The karstlands of Antigua, their land use and conservation

The northeastern 110 km², or nearly 40%, of Antigua is underlain by impure limestones of the Oligocene-aged Antigua Formation, on which has developed a subdued karst landscape consisting essentially of shallow enclosed depressions (dolines), intermittently active stream valleys and widely scattered residual hills. The dispersed dolines are broad, shallow and clustered, especially in the central and southeastern sections of the limestone belt, where they attain densities of 7/km². The widely spaced residual hills attain heights of up to 40 m and localized densities of over 4/km². Five main valley systems up to 6 km in length traverse the limestone in a broadly northeast direction, carrying both autogenic drainage from within the karst area and allogenic drainage from the non-carbonate Central Plain. Karst and cave development has been constrained by the low purity of the limestones. Of the four types of carbonate islands identified within the Carbonate Island Karst Model, Antigua most closely resembles the Composite Island type. The karst has been much influenced by human activities, particularly agriculture and quarrying, and is now a focus of the burgeoning tourism industry. Virtually none of the karst is designated as protected areas, but several sites warrant protection, and several conservation strategies have been suggested.     

重庆焦石片区岩溶水动力水化学及其动态特征分析

在对焦石片区岩溶水系统的水动力特征分析的基础上对水化学类型进行了总结,并结合降雨资料与典型泉域流量或水位动态关系的研究,得出了岩溶水系统分为汇合流型和分散流型两种水动力;其主要的水化学类型为重碳酸盐型水;岩溶水的动态变化对降水反映极为灵敏,主要受降水量大小的控制。     

Towards understanding the lithospheric structure of the southern Chilean subduction zone (36°S–42°S) and its role in the gravity field

The Southern Andes differ significantly from the Central Andes with respect to topography and crustal structures and are, from a geophysical point of view, less well known. In order to provide insight into the along-strike segmentation of the Andean mountain belt, an integrated 3-D density model was developed for the area between latitudes 36°S and 42°S. The model is based on geophysical and geological data acquired in the region over the past years and was constructed using forward density modelling. In general, the gravity field of the South American margin is characterized by a relatively continuous positive anomaly along the coastline and the forearc region, and by negative anomalies along the trench and the volcanic arc. However, in the forearc region of the central part of the study area, located just to the south of the epicentre of the largest ever recorded earthquake (Valdivia, 1960), the trench-parallel positive anomaly is disrupted. The forearc gravity anomaly differences thus allow the study area to be divided into three segments, the northern Arauco-Lonquimay, the middle Valdivia-Liquiñe, and the southern Bahía-Mansa-Osorno segment, which are also evident in geology. In the proposed model, the observed negative gravity anomaly in the middle segment is reproduced by an approximately 5 km greater depth to the top of the slab beneath the forearc region. The depth to the slab is, however, dependent upon the density of the upper plate structures. Therefore, both the upper and lower plates and their interaction have a significant impact on the subduction-zone gravity field.     

粤北岩溶山地土壤垂直渗漏与粒度变化特征

选择广东粤北连南两个典型岩溶山地剖面,调查了剖面裂隙、漏斗等的垂直分布特征,采样分析了土壤粒度垂向变化。结果表明：碳酸盐岩的构造运动、差异风化和溶蚀等形成的裂隙、漏斗和孔穴在降水入渗、土壤自重力和溶蚀作用下成为土壤地下迁移的通道;漏斗、裂隙及孔穴主要分布在0-10 m的范围,根据横断面调查计算,漏斗土壤占整个断面面积的23.1%-28.1%,裂隙土占整个断面面积的5.3%-8.9%,孔穴土占0.16%,土壤面积占整个剖面面积的28.4%-37.16%。在漏斗和裂隙中土壤颗粒物以粗粉沙和砂粒为主,次为粘粒和细粉沙,随深度增加砂粒含量降低,粘粒含量总体呈增加趋势但其变化与漏斗和裂隙底部形态、角度、宽度等有关;土壤粒度分布特征证明岩溶山地土壤存在水平和垂直两个运移过程以及地表侵蚀、土壤细粒物质下渗和土壤细粒物质堆积三个迁移阶段。     

Three-dimensional VP and VP /VS models of the upper crust in the Friuli area (northeastern Italy)

3-D images of P velocity and P - to S -velocity ratio have been produced for the upper crust of the Friuli area (northeastern Italy) using local earthquake tomography. The data consist of 2565 P and 930 S arrival times of high quality. The best-fitting V _P and V _P / V _S 1-D models were computed before the 3-D inversion. V _P was measured on two rock samples representative of the investigated upper layers of the Friuli crust. The tomographic V _P model was used for modelling the gravity anomalies, by converting the velocity values into densities along three vertical cross-sections. The computed gravity anomalies were optimized with respect to the observed gravity anomalies. The crust investigated is characterized by sharp lateral and deep V _P and V _P / V _S anomalies that are associated with the complex geological structure. High V _P / V _S values are associated with highly fractured zones related to the main faulting pattern. The relocated seismicity is generally associated with sharp variations in the V _P / V _S anomalies. The V _P images show a high-velocity body below 6 km depth in the central part of the Friuli area, marked also by strong V _P / V _S heterogeneities, and this is interpreted as a tectonic wedge. Comparison with the distribution of earthquakes supports the hypothesis that the tectonic wedge controls most of the seismicity and can be considered to be the main seismogenic zone in the Friuli area.     

