Rapid glacial erosion at 1.8 Ma revealed by 4He/3He thermochronometry

Alpine glaciation and river incision control the topography of mountain ranges, but their relative contributions have been debated for years. Apatite 4He/3He thermochronometry tightly constrains the timing and rate of glacial erosion within one of the largest valleys in the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Five proximate samples require accelerated denudation of the Klinaklini Valley initiating 1.8 +/- 0.2 million years ago (Ma). At least 2 kilometers of overlying rock were removed from the valley at >/=5 millimeters per year, indicating that glacial valley deepening proceeded >/=6 times as fast as erosion rates before approximately 1.8 Ma. This intense erosion may be related to a global transition to enhanced climate instability approximately 1.9 Ma.     

A Lower Mantle Source for Central European Volcanism

Cenozoic rifting and volcanism in Europe have been associated with either passive or active mantle upwellings. Tomographic images show a low velocity structure between 660- and 2000-kilometer depth, which we propose to represent a lower mantle upwelling under central Europe that may feed smaller upper-mantle plumes. The position of the rift zones in the foreland of the Alpine belts and the relatively weak volcanism compared to other regions with plume-associated volcanism are probably the result of the past and present subduction under southern Europe.     

Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum and the opening of the Northeast Atlantic

The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) has been attributed to a sudden release of carbon dioxide and/or methane. 40Ar/39Ar age determinations show that the Danish Ash-17 deposit, which overlies the PETM by about 450,000 years in the Atlantic, and the Skraenterne Formation Tuff, representing the end of 1 +/- 0.5 million years of massive volcanism in East Greenland, are coeval. The relative age of Danish Ash-17 thus places the PETM onset after the beginning of massive flood basalt volcanism at 56.1 +/- 0.4 million years ago but within error of the estimated continental breakup time of 55.5 +/- 0.3 million years ago, marked by the eruption of mid-ocean ridge basalt-like flows. These correlations support the view that the PETM was triggered by greenhouse gas release during magma interaction with basin-filling carbon-rich sedimentary rocks proximal to the embryonic plate boundary between Greenland and Europe.     

A long-snouted predatory dinosaur from africa and the evolution of spinosaurids

Fossils discovered in Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) rocks in the Tenere Desert of central Niger provide new information about spinosaurids, a peculiar group of piscivorous theropod dinosaurs. The remains, which represent a new genus and species, reveal the extreme elongation and transverse compression of the spinosaurid snout. The postcranial bones include blade-shaped vertebral spines that form a low sail over the hips. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the enlarged thumb claw and robust forelimb evolved during the Jurassic, before the elongated snout and other fish-eating adaptations in the skull. The close phylogenetic relationship between the new African spinosaurid and Baryonyx from Europe provides evidence of dispersal across the Tethys seaway during the Early Cretaceous.     

Earliest Radiocarbon Dates for Domesticated Animals: Europe is added to the Near East as another early center of domestication

Our dates show that cattle and pigs were first domesticated in Europe. Sheep, which were thought to have become extinct in Europe during the terminal Pleistocene, also appear first in Europe. However, there remains little doubt that sheep were first domesticated in the Near East or Turkey, since no wild sheep appear to have existed in Europe at the beginning of the Holocene. Dogs were domesticated in both the Near East and Europe at virtually the same time. In the Near East, Asiab, at around 8000 B.C., qualifies as the first center of goat domestication. It is also the earliest center of domestication for all animals we have dated here. Horses were first domesticated in the steppes of the Ukraine, perhaps even earlier than our dates indicate, since all of the samples found at Polling are virtually contemporaneous (Fig. 1). Undoubtedly, future research will alter the details of our overall impressions, especially after bones at earlier sites such as Nea Nikomedeia have been dated directly. But, on balance, there can be no doubt that southeastern Europe was as much an early center of domestication as the Near East was.     

Extensive 200-million-year-Old continental flood basalts of the central atlantic magmatic province

The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) is defined by tholeiitic basalts that crop out in once-contiguous parts of North America, Europe, Africa, and South America and is associated with the breakup of Pangea. 40Ar/39Ar and paleomagnetic data indicate that CAMP magmatism extended over an area of 2.5 million square kilometers in north and central Brazil, and the total aerial extent of the magmatism exceeded 7 million square kilometers in a few million years, with peak activity at 200 million years ago. The magmatism coincided closely in time with a major mass extinction at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary.     

