Magnetic field reversals, polar wander, and core-mantle coupling

True polar wander, the shifting of the entire mantle relative to the earth's spin axis, has been reanalyzed. Over the last 200 million years, true polar wander has been fast (approximately 5 centimeters per year) most of the time, except for a remarkable standstill from 170 to 110 million years ago. This standstill correlates with a decrease in the reversal frequency of the geomagnetic field and episodes of continental breakup. Conversely, true polar wander is high when reversal frequency increases. It is proposed that intermittent convection modulates the thickness of a thermal boundary layer at the base of the mantle and consequently the core-to-mantle heat flux. Emission of hot thermals from the boundary layer leads to increases in mantle convection and true polar wander. In conjunction, cold thermals released from a boundary layer at the top of the liquid core eventually lead to reversals. Changes in the locations of subduction zones may also affect true polar wander. Exceptional volcanism and mass extinctions at the Cretaceous-Tertiary and Permo-Triassic boundaries may be related to thermals released after two unusually long periods with no magnetic reversals. These environmental catastrophes may therefore be a consequence of thermal and chemical couplings in the earth's multilayer heat engine rather than have an extraterrestrial cause.     

Late cretaceous polar wander of the pacific plate: evidence of a rapid true polar wander event

We reexamined the Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary apparent polar wander path for the Pacific plate using 27 paleomagnetic poles from seamounts dated by (40)Ar/(39)Ar geochronology. The path shows little motion from 120 to 90 million years ago (Ma), northward motion from 79 to 39 Ma, and two groups of poles separated by 16 to 21 degrees with indistinguishable mean ages of 84 +/- 2 Ma. The latter phenomenon may represent a rapid polar wander episode (3 to 10 degrees per million years) whose timing is not adequately resolved with existing data. Similar features in other polar wander paths imply that the event was a rapid shift of the spin axis relative to the mantle (true polar wander), which may have been related to global changes in plate motion, large igneous province eruptions, and a shift in magnetic field polarity state.     

An Explanation for Earth's Long-Term Rotational Stability

Paleomagnetic data show less than approximately 1000 kilometers of motion between the paleomagnetic and hotspot reference frames-that is, true polar wander-during the past 100 million years, which implies that Earth's rotation axis has been very stable. This long-term rotational stability can be explained by the slow rate of change in the large-scale pattern of plate tectonic motions during Cenozoic and late Mesozoic time, provided that subducted lithosphere is a major component of the mantle density heterogeneity generated by convection. Therefore, it is unnecessary to invoke other mechanisms, such as sluggish readjustment of the rotational bulge, to explain the observed low rate of true polar wander.     

True polar wander as a mechanism for second-order sea-level variations

Long-term wander of the rotation pole can be a significant contributor to second-order (time scales of approximately 100 million years) sea-level variations. Numerical predictions based on realistic viscoelastic Earth models and paleomagnetically constrained polar motion yield global-scale, differential sea-level trends that can be as large as approximately 200 meters. From the results presented here, it is argued that the well-documented, second-order, Cretaceous-Tertiary sea-level cycle should be reinterpreted as some combination of a eustatic and a regionally varying rotational signal.     

Wandering minds: the default network and stimulus-independent thought

Despite evidence pointing to a ubiquitous tendency of human minds to wander, little is known about the neural operations that support this core component of human cognition. Using both thought sampling and brain imaging, the current investigation demonstrated that mind-wandering is associated with activity in a default network of cortical regions that are active when the brain is "at rest." In addition, individuals' reports of the tendency of their minds to wander were correlated with activity in this network.     

花椒吹绵蚧农药防治适期研究

用45%晶体石硫合剂、40%杀扑磷乳油、24%虱蚧净乳油、2.5%敌杀死乳油、40%氧化乐果乳油5种农药,在花椒吹绵蚧休眠期和若虫活动游走期进行农药防治试验。结果表明,在花椒吹绵蚧休眠期用45%晶体石硫合剂防治的最佳时期为3月中旬;花椒吹绵蚧若虫活动游走期,农药防治最佳时期为4月中旬,防治效果依次为40%杀扑磷乳油>24%虱蚧净乳油>2.5%敌杀死乳油>40%氧化乐果乳油。     

The dynamics of the stratospheric polar vortex and its relation to springtime ozone depletions

Dramatic springtime depletions of ozone in polar regions require that polar stratospheric air has a high degree of dynamical isolation and extremely cold temperatures necessary for the formation of polar stratospheric clouds. Both of these conditions are produced within the stratospheric winter polar vortex. Recent aircraft missions have provided new information about the structure of polar vortices during winter and their relation to polar ozone depletions. The aircraft data show that gradients of potential vorticity and the concentration of conservative trace species are large at the transition from mid-latitude to polar air. The presence of such sharp gradients at the boundary of polar air implies that the inward mixing of heat and constituents is strongly inhibited and that the perturbed polar stratospheric chemistry associated with the ozone hole is isolated from the rest of the stratosphere until the vortex breaks up in late spring. The overall size of the polar vortex thus limits the maximum areal coverage of the annual polar ozone depletions. Because it appears that this limit has not been reached for the Antarctic depletions, the possibility of future increases in the size of the Antarctic ozone hole is left open. In the Northern Hemisphere, the smaller vortex and the more restricted region of cold temperatures suggest that this region has a smaller theoretical maximum for column ozone depletion, about 40 percent of the currently observed change in the Antarctic ozone column in spring.     