Structure and early evolution of the Arabian Sea and East Somali Basin

The Laxmi Ridge is a large-scale basement high buried beneath the sediments of the Indus Fan. The location of the ocean–continent transition (OCT) on this margin has previously been proposed at either the southern edge of the Laxmi Ridge or beyond it towards the India–Pakistan shelf. The former explains the margin-parallel Laxmi Basin as thinned continental crust, the latter as a failed rift of earlier seafloor spreading. To examine the structure of this margin, a reassessment of marine magnetic data has detailed seafloor-spreading magnetic anomalies prior to anomaly 24 in both the Arabian and East Somali basins. The previously identified anomaly 28 is not interpreted as a seafloor-spreading anomaly but as a magnetized basement feature adjacent to, and merging with, the ridge—the Laxmi Spur. New gravity models across the Laxmi Ridge and adjacent margin using ship and satellite data corroborate the existence of underplated crust beneath the Laxmi Ridge and Basin and the location of the OCT at the southern edge of the Ridge. The results are not compatible with the existence of a pre-anomaly 28 phase of seafloor spreading, although large-scale intrusions may be the origin of some of the basement features in the Laxmi Basin. The models also identify the Laxmi Spur as a low-density feature with a natural remanent magnetization (NRM) compatible with serpentinization. The Laxmi Ridge is mapped to the southeast, where it appears to terminate at a point coinciding with the appearance of E–W magnetic lineations and gravity anomalies at 15.5°N. Thereafter it becomes indistinct. This is interpreted as necessary in the reconstruction to the Mascarene Plateau to avoid continental overlap.     

Recent Developments in the Analysis of the Black Mat Layer and Cosmic Impact at 12.8 ka

Recent analyses of sediment samples from “black mat” sites in South America and Europe support previous interpretations of an ET impact event that reversed the Late Glacial demise of LGM ice during the Bølling Allerød warming, resulting in a resurgence of ice termed the Younger Dryas (YD) cooling episode. The breakup or impact of a cosmic vehicle at the YD boundary coincides with the onset of a 1‐kyr long interval of glacial resurgence, one of the most studied events of the Late Pleistocene. New analytical databases reveal a corpus of data indicating that the cosmic impact was a real event, most possibly a cosmic airburst from Earth's encounter with the Taurid Complex comet or unknown asteroid, an event that led to cosmic fragments exploding interhemispherically over widely dispersed areas, including the northern Andes of Venezuela and the Alps on the Italian/French frontier. While the databases in the two areas differ somewhat, the overall interpretation is that microtextural evidence in weathering rinds and in sands of associated paleosols and glaciofluvial deposits carry undeniable attributes of melted glassy carbon and Fe spherules, planar deformation features, shock‐melted and contorted quartz, occasional transition and platinum metals, and brecciated and impacted minerals of diverse lithologies. In concert with other black mat localities in the Western USA, the Netherlands, coastal France, Syria, Central Asia, Peru, Argentina and Mexico, it appears that a widespread cosmic impact by an asteroid or comet is responsible for deposition of the black mat at the onset of the YD glacial event. Whether or not the impact caused a 1‐kyr interval of glacial climate depends upon whether or not the Earth had multiple centuries‐long episodic encounters with the Taurid Complex or asteroid remnants; impact‐related changes in microclimates sustained climatic forcing sufficient to maintain positive mass balances in the reformed ice; and/or inertia in the Atlantic thermohaline circulation system persisted for 1 kyr.     

Insights into the lithospheric structure and tectonic setting of the Barents Sea region from isostatic considerations

We study the tectonic setting and lithospheric structure of the greater Barents Sea region by investigating its isostatic state and its gravity field. 3-D forward density modelling utilizing available information from seismic data and boreholes shows an apparent shift between the level of observed and modelled gravity anomalies. This difference cannot be solely explained by changes in crustal density. Furthermore, isostatic calculations show that the present crustal thickness of 35–37 km in the Eastern Barents Sea is greater than required to isostatically balance the deep basins of the area (>19 km). To isostatically compensate the missing masses from the thick crust and deep basins and to adequately explain the gravity field, high-density material (3300–3350 kg m⁻³) in the lithospheric mantle below the Eastern Barents Sea is needed. The distribution of mantle densities shows a regional division between the Western and Eastern Barents and Kara Seas. In addition, a band of high-densities is observed in the lower crust along the transition zone from the Eastern to Western Barents Sea. The distribution of high-density material in the crust and mantle suggests a connection to the Neoproterozoic Timanide orogen and argues against the presence of a Caledonian suture in the Eastern Barents Sea. Furthermore, the results indicate that the basins of the Western Barents Sea are mainly affected by rifting, while the Eastern Barents Sea basins are located on a stable continental platform.     

黔桂喀斯特山区植被变化及其地形效应

为科学认识喀斯特山区植被变化及其地形效应,基于MODIS NDVI数据,采用统计学方法,系统分析2000-2016年喀斯特山区植被变化的时空特征及其与海拔、地形起伏度、坡度、坡向的关系。研究表明,黔桂喀斯特山区植被绿度中部高,西北及东南较低,年均NDVI随海拔和地形起伏度的增加呈单峰曲线变化,峰值位于400~600 m,NDVI随坡度和坡向的变化不明显;2000-2016年大部分地区NDVI呈增长趋势,其中超过20%的地区呈显著增长（P<0.05）,年均增长率约0.0018。西部和东南部绿化趋势最为显著,仅在东北和中东部,NDVI呈下降趋势;NDVI呈增长趋势的比例随海拔的增加而增加,说明该喀斯特山区近年来植被恢复向着良性化方向发展,高海拔植被恢复速率更快,低海拔缓坡处的植被生态建设需要进一步加强。