Mechanisms of Argon Retention in Clays Revealed by Laser 40Ar-39Ar Dating

A method for dating clays is important for studies of weathering, diagenesis, hydrocarbon migration, and the formation of major metalliferous deposits. However, many attempts have produced imprecise or inaccurate results. Data from shales show that, contrary to expectations, the (40)Ar-(39)Ar dating technique can be successfully used to determine the diagenetic age of ancient sediments because (39)Ar losses during irradiation are controlled by release from low retentivity sites in illite equivalent to those that have lost radiogenic (40)Ar in nature, rather than by direct recoil as is generally assumed.     

Subsurface valleys and geoarcheology of the eastern sahara revealed by shuttle radar

The shuttle imaging radar (SIR-A) carried on the space shuttle Columbia in November 1981 penetrated the extremely dry Selima Sand Sheet, dunes, and drift sand of the eastern Sahara, revealing previously unknown buried valleys, geologic structures, and possible Stone Age occupation sites. Radar responses from bedrock and gravel surfaces beneath windblown sand several centimeters to possibly meters thick delineate sand- and alluvium-filled valleys, some nearly as wide as the Nile Valley and perhaps as old as middle Tertiary. The now-vanished major river systems that carved these large valleys probably accomplished most of the erosional stripping of this extraordinarily flat, hyperarid region. Underfit and incised dry wadis, many superimposed on the large valleys, represent erosion by intermittent running water, probably during Quaternary pluvials. Stone Age artifacts associated with soils in the alluvium suggest that areas near the wadis may have been sites of early human occupation. The presence of old drainage networks beneath the sand sheet provides a geologic explanation for the locations of many playas and present-day oases which have been centers of episodic human habitation. Radar penetration of dry sand and soils varies with the wavelength of the incident signals (24 centimeters for the SIR-A system), incidence angle, and the electrical properties of the materials, which are largely determined by moisture content. The calculated depth of radar penetration of dry sand and granules, based on laboratory measurements of the electrical properties of samples from the Selima Sand Sheet, is at least 5 meters. Recent (September 1982) field studies in Egypt verified SIR-A signal penetration depths of at least 1 meter in the Selima Sand Sheet and in drift sand and 2 or more meters in sand dunes.     

甘肃高山细毛羊DRB1基因内含子2微卫星多态性与生长速度的关联分析

通过220只甘肃高山细毛羊生长性能测定、DNA测序验证、微卫星DNA多态性检测和相关性分析,研究了甘肃高山细毛羊DRB1 基因内含子2微卫星多态性与生长性能的相关性。结果表明,甘肃高山细毛羊DRB1基因内含子2微卫星重复单位是由GT/GA组成的复合型微卫星座位。研究共检测到13个等位基因和40种基因型,等位基因201、195和193 bp是优势等位基因,201/201 bp是优势基因型。该微卫星座位多态信息含量为0.830,杂合度为0.847,属高度多态座位。相关性分析表明,183、191、207和197 bp等位基因对应的甘肃高山细毛羊群体出生体质量极显著高于165、219、195、213和203 bp等位基因群体(P<0.01),同时显著高于179、189、193和201 bp等位基因群体(P<0.05),含有179、189、193和201 bp等位基因的群体的出生重显著高于165、219、195、213和203 bp等位基因的群体(P<0.05)。就甘肃高山细毛羊1月龄、2月龄、3月龄和6月龄体质量综合考虑,含有197和207 bp等位基因群体的体质量较高,从甘肃高山细毛羊DRB1基因内含子2微卫星座位选择考虑,在选种时尽量保留含有197和207 bp等位基因的个体作为种用,将可能提高甘肃高山细毛羊的出生体质量和出栏体质量(6月龄体质量)。     

Planetary science. The weather on Titan

When the Voyager 1 spacecraft returned images in 1980, the dense atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan was assumed to be bland and featureless. As Lorenz discusses in his Perspective, recent ground-based spectroscopy, and images from the Hubble Space Telescope, are changing this perception. Observations such as the short-lived clouds in Titan's atmosphere reported by Griffith et al. suggest that although average precipitation is likely to be low, individual precipitation events may be heavy enough to cause deep valleys on Titan's surface.     

Late Mousterian persistence near the Arctic Circle

Palaeolithic sites in Russian high latitudes have been considered as Upper Palaeolithic and thus representing an Arctic expansion of modern humans. Here we show that at Byzovaya, in the western foothills of the Polar Urals, the technological structure of the lithic assemblage makes it directly comparable with Mousterian Middle Palaeolithic industries that so far have been exclusively attributed to the Neandertal populations in Europe. Radiocarbon and optical-stimulated luminescence dates on bones and sand grains indicate that the site was occupied during a short period around 28,500 carbon-14 years before the present (about 31,000 to 34,000 calendar years ago), at the time when only Upper Palaeolithic cultures occupied lower latitudes of Eurasia. Byzovaya may thus represent a late northern refuge for Neandertals, about 1000 km north of earlier known Mousterian sites.     

