Coupled thermal and hydrological evolution of tropical Africa over the last deglaciation

We analyzed the distribution of branched tetraether membrane lipids derived from soil bacteria in a marine sediment record that was recovered close to the Congo River outflow, and the results enabled us to reconstruct large-scale continental temperature changes in tropical Africa that span the past 25,000 years. Tropical African temperatures gradually increased from approximately 21 degrees to 25 degrees C over the last deglaciation, which is a larger warming than estimated for the tropical Atlantic Ocean. A direct comparison with sea-surface temperature estimates from the same core revealed that the land-sea temperature difference was, through the thermal pressure gradient, an important control on central African precipitation patterns.     

Sulfur isotopic composition of cenozoic seawater sulfate

A continuous seawater sulfate sulfur isotope curve for the Cenozoic with a resolution of approximately 1 million years was generated using marine barite. The sulfur isotopic composition decreased from 19 to 17 per mil between 65 and 55 million years ago, increased abruptly from 17 to 22 per mil between 55 and 45 million years ago, remained nearly constant from 35 to approximately 2 million years ago, and has decreased by 0.8 per mil during the past 2 million years. A comparison between seawater sulfate and marine carbonate carbon isotope records reveals no clear systematic coupling between the sulfur and carbon cycles over one to several millions of years, indicating that changes in the burial rate of pyrite sulfur and organic carbon did not singularly control the atmospheric oxygen content over short time intervals in the Cenozoic. This finding has implications for the modeling of controls on atmospheric oxygen concentration.     

Physical model for the decay and preservation of marine organic carbon

Degradation of marine organic carbon provides a major source of atmospheric carbon dioxide, whereas preservation in sediments results in accumulation of oxygen. These processes involve the slow decay of chemically recalcitrant compounds and physical protection. To assess the importance of physical protection, we constructed a reaction-diffusion model in which organic matter differs only in its accessibility to microbial degradation but not its intrinsic reactivity. The model predicts that organic matter decays logarithmically with time t and that decay rates decrease approximately as 0.2 x t(-1) until burial. Analyses of sediment-core data are consistent with these predictions.     

Genesis of petroleum hydrocarbons in marine sediments

Distribution patterns of isopentane and normal pentane in marine sediments show a reversal in slope at a subsurface temperature of about 90 degrees C. The data indicate that three types of reactions are involved in pentane formation: (i) biological origin at the sediment surface, (ii) low-temperature (< 90 degrees C) chemical reactions yielding predominately secondary carbon structures, and (iii) high-temperature (> 90 degrees C) cracking reactions at great depth yielding predominately straight carbon chains.     

Microbial autotrophy: a primary source of organic carbon in marine sediments

The chemoautotrophic fixation of carbon dioxide by bacteria is responsible for an appreciable component of the organic carbon in a sulfide-rich marine mud. A peak of carbon dioxide fixation (at 40 centimeters subbottom) coincides with peaks in the organic carbon content, the ratio of carbon to nitrogen, and bacterial cell counts. Stimulation of fixation by thiosulfate and inhibition by anaerobic conditions implicate the chemoautotrophic sulfur bacteria as primary producers in this environment.     

Geomicrobiology of deep-sea hydrothermal vents

During the cycling of seawater through the earth's crust along the mid-ocean ridge system, geothermal energy is transferred into chemical energy in the form of reduced inorganic compounds. These compounds are derived from the reaction of seawater with crustal rocks at high temperatures and are emitted from warm (相似文献   

猪用复合微生态制剂制备及保存期内活菌数研究

为了确定两种猪肠道益生菌的同体发酵效果,以及复合微生态制剂在不同保存条件下的活菌数变化.对猪肠道益生菌干酪乳杆菌、罗伊氏乳酸杆菌进行同体发酵,测定其活菌数,然后按照一定比例将两种益生菌与液体发酵的纳豆芽孢杆菌冻干菌粉混合制成复合微生态制剂;测定该制剂在4℃和室温保存状态下14 d内及半年内益生菌活菌数量的变化.保存14...     

夜间增温下施硅对稻田CH4好氧氧化及其氮响应的影响

【目的】研究硅肥对增温稻田甲烷(CH₄)好氧氧化速率的影响效应,为探索未来全球变暖背景下稻田温室气体减排措施提供科学依据。【方法】采用田间开放式增温系统对稻田土壤进行夜间增温,共设4个处理：夜间常温不施硅(CK)、夜间增温不施硅(NW)、夜间常温施硅(Si)和夜间增温施硅(NW+Si)。采集上述处理4年后的耕层根际土和非根际土,在无氮添加和氮添加(NH₄⁺、NO₃^-和尿素)条件下进行室内培养,采用¹³CH₄标记方法,研究稻田CH₄好氧氧化速率和固碳特征及其对氮肥的响应。【结果】Si处理稻田土壤的总有机碳和水溶性有机碳含量分别为23.2 g/kg和216.7 mg/kg,较CK稻田提高10.5%和26.7%;而NW处理的总有机碳和水溶性有机碳则分别较CK稻田降低11.9%和9.9%。施硅处理(Si和NW+Si)根际土的CH₄好氧氧化速率显著高于不施硅处理(CK和NW)(P<0.05),其...     

