华南下寒武统层序框架的初步构建―以遵义松林地区为例

华南下寒武统保存着国际著名的生物群（如澄江生物群），同时蕴藏着磷块岩、重晶石、稀土及Ni-Mo-PGE等丰富的矿产资源，因此，它一直为地质科学家们持续关注的热点之一。关于华南下寒武统的研究，前人在古生物学方面已经取得了卓著的成就，主要表现在国际权威期刊上（如期刊《Science》和《Nature》）已发表大量的关于澄江生物群的研究成果，对早期生命演化研究具有重要而广泛的影响。然而，华南下寒武统年代学及国际对比研究方面已明显滞后，公开发表的华南下寒武统的高精度、可靠的锆石U-Pb年龄数据至本研究论文截稿时止仍然仅有唯一的一个，即Jenkins et al. (2002)报道的国际前寒武系-寒武系界线层型候选剖面―云南晋宁梅树村剖面的朱家菁组中谊村段中部（第5层）钾质斑脱岩锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄（538.2 ± 1.5 Ma）。因而，华南下寒武统中的重要生物群、矿床及具全球对比意义的C同位素漂移事件缺乏地层精确年龄的约束，进而制约了早期生命演化理论、矿床成因解释及地层国际对比等方面研究的发展。 近来，发现华南下寒武统赋存独特的钾质斑脱岩层，它们在横向上广泛分布于云南东部、四川峨眉麦地坪、贵州西部（如织金和金沙岩孔）及北部（如遵义松林）、湖北宜昌泰山庙和湖南张家界等地区，在地层序列垂向上主要产出于朱家菁组中谊村段中部、石岩头组底部以及它们的相当层位。这些钾质斑脱岩既是建立地层框架等时层潜在的物质基础，亦是获取地层精确锆石U-Pb年龄的具重要意义的研究对象之一。因此，对它们进行系统研究可望改观华南下寒武统年代学及国际对比研究方面的落后现状。 同时，华南下寒武统广泛产出的磷块岩既具有重要的资源价值，另一方面，任一磷块岩层代表着一次独立的成磷事件，因而将华南地区下寒武统磷块岩进行区域上的对比研究，从而以磷块岩层作为等时层，对构建华南下寒武统地层框架具有重要的地层学意义。 此外，华南下寒武统产出的Ni-Mo多元素富集层广泛分布于扬子地台范围，西起云南东部，东部延至浙江诸暨地区，在NE-SW向延伸近1600 km，它既代 表了重要的成矿事件，亦为关键的地球化学异常层位。因此，对Ni-Mo多元素富集层进行区域上的对比研究，明确它在华南下寒武统各重要剖面的产出位置，对于构建华南下寒武统层序框架具有重要意义。 遵义松林地区的下寒武统因赋存Ni-Mo-PGE矿床及与滇东地区澄江生物群相当的遵义生物群而日益受到国内外地质学家们的广泛关注。该区牛蹄塘组底部产出磷块岩、钾质斑脱岩及Ni-Mo多元素富集层，与滇东地区梅树村剖面出露的地层具有潜在的可对比性。因此，本研究选取近年来日益受科学家们关注的遵义松林地区下寒武统作为研究对象，重点对该区牛蹄塘组底部的钾质斑脱岩开展矿物学、地球化学和年代学研究。同时，将遵义松林地区下寒武统剖面上磷块岩、钾质斑脱岩、Ni-Mo多元素富集层主要与滇东地区梅树村剖面的相应岩层进行地球化学对比研究。研究的目的在于通过对华南地区上述两条代表性的下寒武统剖面进行地层对比研究，初步构建华南下寒武统具时间、空间涵义的层序框架，从而约束华南下寒武统中的重要生物群、矿床及具全球对比意义的C同位素漂移事件的时间，进一步促进华南下寒武统的划分和全球对比。论文获得以下主要结论性认识： （1）滇东地区朱家菁组中谊村段中部钾质斑脱岩及其邻近的磷块岩可构成华南下寒武统层序框架的第一个标志层。