不同杂交组合6月龄羔羊胴体品质及肉质分析

对以‘白萨福克’、‘特克塞尔’、‘邦德’、‘澳洲美利奴’为父本,与‘甘肃高山细毛羊’为母本杂交生产的6月龄羔羊(分别设为Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ和Ⅳ组)进行屠宰性能测定和肉质分析.结果表明:4个试验组后代羔羊的热胴体重、屠宰率均极显著高于对照组(P0.01),其中,Ⅱ组的宰前活重、热胴体重、屠宰率、净肉重和骨重都极显著大于其它3个试验组(P0.01),根据新西兰羔羊肉分级标准,Ⅱ组的肌肉级别为PME级,优于其余3个杂交组合的PL级;羔羊肉品质分析结果表明,与其余杂交组合后代羔羊相比,Ⅱ组6月龄羔羊的部分肉品质(羊肉酸碱度、嫩度、熟肉率)有所提高.说明在天祝县自然环境条件下,‘特克塞尔’作父本与甘肃高山细毛羊杂交,不但可以提高后代羔羊产肉量,而且还可以改善羔羊的部分肉品质,‘特克塞尔’ב甘肃高山细毛羊’是生产6月龄羔羊肉的最优杂交组合.     

Cosmic ray production of rare gas radioactivities and tritium in lunar material

The argon radioactivities (37)Ar and (39)Ar were obtained by vacuum melting from interior and exterior portions of rock 10057 and from a portion of the fines from the bulk sample container. The release of argon and tritium as a function of the temperature was followed for the fine material. A comparison is made of the activities observed in the lunar samples with those expected from the spallation of iron, titanium, and calcium. From these data and the (38)Ar content, the cosmic ray exposure age of rock 10057 is deduced as 110 x 10(6) years.     

不同杂交组合改良甘肃高山细毛羊效果分析

为筛选不同品种对本地绵羊杂交改良的最优组合,以黑萨福克、无角陶赛特为父本,甘肃高山细毛羊为母本,研究杂交F₁代羔羊(无角陶赛特羊和甘肃高山细毛羊杂交后代简称“陶甘细”,黑萨橘克羊和甘肃高山细毛羊杂交后代简称“黑萨甘细”）及对照（甘肃高山细毛羊）的生长性能、屠柔性能和肉品质。生长观测表明,陶甘细1~6月龄生长速度高于黑萨甘细（P<0.01）,陶甘细平均日增量为199.8 g,高于黑萨甘细（P<0.01）;4月龄（断奶前）、黑萨甘细平均日增量最快,分别为276.6 g和244.0 g;屠宰性能表明,陶甘细热胴体质量、屠宰率、净肉率均极显著高于黑萨甘细（P<0.01）;肉品质测定表明,陶甘细嫩度优于黑萨甘细,根据新西兰羊肉分级标准,陶甘细肉质为PL级,黑萨甘细为ML级,陶甘细的肉品质优于黑萨甘细。可见：两杂交组合各项指标均高于对照组,且无角陶赛特对甘肃高山细毛羊改良效果优于黑萨福克。     

A test of climate, sun, and culture relationships from an 1810-year Chinese cave record

A record from Wanxiang Cave, China, characterizes Asian Monsoon (AM) history over the past 1810 years. The summer monsoon correlates with solar variability, Northern Hemisphere and Chinese temperature, Alpine glacial retreat, and Chinese cultural changes. It was generally strong during Europe's Medieval Warm Period and weak during Europe's Little Ice Age, as well as during the final decades of the Tang, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, all times that were characterized by popular unrest. It was strong during the first several decades of the Northern Song Dynasty, a period of increased rice cultivation and dramatic population increase. The sign of the correlation between the AM and temperature switches around 1960, suggesting that anthropogenic forcing superseded natural forcing as the major driver of AM changes in the late 20th century.     