Organic Compounds in Silica Bodies of Rice Revealed by X-ray Microanalysis and Micro-infrared Spectroscopy

To understand the possible mechanism controlling the formation of silicon bodies in higher plants, we need to know the nature of organic compounds associated with silicon bodies and induces silicon precipitation in plant cells. A new method was developed to isolate pure silicon body in fresh leaves of rice (Oryaa sativa L. Var. 297) at lowt emperature by grinding and centrifugation procedures, which avoided degradation of organic molecules induced by high temperature and strong oxidizing acids used in the traditional method. The energy dispersive X-ray spectrum under scanning electron microscope showed that there was a great amount of carbon in silicon bodies in addition to silicon and oxygen. Organic compounds intimately associated with silicon bodies were released by treatment with HF solution. Analysis of the organic compounds by micro-infrared spectroscopy revealed the presence of polyphenol and polysaccharide and a little protein.     

一株疏水性石油烃降解菌的鉴定及特性研究

从石油污染的土壤中分离纯化得到一株能以石油为惟一碳源和能源生长的石油烃降解菌,命名为HDB-1,并采用微生物粘着碳烃化合物法(MATH)对菌株的细菌表面疏水性及其环境影响因子进行研究,结果表明:HDB-1的疏水性为68.5%;随着培养时间、碳源、温度、pH值的改变,细菌表面疏水性均发生不同程度的变化;6 d后初始含油量为1 000 mg/L的培养液去除率为91.6%,明显高于对照菌——微球属菌的64.5%;细菌的细胞表面疏水性与其在环境中对有机污染物的降解呈一定的相关性,疏水性大的细菌对疏水性有机物的降解速度较疏水性小的快。     

Limits of microbial existence: temperature and pH

A microscopic survey made to detect the presence of bacteria in hot springs of varying temperature and pH characteristics revealed that in neutral and alkaline hot springs bacteria are found at temperatures up to the boiling point of water (92 degrees to 100 degrees C, depending on the altitude). In hot springs of increasing acidity the upper temperature limit at which bacteria are found decreases; at pH 2 to 3 the upper temperature limit is 75 degrees to 80 degrees C. Bacteria have thus been able to evolve with the ability to grow at either high temperature or high acidity, but not at both high temperature and high acidity. These results suggest that there are physicochemical limitations of the environment beyond which life is impossible.     

Bacterial Sulfate Reduction Above 100{degrees}C in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Sediments

The currently known upper temperature limit for growth of organisms, shared by a number of archaebacteria, is 110 degrees C. However, among the sulfate-reducing bacteria, growth temperatures of greater than 100 degrees C have not been found. A search for high-temperature activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria was done in hot deep-sea sediments at the hydrothermal vents of the Guaymas Basin tectonic spreading center in the Gulf of California. Radiotracer studies revealed that sulfate reduction can occur at temperatures up to 110 degrees C, with an optimum rate at 103 degrees to 106 degrees C. This observation expands the upper temperature limit of this process in deep-ocean sediments by 20 degrees C and indicates the existence of an unknown group of hyperthermophilic bacteria with a potential importance for the biogeochemistry of sulfur above 100 degrees C.     

Ordered bicontinuous nanoporous and nanorelief ceramic films from self assembling polymer precursors

Three-dimensional ceramic nanostructured films were produced from silicon-containing triblock copolymer films exhibiting the double gyroid and inverse double gyroid morphologies (space group Ia3d). A one-step room-temperature oxidation process that used ozonolysis and ultraviolet irradiation effected both the selective removal of the hydrocarbon block and the conversion of the silicon-containing block to a silicon oxycarbide ceramic stable to 400 degrees C. Depending on the relative volume fraction of the hydrocarbon block to the silicon- containing block, either nanoporous or nanorelief structures were fabricated with calculated interfacial areas of approximately 40 square meters per gram and pore or strut sizes of approximately 20 nanometers.     

Deposition of conformal copper and nickel films from supercritical carbon dioxide

Device-quality copper and nickel films were deposited onto planar and etched silicon substrates by the reduction of soluble organometallic compounds with hydrogen in a supercritical carbon dioxide solution. Exceptional step coverage on complex surfaces and complete filling of high-aspect-ratio features of less than 100 nanometers width were achieved. Nickel was deposited at 60 degrees C by the reduction of bis(cyclopentadienyl)nickel and copper was deposited from either copper(I) or copper(II) compounds onto the native oxide of silicon or metal nitrides with seed layers at temperatures up to 200 degrees C and directly on each surface at temperatures above 250 degrees C. The latter approach provides a single-step means for achieving high-aspect-ratio feature fill necessary for copper interconnect structures in future generations of integrated circuits.     

