Otolith delta 18O record of mid-Holocene sea surface temperatures in Peru

Peruvian sea catfish (Galeichthys peruvianus) sagittal otoliths preserve a record of modern and mid-Holocene sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Oxygen isotope profiles in otoliths excavated from Ostra [6010 +/- 90 years before the present (yr B.P.); 8 degrees 55'S] indicate that summer SSTs were approximately 3 degrees C warmer than those of the present. Siches otoliths (6450 +/- 110 yr B.P.; 4 degrees 40'S) recorded mean annual temperatures approximately 3 degrees to 4 degrees C warmer than were measured under modern conditions. Trophic level and population diversity and equitability data from these faunal assemblages and other Peruvian archaeological sites support the isotope interpretations and suggest that upwelling of the Peru-Chile current intensified after approximately 5000 yr B.P.     

鲫耳石年轮的观察及其确证

对耳石边缘年轮形成周期进行了分析。结果表明，鲫耳石上1a形成1个年轮，年轮形成时期洪湖种群主要在4－6月，洞庭湖种群主要在3－5月。星耳石和微耳石一样，可用于鲫年龄测定，而且不经磨片即可直接读取年轮，完整星耳石和微耳石与微耳石磨片上的年轮读数的吻合率均在80％以上，误差不超过1龄。但相对而言，微耳石上年轮更易观察。文中对耳石形态和年轮特征进行了描述。     

Control of crystal size and lattice formation by starmaker in otolith biomineralization

The stone-like otoliths from the ears of teleost fishes are involved in balance and hearing and consist of calcium carbonate crystallites embedded in a protein framework. We report that a previously unknown gene, starmaker, is required in zebrafish for otolith morphogenesis. Reduction of starmaker activity by injection of modified antisense oligonucleotides causes a change in the crystal lattice structure and thus a change in otolith morphology. The expression pattern of starmaker, along with the presence of the protein on the growing otolith, suggest that the expression levels of starmaker control the shape of the otoliths.     

东南太平洋公海智利竹筴鱼年龄与生长研究

智利竹筴鱼是一种重要的中上层经济鱼类,对其生活史关键过程的认识还相当有限。根据2006年5-8月在智利公海采集的智利竹筴鱼样本,利用其中963尾智利竹筴鱼耳石对其年龄进行了鉴定,估算了智利竹筴鱼叉长体重关系以及von Bertalanffy生长方程参数,并分析了智利竹筴鱼耳石重量(OW)与年龄的关系。研究结果表明,样本最大年龄9龄,最小年龄2龄,样本年龄组成以4龄为主(71.5%)。智利竹筴鱼叉长体重方程参数a、b分别为0.000 03和2.801 9,von Bertalanffy生长方程参数L∞为738.4 mm,k为0.107,t0为-1.08。耳石重量与年龄呈显著线性关系(r=0.74,P<0.001),表明耳石重量可用于智利竹筴鱼年龄鉴定。     

东南太平洋公海智利竹(荚)鱼年龄与生长研究

智利竹筴鱼是一种重要的中上层经济鱼类,对其生活史关键过程的认识还相当有限。根据2006年5-8月在智利公海采集的智利竹筴鱼样本,利用其中963尾智利竹筴鱼耳石对其年龄进行了鉴定,估算了智利竹筴鱼叉长体重关系以及von Bertalanffy生长方程参数,并分析了智利竹筴鱼耳石重量(OW)与年龄的关系。研究结果表明,样本最大年龄9龄,最小年龄2龄,样本年龄组成以4龄为主(71.5%)。智利竹筴鱼叉长体重方程参数a、b分别为0.000 03和2.801 9,von Bertalanffy生长方程参数L∞为738.4 mm,k为0.107,t0为-1.08。耳石重量与年龄呈显著线性关系(r=0.74,P<0.001),表明耳石重量可用于智利竹筴鱼年龄鉴定。     

中国南海东沙群岛海域7种鲹科鱼类矢耳石形态特征

对采自中国南海东沙群岛海域的135尾鲹科鱼类(长体圆鲹Decapterus macrosoma、泰勃圆鲹D.tabl、无斑圆鲹D.kurroides、竹?鱼Trachurus japonicus、短吻丝鲹Alectis ciliaris、高体若鲹Caranx equula、脂眼凹肩鲹Selar crumenophthalmus)的矢耳石形态特征进行研究。7种鲹科鱼类矢耳石整体形态呈长椭圆形、四边形、半圆弯钩形等多种形态,耳石周围存在脊突,均有基叶和听沟发育,听沟从耳石前部的主间沟部分一直延伸至耳石后部。研究结果表明,7种鲹科鱼类耳石形态特征种间差异明显,通过耳石形态建立的系统分类检索,以及应用聚类分析识别耳石形态效果显著。这将为鲹科鱼类鱼种识别及系统分类提供参考资料。     

