Extreme oxygen isotope ratios in the early Solar System

The origins of the building blocks of the Solar System can be studied using the isotopic composition of early planetary and meteoritic material. Oxygen isotopes in planetary materials show variations at the per cent level that are not related to the mass of the isotopes; rather, they result from the mixture of components having different nucleosynthetic or chemical origins. Isotopic variations reaching orders of magnitude in minute meteoritic grains are usually attributed to stellar nucleosynthesis before the birth of the Solar System, whereby different grains were contributed by different stars. Here we report the discovery of abundant silica-rich grains embedded in meteoritic organic matter, having the most extreme 18O/16O and 17O/16O ratios observed (both approximately 10(-1)) together with a solar silicon isotopic composition. Both O and Si isotopes indicate a single nucleosynthetic process. These compositions can be accounted for by one of two processes: a single exotic evolved star seeding the young Solar System, or irradiation of the circumsolar gas by high energy particles accelerated during an active phase of the young Sun. We favour the latter interpretation, because the observed compositions are usually not expected from nucleosynthetic processes in evolved stars, whereas they are predicted by the selective trapping of irradiation products.     

Neolithic trade routes re-aligned by oxygen isotope analyses

Oxygen isotope analyses of Spondylus shells from neolithic sites suggest that the source for the shells used as ornaments in the Balkans and central Europe during the fourth millennium BC was the Aegean and not the Black Sea. The trade in Spondylus may have taken the form of an exchange of gifts.     

金刚石薄膜表面含氧基引入研究

为了改进金刚石薄膜表面的性能,本文通过电化学氧化的方法,采用在NaOH溶液中保持电势在3V左右实施阳极极化,金刚石薄膜电极的表面就可变成氧化状态的表面,然后用X光电子能谱仪（XPS）对其表面进行分析,证实此实验的可行性．     

CO self-shielding as the origin of oxygen isotope anomalies in the early solar nebula

The abundances of oxygen isotopes in the most refractory mineral phases (calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions, CAIs) in meteorites have hitherto defied explanation. Most processes fractionate isotopes by nuclear mass; that is, 18O is twice as fractionated as 17O, relative to 16O. In CAIs 17O and 18O are nearly equally fractionated, implying a fundamentally different mechanism. The CAI data were originally interpreted as evidence for supernova input of pure 16O into the solar nebula, but the lack of a similar isotope trend in other elements argues against this explanation. A symmetry-dependent fractionation mechanism may have occurred in the inner solar nebula, but experimental evidence is lacking. Isotope-selective photodissociation of CO in the innermost solar nebula might explain the CAI data, but the high temperatures in this region would have rapidly erased the signature. Here we report time-dependent calculations of CO photodissociation in the cooler surface region of a turbulent nebula. If the surface were irradiated by a far-ultraviolet flux approximately 10(3) times that of the local interstellar medium (for example, owing to an O or B star within approximately 1 pc of the protosun), then substantial fractionation of the oxygen isotopes was possible on a timescale of approximately 10(5) years. We predict that similarly irradiated protoplanetary disks will have H2O enriched in 17O and 18O by several tens of per cent relative to CO.     

Triple oxygen isotope evidence for elevated CO2 levels after a Neoproterozoic glaciation

Understanding the composition of the atmosphere over geological time is critical to understanding the history of the Earth system, as the atmosphere is closely linked to the lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Although much of the history of the lithosphere and hydrosphere is contained in rock and mineral records, corresponding information about the atmosphere is scarce and elusive owing to the lack of direct records. Geologists have used sedimentary minerals, fossils and geochemical models to place constraints on the concentrations of carbon dioxide, oxygen or methane in the past. Here we show that the triple oxygen isotope composition of sulphate from ancient evaporites and barites shows variable negative oxygen-17 isotope anomalies over the past 750 million years. We propose that these anomalies track those of atmospheric oxygen and in turn reflect the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (P(CO2)) in the past through a photochemical reaction network linking stratospheric ozone to carbon dioxide and to oxygen. Our results suggest that P(CO2) was much higher in the early Cambrian than in younger eras, agreeing with previous modelling results. We also find that the (17)O isotope anomalies of barites from Marinoan (approximately 635 million years ago) cap carbonates display a distinct negative spike (around -0.70 per thousand), suggesting that by the time barite was precipitating in the immediate aftermath of a Neoproterozoic global glaciation, the P(CO2) was at its highest level in the past 750 million years. Our finding is consistent with the 'snowball Earth' hypothesis and/or a massive methane release after the Marinoan glaciation.     

