions about communities and their capacities. Early approaches failed to acknowledge the heterogeneity of collective agents, the synergy between decentralization and neoliberalism, or the need to affirm rural peoples’ entitlements to resources. A Maori community’s attempt to restore Lake Whakaki on New Zealand’s east coast confirms many of these critiques. The restoration confronts institutional ambivalence, obstructive forces from beyond the zone of Maori influence and non-correspondence between community and catchment dynamics. Fulfilment of the project requires exogenous resources and authority, but state conservation agencies are ambivalent towards local demands for self-determined development. Nonetheless, an uncommon degree of agency which is grounded within community aspirations for sovereignty suggests that the motivational characteristics of community retain their importance in debates about integrated conservation and development.  相似文献