不同来源雌性圈养马麝行为格局的比较研究

采用焦点取样连续记录方法,对甘肃兴隆山保护区马麝(Moschus sifanicus)繁育中心的雌性野捕马麝及圈养繁殖马麝的行为进行了取样,比较了非交配季节和交配季节2种来源雌麝的行为差异。结果表明:由于圈养环境的影响因子的类型、作用方式及作用强度相同,导致甘肃兴隆山麝场的雌性野捕及圈养繁殖马麝在非交配季节和交配季节的行为格局相似,麝类动物总体行为的刚性较强,可驯化性较差。在交配季节,雌麝的时间分配明显向繁殖活动相关行为倾斜,信息收集行为(环境探究和尾阴探究)的时间显著增加,摄食及反刍时间减少,亲和性下降,冲突增多。此外,雌麝在交配季节有蹭尾行为的表达。     

Age and origin of carlsbad cavern and related caves from 40Ar/39Ar of alunite

40Ar/39Ar dating of fine-grained alunite that formed during cave genesis provides ages of formation for the Big Room level of Carlsbad Cavern [4.0 to 3.9 million years ago (Ma)], the upper level of Lechuguilla Cave (6.0 to 5.7 Ma), and three other hypogene caves (11.3 to 6.0 Ma) in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico. Alunite ages increase and are strongly correlative with cave elevations, which indicates an 1100-meter decline in the water table, apparently related to tectonic uplift and tilting, from 11.3 Ma to the present. 40Ar/39Ar dating studies of the hypogene caves have the potential to help resolve late Cenozoic climatic, speleologic, and tectonic questions.     

Coeval 40Ar/39Ar Ages of 65.0 Million Years Ago from Chicxulub Crater Melt Rock and Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Tektites

(40)Ar/(39)Ar dating of drill core samples of a glassy melt rock recovered from beneath a massive impact breccia contained within the 180-kilometer subsurface Chicxulub crater in Yucatán, Mexico, has yielded well-behaved incremental heating spectra with a mean plateau age of 64.98 +/- 0.05 million years ago (Ma). The glassy melt rock of andesitic composition was obtained from core 9 (1390 to 1393 meters) in the Chicxulub 1 well. The age of the melt rock is virtually indistinguishable from (40)Ar/(39)Ar ages obtained on tektite glass from Beloc, Haiti, and Arroyo el Mimbral, northeastern Mexico, of 65.01 +/- 0.08 Ma (mean plateau age for Beloc) and 65.07 +/- 0.10 Ma (mean total fusion age for both sites). The (40)Ar/(39)Ar ages, in conjunction with geochemical and petrological similarities, strengthen the recent suggestion that the Chicxulub structure is the source for the Haitian and Mexican tektites and is a viable candidate for the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary impact site.     

Age and Duration of Weathering by 40K-40Ar and 40Ar/39Ar Analysis of Potassium-Manganese Oxides

Supergene cryptomelane [K(1-2)(Mn(3+)Mn(4+))(8)O(16). chiH(2)O] samples from deeply weathered pegmatites in southeastern Brazil subjected to (40)K-(40)Ar and (40)Ar/(39)Ar analysis yielded (40)K-(40)Ar dates ranging from 10.1 +/- 0.5 to 5.6 +/- 0.2 Ma (million years ago). Laser-probe (40)Ar/(39)Ar step-heating of the two most disparate samples yielded plateau dates of 9.94 +/- 0.05 and 5.59 +/- 0.10 Ma, corresponding, within 2 sigma, to the (40)K-(40)Ar dates. The results imply that deep weathering profiles along the eastern Brazilian margin do not reflect present climatic conditions but are the result of a long-term process that was already advanced by the late Miocene. Weathering ages predate pulses of continental sedimentation along the eastern Brazilian margin and suggest that there was a time lag between weathering and erosion processes and sedimentation processes.     

The Manson Impact Structure: 40Ar/39Ar Age and Its Distal Impact Ejecta in the Pierre Shale in Southeastern South Dakota

The (40)Ar/(39)Ar ages of a sanidine clast from a melt-matrix breccia of the Manson, Iowa, impact structure (MIS) indicate that the MIS formed 73.8 +/- 0.3 million years ago (Ma) and is not coincident with the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (64.43 +/- 0.05 Ma). The MIS sanidine is 9 million years older than (40)Ar/(39)Ar age spectra of MIS shock-metamorphosed microcline and melt-matrix breccia interpreted earlier to be 64 to 65 Ma. Grains of shock-metamorphosed quartz, feldspar, and zircon were found in the Crow Creek Member (upper Campanian) at a biostratigraphic level constrained by radiometric ages in the Pierre Shale of South Dakota that are consistent with the (40)Ar/(39)Ar age of 73.8 +/- 0.3 Ma for MIS reported herein.