Developmental biology. Rocks that roll zebrafish

The vestibular organs of the inner ear of higher vertebrates control balance, and their counterparts in fish control both balance and hearing. Essential to the operation of these sensory organs are the biomineralized structures--otoconia in higher vertebrates or otoliths in fish--that deflect the sensory hair bundles situated beneath them. In her Perspective, Fekete explores the fascinating world of otolith biomineralization in zebrafish; revealing the importance of a protein called Starmaker for coordinating the shape and type of crystal in fish otoliths ( S?llner et al.).     

Relation between long-term trends of oxygen-18 isotope composition of precipitation and climate

Stable isotope ratios of oxygen ((18)O/(16)O) and hydrogen (D/H) in water have long been considered powerful indicators of paleoclimate. However, quantitative interpretation of isotope variations in terms of climate changes is hampered by a limited understanding of physical processes controlling the global isotope behavior. Analysis was conducted of time series of (18)O content (delta (18)O) of monthly precipitation and surface air temperature available through the International Atomic Energy Agency-World Meteorological Organization global network, "Isotopes in Precipitation." This study indicates that long-term changes of isotopic composition of precipitation over mid-and high-latitude regions during the past three decades closely followed long-term changes of surface air temperature with the average 8180-temperature coefficient around 0.6 per mil per degree Celsius.     

Fluid flow in chondritic parent bodies: deciphering the compositions of planetesimals

Alteration of the Allende meteorite caused shifts in oxygen isotope ratios along a single mass fractionation line. If alteration was caused by aqueous fluid, the pattern of oxygen isotope fractionation can be explained only by flow of reactive water down a temperature gradient. Down-temperature flow of aqueous fluid within planetesimals is sufficient to explain the mineralogical and oxygen isotopic diversity among CV, CM, and CI carbonaceous chondrites and displacement of the terrestrial planets from the primordial slope 1. 00 line on the oxygen three-isotope plot.     

Pleistocene sea levels from raised coral reefs of haiti

The elevations and ages of a sequence of three uplifted Pleistocene coral reefs on the Northwest Peninsula of Haiti have been determined. With the assignment of a sea level of +6 meters (relative to the present day) at 130,000 years before present and constant uplift of the reefs, the data indicate that sea level stood -10 and -13 meters at 108,000 and 81,000 years before present, respectively. These results are in substantial agreement with those reported for Barbados and New Guinea and support the hypothesis of constant uplift for each area. Sea level data from raised reefs indicate that the interglacial marine oxygen isotope oscillations during oxygen isotope stage 5 are a result of 30 percent ice volume effects and 70 percent temperature effects.     

Neurological defect: manganese in phenocopy and prevention of a genetic abnormality of inner ear

A specific congenital ataxia may be caused by presence of mutant genes and by manganese deficiency during prenatal development in normal mice. Supplementation of the diet of mutant mice with manganese during prenatal development rectifies the aberrant development, resulting in normal behavior. The congential ataxa results from defective development of the the otoliths.     

Climatic ice core records from the tropical quelccaya ice cap

The Quelccaya Ice Cap in the easternmost glaciated mountain chain of the Peruvian Andes has been studied in four recentfield seasons. Ice cores to a depth of 15 meters have been retrieved at the summit dome (elevation, 5650 meters) and two other locations and used for microparticle, isotope, and beta radioactivity measurements. A concurrent study of the present climate and the heat and mass budgets is being made to permit a paleoclimatic interpretation of deep core records. The results indicate the need for a revision of the isotope "thermometry" for application in the tropics. However, the seasonality of the beta radioactivity, microparticle content, and isotope ratios offers the prospect of a mass balance chronology. This is important in that precipitation is believed to be a more indicative paleoclimatic parameter than temperature in the tropics.     

Abrupt decrease in tropical Pacific sea surface salinity at end of Little Ice Age

A 420-year history of strontium/calcium, uranium/calcium, and oxygen isotope ratios in eight coral cores from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, indicates that sea surface temperature and salinity were higher in the 18th century than in the 20th century. An abrupt freshening after 1870 occurred simultaneously throughout the southwestern Pacific, coinciding with cooling tropical temperatures. Higher salinities between 1565 and 1870 are best explained by a combination of advection and wind-induced evaporation resulting from a strong latitudinal temperature gradient and intensified circulation. The global Little Ice Age glacial expansion may have been driven, in part, by greater poleward transport of water vapor from the tropical Pacific.     