这一标志层在贵州大部分地区（或华南地区的多数下寒武统剖面）缺失。该标志层的磷块岩稀土元素总量和Y含量高于新元古代陡山沱期磷块岩，低于遵义松林地区牛蹄塘组底部及其华南其它地区相当层位（石岩头组底部及戈仲伍组）的磷块岩。第一个标志层的钾质斑脱岩的原始岩浆为亚碱性系列的酸性岩浆，其典型特征为具有较低的Zr（变化范围144×10-6~291×10-6，平均196.4×10-6）、Nb（变化范围10×10-6~13×10-6，平均11.86×10-6）含量和较高的Zr/Nb比值（变化范围为12.63~24.24，平均值为16.55）。这一层钾质斑脱岩的锆石U-Pb年龄为538.2±1.5 Ma（Jenkins et al., 2002）。 （2）遵义松林地区牛蹄塘组底部钾质斑脱岩和磷块岩分别相当于滇东地区石岩头组底部钾质斑脱岩和磷块岩，它们构成华南下寒武统层序框架的第二个标志层。该标志层中钾质斑脱岩的原始岩浆性质为中性岩浆，其碱性程度高于朱家菁组中谊村段中部钾质斑脱岩的原始岩浆。相对于中谊村段中部钾质斑脱岩，该层位的钾质斑脱岩具有高的Zr(变化范围187.0910-6~391.5710-6，平均值318.4010-6)、Nb（49.6910-6~140.0010-6，平均值90.6810-6）含量和低的Zr/Nb（2.60~4.32，平均值3.61）比值。该钾质斑脱岩的年龄为518 ± 5 Ma。该标志层的磷块岩以极其富REE和Y为特征，其稀土元素总量平均值为636.01×10-6，Y含量平均值262.43×10-6，明显高于滇东地区中谊村段磷块岩（∑REE平均值为195.45×10-6，Y含量平均值为91.2310-6），它们代表早寒武世时期一次特殊的以极其富REE和Y为特征的成磷事件。 （3）Ni-Mo多元素富集层可以作为构建华南下寒武统层序框架中的第三个等时标志层。滇东地区梅树村剖面的Ni-Mo多元素富集层被重新校正在玉案山组底部（即13层，Ni、Mo含量分别为135×10-6和583×10-6）。Ni-Mo多元素地球化学标志层的典型特征为在剖面上具Ni、Mo等多种微量元素及贵金属元素的最高异常。该标志层的Re-Os年龄为537~542 Ma，可能代表的不是地层层序的年龄。 （4）初步建立华南下寒武统时间框架。约束了华南地区下寒武统Ni-Mo-PGE矿床的下限年龄应为518 ± 5 Ma。同时，该时间框架亦约束了滇东地区澄江生物群及最古老三叶虫的下限年龄（518 ± 5 Ma），考虑到石岩头组底部钾质斑脱岩的产出位置与玉案山组中部澄江生物群的产出层位存在相当的距离（大于80 m），因此，前人对澄江生物群的推测年龄（525~530 Ma）可能有些偏老。此外，初步约束了华南地区具全球对比意义的C同位素正漂移事件的年龄（538~518 Ma）。该时间框架是建立在两个相互支持的地层高精度锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄的基础之上，而国际前寒武系-寒武系界线年龄的最新研究成果为542 Ma，因此，它支持将华南地区的前寒武系-寒武系界线置于朱家菁组中谊村段中部钾质斑脱岩层（第5层）的下伏地层的方案。结合华南地区最新的地层古生物学研究成果（朱茂炎等，2001；Zhu et al., 2003），将这一界线置于朱家菁组中谊村段底界可作为一种合理的选择。