Biomarker evidence for photosynthesis during neoproterozoic glaciation

Laterally extensive black shales were deposited on the S?o Francisco craton in southeastern Brazil during low-latitude Neoproterozoic glaciation approximately 740 to 700 million years ago. These rocks contain up to 3.0 weight % organic carbon, which we interpret as representing the preserved record of abundant marine primary productivity from glacial times. Extractable biomarkers reflect a complex and productive microbial ecosystem, including both phototrophic bacteria and eukaryotes, living in a stratified ocean with thin or absent sea ice, oxic surface waters, and euxinic conditions within the photic zone. Such an environment provides important constraints for parts of the "Snowball Earth" hypothesis.     

Late Precambrian oxygenation; inception of the clay mineral factory

An enigmatic stepwise increase in oxygen in the late Precambrian is widely considered a prerequisite for the expansion of animal life. Accumulation of oxygen requires organic matter burial in sediments, which is largely controlled by the sheltering or preservational effects of detrital clay minerals in modern marine continental margin depocenters. Here, we show mineralogical and geochemical evidence for an increase in clay mineral deposition in the Neoproterozoic that immediately predated the first metazoans. Today most clay minerals originate in biologically active soils, so initial expansion of a primitive land biota would greatly enhance production of pedogenic clay minerals (the "clay mineral factory"), leading to increased marine burial of organic carbon via mineral surface preservation.     

海洋真菌HZ-01菌株产几丁质酶的研究

[目的]探讨海洋真菌HZ-01菌株产几丁质酶的培养条件和部分性质。[方法]从海洋环境中筛选出1株几丁质酶高产真菌HZ-01,以该菌株为材料,进行不同碳源、氮源以及温度对菌株发酵产生几丁质酶的影响试验,研究几丁质酶的培养条件。将粗酶液在不同温度下保温60 min后,取样测定几丁质酶活力,分析几丁质酶的热稳定性和酸碱稳定性。[结果]海洋真菌HZ-01菌株产几丁质酶的最佳碳源为几丁质,蛋白胨为最佳氮源;以1.0%的几丁质作为碳源,0.1%的蛋白胨作为氮源,温度为30℃时,其产生的几丁质酶活力最高,且随着温度的上升,该酶活力下降;该酶的酸碱稳定性较差,只在pH值6~8具有较高活性。[结论]该研究为规模化生产几丁质酶初步奠定基础。     

Life at high temperatures

Water environments with temperatures up to and above boiling are commonly found in association with geothermal activity. At temperatures above 60 degrees C, only bacteria are found. Bacteria with temperature optima over the range 65 degrees to 105 degrees C have been obtained in pure culture and are the object of many research projects. The upper temperature limit for life in liquid water has not yet been defined, but is likely to be somewhere between 110 degrees and 200 degrees C, since amino acids and nucleotides are destroyed at temperatures over 200 degrees C. Because bacteria capable of growth at high temperatures are found in many phylogenetic groups, it is likely that the ability to grow at high temperature had a polyphyletic origin. The macromolecules of these organisms are inherently more stable to heat than those of conventional organisms, but only small changes in sequence can lead to increases in thermostability. Because of their unique properties, thermophilic organisms and their enzymes have many potential biotechnological uses, and extensive research on industrial applications is under way.     

A liquid-solution-phase synthesis of crystalline silicon

A liquid-solution-phase technique for preparing submicrometer-sized silicon single crystals is presented. The synthesis is based on the reduction of SiCl(4) and RSiCl(3) (R = H, octyl) by sodium metal in a nonpolar organic solvent at high temperatures (385 degrees C) and high pressures (> 100 atmospheres). For R = H, the synthesis produces hexagonal-shaped silicon single crystals ranging from 5 to 3000 nanometers in size. For R = octyl, the synthesis also produces hexagonal-shaped silicon single crystals; however, the size range is controlled to 5.5 +/- 2.5 nanometers.     

Kinetics of the fe2+-mg, order-disorder reaction in anthophyllites: quantitative cooling rates

The kinetics of the Fe(2+)-Mg, order-disorder phenomenon in a highly ordered natural anthophyllite have been determined over the temperature range from 400 degrees to 720 degrees C at a pressure of 2 kilobars. At temperatures of 600 degrees C and above, equilibrium is attained by disordering as well as ordering reactions. The intracrystalline exchange is defined by a standard Gibbs free energy of 4247 +/- 54 calories per formula unit. Rate studies at 550 degrees and 500 degrees C show that equilibrium is attained by ordering but not by disordering within the same time scale and that the exchange reaction is characterized by an activation energy of approximately 55 kilocalories per formula unit. An equilibration temperature for the natural anthophyllite of 270 degrees C is determined from the termination of the ordering process owing to excessively slow reaction kinetics after approximately 10(7) years. From the rate constants of the exchange process, for different crystallization temperatures, the apparent equilibration temperature of 270 degrees C defines a maximum linear cooling rate for the rock of 1 x 10(4) degrees C per year.