The cause of carbon isotope minimum events on glacial terminations

The occurrence of carbon isotope minima at the beginning of glacial terminations is a common feature of planktic foraminifera carbon isotopic records from the Indo-Pacific, sub-Antarctic, and South Atlantic. We use the delta13C record of a thermocline-dwelling foraminifera, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, and surface temperature estimates from the eastern equatorial Pacific to demonstrate that the onset of delta13C minimum events and the initiation of Southern Ocean warming occurred simultaneously. Timing agreement between the marine record and the delta13C minimum in an Antarctic atmospheric record suggests that the deglacial events were a response to the breakdown of surface water stratification, renewed Circumpolar Deep Water upwelling, and advection of low delta13C waters to the convergence zone at the sub-Antarctic front. On the basis of age agreement between the absolute delta13C minimum in surface records and the shift from low to high delta13C in the deep South Atlantic, we suggest that the delta13C rise that marks the end of the carbon isotope minima was due to the resumption of North Atlantic Deep Water influence in the Southern Ocean.     

Environmental temperatures of tertiary penguins

Marine paleotemperatures, determined by oxygen isotope measurement, show that Australasian Tertiary penguins, including giant forms, lived in warm to tropical environments. Evolution from smaller species also occurred in warm environments. Mid-Tertiary fluctuations of sea temperature were controlled by alternating uplift and erosion of "Tasmantis," an unstable meridional landmass occupying and extending beyond the present position of New Zealand.     

Secular variation of iron isotopes in north atlantic deep water

A high-precision iron isotope time series for a ferromanganese crust demonstrates that the iron isotope composition in North Atlantic Deep Water has changed substantially over the past 6 million years and that iron isotope variations in the crust are closely correlated to those of lead isotopes. The close correlation between the two isotope series indicates that the observed iron isotope variations predominantly reflect those of iron input from terrigenous sources and provides no evidence for biologically induced mass fractionation within North Atlantic Deep Water.     

Weyl's Theory of Glaciation Supported by Isotopic Study of Norwegian Core K 11

Oxygen-18 analyses of pelagic and benthic foraminifera from core K 11 indicate that during the last glaciation Norwegian Sea bottom waters were warmer than in modern times and had the same physical parameters (temperature, oxygen isotope ratio, and salinity) as the North Atlantic deep water. This result indicates that the glacial Norwegian Sea was not a sink for dense surface water, as it is now, and that during glacial times North Atlantic deep water invaded the deep Norwegian basin.     

Climate impact of late quaternary equatorial pacific sea surface temperature variations

Magnesium/calcium data from planktonic foraminifera in equatorial Pacific sediment cores demonstrate that tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were 2.8 degrees +/- 0.7 degrees C colder than the present at the last glacial maximum. Glacial-interglacial temperature differences as great as 5 degrees C are observed over the last 450 thousand years. Changes in SST coincide with changes in Antarctic air temperature and precede changes in continental ice volume by about 3 thousand years, suggesting that tropical cooling played a major role in driving ice-age climate. Comparison of SST estimates from eastern and western sites indicates that the equatorial Pacific zonal SST gradient was similar or somewhat larger during glacial episodes. Extraction of a salinity proxy from the magnesium/calcium and oxygen isotope data indicates that transport of water vapor into the western Pacific was enhanced during glacial episodes.     

Floating glacial ice caps in the arctic ocean

Two arguments are presented, one in favor of the existence of thicker ice in the Arctic Ocean during glacial time, and the other in favor of a full-fledged Arctic ice cap. The first is based on the Greenland air temperature record obtained from isotopic studies of the Camp Century ice core. The second is based on the oxygen isotope record of benthic foraminifera from a deep Pacific Ocean core.     

Dinosaur body temperatures determined from isotopic (¹³C-¹⁸O) ordering in fossil biominerals

The nature of the physiology and thermal regulation of the nonavian dinosaurs is the subject of debate. Previously, arguments have been made for both endothermic and ectothermic metabolisms on the basis of differing methodologies. We used clumped isotope thermometry to determine body temperatures from the fossilized teeth of large Jurassic sauropods. Our data indicate body temperatures of 36° to 38°C, which are similar to those of most modern mammals. This temperature range is 4° to 7°C lower than predicted by a model that showed scaling of dinosaur body temperature with mass, which could indicate that sauropods had mechanisms to prevent excessively high body temperatures being reached because of their gigantic size.