Ciclos de seleção e modificações na anatomia radicular do milho Saracura sob alagamento.

O alagamento é um problema encontrado em diversas áreas com potencial agrícola, afetando principalmente os produtores mais pobres. O milho ?Saracura? BRS 4154 foi desenvolvido no intuito de possibilitar o seu plantio em regiões sujeitas ao alagamento, estando atualmente no seu 18° ciclo de seleção. O presente trabalho teve como objetivos verificar as modificações nas características anatômicas radiculares relacionadas com o alagamento e o seu incremento ou não ao longo dos 18 ciclos de seleção em comparação com 2 variedades controle (BR 107 e BRS 1010) submetidas ao alagamento intermitente de 2 dias. As amostras radiculares foram preparadas pelas microtécnicas apropriadas e analisadas em microscopia óptica. Foram observados em relação ao grupo controle e aos ciclos anteriores: aumentos na capacidade de formação de aerênquima; diminuição no córtex; diminuição no diâmetro dos vasos; diminuição da camada subepidérmica; aumento na espessura do floema; e epiderme. Dessa forma, os sucessivos ciclos de seleção foram capazes de melhorar as características do milho Saracura e a sua adaptabilidade a ambientes alagados.

Determination of ionic resistance and optimal composition in the anodic catalyst layers of DMFC using AC impedance

In the present study, a method based on transmission-line mode for a porous electrode was used to measure the ionic resistance of the anode catalyst layer under in situ fuel cell operation condition. The influence of Nafion content and catalyst loading in the anode catalyst layer on the methanol electro-oxidation and direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) performance based on unsupported Pt-Ru black was investigated by using the AC impedance method. The optimal Nafion content was found to be 15 wt% at 75 degrees C. The optimal Pt-Ru loading is related to the operating temperature, for example, about 2.0 mg/cm(2) for 75-90 degrees C, 3.0 mg/cm2 for 50 degrees C. Over these values, the cell performance decreased due to the increases in ohmic and mass transfer resistances. It was found that the peak power density obtained was 217 mW/cm(2) with optimal catalyst and Nafion loading at 75 degrees C using oxygen. (c) 2005 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Collected Poems of W. S. Graham

Francis, Matthew, New Collected Poems of W. S. Graham, (London: Faber and Faber, 2004 RAE2008

Informe de actividades en desarrollo del Programa de diversificación del carriel antioqueño.

9 hojas.

Global Rates of Free Hydrogen (H2) Production by Serpentinization and other Abiogenic Processes within Young Ocean Crust

The main conclusion of this dissertation is that global H2 production within young ocean crust (<10 Mya) is higher than currently recognized, in part because current estimates of H2 production accompanying the serpentinization of peridotite may be too low (Chapter 2) and in part because a number of abiogenic H2-producing processes have heretofore gone unquantified (Chapter 3). The importance of free H2 to a range of geochemical processes makes the quantitative understanding of H2 production advanced in this dissertation pertinent to an array of open research questions across the geosciences (e.g. the origin and evolution of life and the oxidation of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans).

The first component of this dissertation (Chapter 2) examines H2 produced within young ocean crust [e.g. near the mid-ocean ridge (MOR)] by serpentinization. In the presence of water, olivine-rich rocks (peridotites) undergo serpentinization (hydration) at temperatures of up to ~500°C but only produce H2 at temperatures up to ~350°C. A simple analytical model is presented that mechanistically ties the process to seafloor spreading and explicitly accounts for the importance of temperature in H2 formation. The model suggests that H2 production increases with the rate of seafloor spreading and the net thickness of serpentinized peridotite (S-P) in a column of lithosphere. The model is applied globally to the MOR using conservative estimates for the net thickness of lithospheric S-P, our least certain model input. Despite the large uncertainties surrounding the amount of serpentinized peridotite within oceanic crust, conservative model parameters suggest a magnitude of H2 production (~1012 moles H2/y) that is larger than the most widely cited previous estimates (~1011 although previous estimates range from 1010-1012 moles H2/y). Certain model relationships are also consistent with what has been established through field studies, for example that the highest H2 fluxes (moles H2/km2 seafloor) are produced near slower-spreading ridges (<20 mm/y). Other modeled relationships are new and represent testable predictions. Principal among these is that about half of the H2 produced globally is produced off-axis beneath faster-spreading seafloor (>20 mm/y), a region where only one measurement of H2 has been made thus far and is ripe for future investigation.