The Earth as a planet: paradigms and paradoxes

The independent growth of the various branches of the earth sciences in the past two decades has led to a divergence of geophysical, geochemical, geological, and planetological models for the composition and evolution of a terrestrial planet. Evidence for differentiation and volcanism on small planets and a magma ocean on the moon contrasts with hypotheses for a mostly primitive, still undifferentiated, and homogeneous terrestrial mantle. In comparison with the moon, the earth has an extraordinarily thin crust. The geoid, which should reflect convection in the mantle, is apparently unrelated to the current distribution of continents and oceanic ridges. If the earth is deformable, the whole mantle should wander relative to the axis of rotation, but the implications of this are seldom discussed. The proposal of a mantle rich in olivine violates expectations based on evidence from extraterrestrial sources. These and other paradoxes force a reexamination of some long-held assumptions.     

哺乳动物极体中染色体的利用

极体中的染色体是一个在体细胞核移植中常被忽视的问题.哺乳动物卵母细胞在减数分裂过程中会产生两个极体,即第一极体和第二极体,存在极体中的染色体与残留在卵母细胞中的同源染色体具有相同的遗传潜能,完全有能力参与胚胎的发育,并产生正常的克隆后代.因此,很有必要对极体进行研究,从而为细胞生物学以及相关生物学研究提供有价值的参考.     

Mariner 9 ultraviolet spectrometer experiment: seasonal variation of ozone on Mars

Ozone is observed to be present in the polar regions of Mars and to have a seasonal variation. In the summer, the amount present in the polar atmosphere is less than 3 micrometer-atmospheres. In the fall, ozone increases in amount and is found in association with the formation of the polar hood. In winter, the maximum amount of ozone is present, 57 micrometer-atmospheres over the polar hood and 16 over the polar cap. In spring, the amount over the polar cap decreases monotonically until by the beginning of summer the ozone disappears. Ozone is not observed in the equatorial region during any season.     

极涡对南方电网区域降水的影响

基于国家气候中心提供的1960—2009年74项大气环流因子中提取出的极涡指数参数,并结合中国气象局整编的1960—2009年南方电网区域内95站降水月平均资料,采用相关性分析法讨论太平洋极涡和亚洲区极涡对南方电网区域降水的影响。结果表明,太平洋极涡和亚洲区极涡对南方电网区域降水的影响比较大,冬半年极涡强度指数与南方电网区域降水之间存在负相关性,极涡强度指数越小,降水越多,相关系数自西向东呈现先增大后减小趋势;春半年极涡强度指数与南方电网区域降水的相关系数自西向东先减小再增大,在四川南部和云南西部地区相关系数绝对值在0.7以上。对单个测站而言,降水量与极涡强度指数间呈负相关,且相关系数绝对值均超过0.5,其中亚洲强极涡对南方电网区域降水的影响比太平洋强极涡大。     

The potential for ozone depletion in the arctic polar stratosphere

The nature of the Arctic polar stratosphere is observed to be similar in many respects to that of the Antarctic polar stratosphere, where an ozone hole has been identified. Most of the available chlorine (HCl and ClONO(2)) was converted by reactions on polar stratospheric clouds to reactive ClO and Cl(2)O(2) throughout the Arctic polar vortex before midwinter. Reactive nitrogen was converted to HNO(3), and some, with spatial inhomogeneity, fell out of the stratosphere. These chemical changes ensured characteristic ozone losses of 10 to 15% at altitudes inside the polar vortex where polar stratospheric clouds had occurred. These local losses can translate into 5 to 8% losses in the vertical column abundance of ozone. As the amount of stratospheric chlorine inevitably increases by 50% over the next two decades, ozone losses recognizable as an ozone hole may well appear.     

Bilaterian burrows and grazing behavior at >585 million years ago

Based on molecular clocks and biomarker studies, it is possible that bilaterian life emerged early in the Ediacaran, but at present, no fossils or trace fossils from this time have been reported. Here we report the discovery of the oldest bilaterian burrows in shallow-water glaciomarine sediments from the Tacuarí Formation, Uruguay. Uranium-lead dating of zircons in cross-cutting granite dykes constrains the age of these burrows to be at least 585 million years old. Their features indicate infaunal grazing activity by early eumetazoans. Active backfill within the burrow, an ability to wander upward and downward to exploit shallowly situated sedimentary laminae, and sinuous meandering suggest advanced behavioral adaptations. These findings unite the paleontological and molecular data pertaining to the evolution of bilaterians, and link bilaterian origins to the environmental changes that took place during the Neoproterozoic glaciations.     