In the second part of this dissertation (Chapter 3), I construct the first budget for free H2 in young ocean crust that quantifies and compares all currently recognized H2 sources and H2 sinks. First global estimates of budget components are proposed in instances where previous estimate(s) could not be located provided that the literature on that specific budget component was not too sparse to do so. Results suggest that the nine known H2 sources, listed in order of quantitative importance, are: Crystallization (6x1012 moles H2/y or 61% of total H2 production), serpentinization (2x1012 moles H2/y or 21%), magmatic degassing (7x1011 moles H2/y or 7%), lava-seawater interaction (5x1011 moles H2/y or 5%), low-temperature alteration of basalt (5x1011 moles H2/y or 5%), high-temperature alteration of basalt (3x1010 moles H2/y or <1%), catalysis (3x108 moles H2/y or <<1%), radiolysis (2x108 moles H2/y or <<1%), and pyrite formation (3x106 moles H2/y or <<1%). Next we consider two well-known H2 sinks, H2 lost to the ocean and H2 occluded within rock minerals, and our analysis suggests that both are of similar size (both are 6x1011 moles H2/y). Budgeting results suggest a large difference between H2 sources (total production = 1x1013 moles H2/y) and H2 sinks (total losses = 1x1011 moles H2/y). Assuming this large difference represents H2 consumed by microbes (total consumption = 9x1011 moles H2/y), we explore rates of primary production by the chemosynthetic, sub-seafloor biosphere. Although the numbers presented require further examination and future modifications, the analysis suggests that the sub-seafloor H2 budget is similar to the sub-seafloor CH4 budget in the sense that globally significant quantities of both of these reduced gases are produced beneath the seafloor but never escape the seafloor due to microbial consumption.

The third and final component of this dissertation (Chapter 4) explores the self-organization of barchan sand dune fields. In nature, barchan dunes typically exist as members of larger dune fields that display striking, enigmatic structures that cannot be readily explained by examining the dynamics at the scale of single dunes, or by appealing to patterns in external forcing. To explore the possibility that observed structures emerge spontaneously as a collective result of many dunes interacting with each other, we built a numerical model that treats barchans as discrete entities that interact with one another according to simplified rules derived from theoretical and numerical work, and from field observations: Dunes exchange sand through the fluxes that leak from the downwind side of each dune and are captured on their upstream sides; when dunes become sufficiently large, small dunes are born on their downwind sides (“calving”); and when dunes collide directly enough, they merge. Results show that these relatively simple interactions provide potential explanations for a range of field-scale phenomena including isolated patches of dunes and heterogeneous arrangements of similarly sized dunes in denser fields. The results also suggest that (1) dune field characteristics depend on the sand flux fed into the upwind boundary, although (2) moving downwind, the system approaches a common attracting state in which the memory of the upwind conditions vanishes. This work supports the hypothesis that calving exerts a first order control on field-scale phenomena; it prevents individual dunes from growing without bound, as single-dune analyses suggest, and allows the formation of roughly realistic, persistent dune field patterns.

Cultivos de Rhizobium phaseoli en sistema sumergido

p.19-27

Ultrafast laser-driven microlens to focus and energy-select mega-electron volt protons

We present a technique for simultaneous focusing and energy selection of high-current, mega-electron volt proton beams With the use of radial, transient electric fields (107 to 1010 volts per meter) triggered on the inner walls of a hollow microcylinder by an intense subpicosecond laser pulse. Because of the transient nature of the focusing fields, the proposed method allows selection of a desired range out of the spectrum of the polyenergetic proton beam. This technique addresses current drawbacks of laser-accelerated proton beams, such as their broad spectrum and divergence at the source.

Quantitative surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of dipicolinic acid - towards rapid anthrax endospore detection

Dipicolinic acid (DPA) is an excellent marker compound for bacterial spores, including those of Bacillus anthracis ( anthrax). Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) potentially has the sensitivity and discrimination needed for trace DPA analysis, but mixing DPA solutions with citrate-reduced silver colloid only yielded measurable SERS spectra at much higher (> 80 ppm) concentrations than would be desirable for anthrax detection. Aggregation of the colloid with halide salts eliminated even these small DPA bands but aggregation with Na2SO4(aq) resulted in a remarkable increase in the DPA signals. With sulfate aggregation even 1 ppm solutions gave detectable signals with 10 s accumulation times, which is in the sensitivity range required. Addition of CNS- as an internal standard allowed quantitative DPA analysis, plotting the intensity of the strong DPA 1010 cm(-1) band (normalised to the ca. 2120 cm(-1) CNS- band) against DPA concentration gave a linear calibration (R-2 = 0.986) over the range 0 - 50 ppm DPA. The inclusion of thiocyanate also allows false negatives due to accidental deactivation of the enhancing medium to be detected.