Venus: further evidence of vortex circulation

A space-time composite of polar stereographic ultraviolet images of Venus from Mariner 10 shows a remarkable circumpolar vortex. The vortex is characterized by a cloud which appears similar to dense terrestrial stratus having an albedo that is 50 percent higher. Spiral streaks converge into it from low latitudes, akin to the spiral bands of a hurricane. The bright visible polar cloud is not axisymmetric but has roughly an elliptical shape. The high brightness of the polar cloud suggests that it has a different origin from the rest of the Venus cloud cover.     

买嫩艾美耳球虫(Eimeria tenella)裂殖子超微结构的观察

利用透射电镜对柔嫩艾美耳球虫裂殖子的超微结构进行了观察描述．柔嫩艾美耳球虫裂殖子的表膜由外膜和内膜复合体两层组成,外膜连续,内膜复合体在头部断开形成极环,在其它部位断开形成微孔;裂殖子的膜下微管２４根,起始于极环,向后延伸至细胞核处;裂殖子的头部由顶泡、锥体和极环组成,锥体和顶泡可以伸缩;柔嫩艾美耳球虫裂殖子棒状体３个以上,微线数量很多,二者都由电子致密的结构组成;细胞核位于裂殖子的中后部,外被双层膜,有电子致密的核仁和染色质．     

Martian north pole summer temperatures: dirty water ice

Broadband thermal and reflectance observations of the martian north polar region in late summer yield temperatures for the residual polar cap near 205 K with albedos near 43 percent. The residual cap and several outlying smaller deposits are water ice with included dirt; there is no evidence for any permanent carbon dioxide polar cap.     

Radar mapping of mercury: full-disk images and polar anomalies

A random-code technique has been used at Arecibo to obtain delay-Doppler radar images of the full disk of Mercury. Anomalously bright features were found at the north and south poles. The north polar feature is oblong (4 degrees by 8 degrees ) and offset from the pole. The smaller south polar feature is mostly confined to the floor of the crater Chao Meng-Fu. The polar locations and radar properties of these features indicate that they may be produced by volume scattering in ice. The images also reveal a variety of more subdued reflectivity features ranging in size from hundreds to thousands of kilometers; some of these appear to have an impact origin.     

鸡皮中功能性极性脂质提取工艺研究

[目的]以鸡皮为原料,探讨鸡皮中功能性极性脂质的最佳提取方法,为今后提取其有效成分,在医药及保健食品的利用开发提供科学理论依据.[方法]Folch法、微波炉加热提取法以及溶剂提取法.[结果]相对于Folch法,微波法虽然可以有效去除中性脂质,但存在以下不足:提取时间短,极性脂质提取不完全;提取时间长,功能性脂质被破坏.溶剂提取法既可以有效去除中性脂质,同时不会引起极性脂质降解,效果最佳,在今后脂质提取实验中可以采用.[结论]对鸡皮功能性极性脂质的提取方法进行分析比较,溶剂提取法效果最佳,在今后脂质提取实验中可以采用.     

大麦双受精过程研究初报

通过光学显微观察,大麦双受精过程如下:授粉后35分钟,花粉管进入胚囊;45分钟释放出两个精子;50分钟,一精子先与卵细胞融合,另一精子移向中央细胞的二极核;55分钟,精子附卵核上,另一精子附于一极核上,同时还观察到一精子附于两极核上的现象;60分钟,精子仍贴附在卵核上,另一精子与二极核之一融合;90分钟,精子开始与卵核融合,初生胚乳核形成,其核中的三个核仁未融合;120分钟,精子与卵核融合,初生胚乳核分裂,但未见核仁融合。     

鸡皮中功能性极性脂质成分的分析研究

[目的]以鸡皮为原料,分析研究对鸡皮极性脂质的功能性成分,为提取开发利用提供理论依据.[方法]硅胶柱层析法分离总脂质中的中性和极性脂质,利用双向薄层层析法进行极性脂质成分鉴定,气相色谱法分析脂质的脂肪酸组成.[结果]蛋鸡皮及肉鸡皮中脂质含量分别为31.8; 和40.5;,其中极性脂质分别占总脂质的1.8;和3.2;,主要是磷脂酰乙醇胺(脑磷脂PE),磷脂酰胆碱(卵磷脂PC),磷脂酰丝氨酸(PS), 鞘磷脂(SM)和磷脂酰肌醇(PI).总脂质的脂肪酸组成油酸(C18:1)含量最高,其次是棕榈酸(C16:0).蛋鸡皮的亚油酸(C18:2)含量高于肉鸡皮.极性脂质中主要的脂肪酸是C18:1,C18:2和C16:0,主要的甲基缩醛是十六二甲基缩醛和十八二甲基缩醛.[结论]肉鸡皮中极性脂质含量高于蛋鸡皮,主要由磷脂酰乙醇胺、磷脂酰胆碱、磷脂酰丝氨酸、鞘磷脂和磷脂酰肌醇组成.