Superconductivity in diamond

Diamond is an electrical insulator well known for its exceptional hardness. It also conducts heat even more effectively than copper, and can withstand very high electric fields. With these physical properties, diamond is attractive for electronic applications, particularly when charge carriers are introduced (by chemical doping) into the system. Boron has one less electron than carbon and, because of its small atomic radius, boron is relatively easily incorporated into diamond; as boron acts as a charge acceptor, the resulting diamond is effectively hole-doped. Here we report the discovery of superconductivity in boron-doped diamond synthesized at high pressure (nearly 100,000 atmospheres) and temperature (2,500-2,800 K). Electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and field-dependent resistance measurements show that boron-doped diamond is a bulk, type-II superconductor below the superconducting transition temperature T(c) approximately 4 K; superconductivity survives in a magnetic field up to Hc2(0) > or = 3.5 T. The discovery of superconductivity in diamond-structured carbon suggests that Si and Ge, which also form in the diamond structure, may similarly exhibit superconductivity under the appropriate conditions.     

局部凸空间的一致极凸性与一致极光滑性

设X是一个实线性空间,P是X上的一可分离的半范数族,(X,T_P)表示由P生成的局部凸空间,(X,P)为一个偶对.引入偶对(X,P)为一致极凸和一致极光滑的概念,并证明它们具有对偶关系,讨论了与其它几种凸性(光滑性)之间的关系,另外,在P-自反的条件下给出它们之间的对偶定理,从而推广了Banach空间相应概念和结果.     

Boron and oxygen isotope evidence for recycling of subducted components over the past 2.5 Gyr

Evidence for the deep recycling of surficial materials through the Earth's mantle and their antiquity has long been sought to understand the role of subducting plates and plumes in mantle convection. Radiogenic isotope evidence for such recycling remains equivocal because the age and location of parent-daughter fractionation are not known. Conversely, while stable isotopes can provide irrefutable evidence for low-temperature fractionation, their range in most unaltered oceanic basalts is limited and the age of any variation is unconstrained. Here we show that delta(18)O ratios in basalts from the Azores are often lower than in pristine mantle. This, combined with increased Nb/B ratios and a large range in delta(11)B ratios, provides compelling evidence for the recycling of materials that had undergone fractionation near the Earth's surface. Moreover, delta(11)B is negatively correlated with (187)Os/(188)Os ratios, which extend to subchondritic values, constraining the age of the high Nb/B, (11)B-enriched endmember to be more than 2.5 billion years (Gyr) old. We infer this component to be melt- and fluid-depleted lithospheric mantle from a subducted oceanic plate, whereas other Azores basalts contain a contribution from approximately 3-Gyr-old melt-enriched basalt. We conclude that both components are most probably derived from an Archaean oceanic plate that was subducted, arguably into the deep mantle, where it was stored until thermal buoyancy caused it to rise beneath the Azores islands approximately 3 Gyr later.     

Waning buoyancy in the crustal roots of old mountains

When mountains form through the collision of lithospheric plates, uplift of the Earth's surface is accompanied by thickening of the crust, and the buoyancy of these deep crustal roots (relative to the surrounding mantle) is thought to contribute to the support of mountain topography. Once active tectonism ceases, continuing erosion will progressively wear away surface relief. Here I provide new constraints on how crustal roots respond to erosional unloading over very long timescales. In old collisional mountain belts, ratios of surface relief to the thickness of the underlying crustal root are observed to be smaller than in young mountains. On the basis of gravity data, this trend is best explained by a decrease in the buoyancy of the crustal root with greater age since the most recent mountain-building episode which is consistent with metamorphic reactions produced by long-term cooling. An approximate balance between mountain and root mass anomalies suggests that the continental lithosphere remains weak enough to permit exhumation of crustal roots in response to surface erosion for hundreds of millions of years. The amount of such uplift, however, appears to be significantly reduced by progressive loss of root buoyancy.     

The role of crustal quartz in controlling Cordilleran deformation

Large-scale deformation of continents remains poorly understood more than 40 years after the plate tectonic revolution. Rock flow strength and mass density variations both contribute to stress, so both are certain to be important, but these depend (somewhat nebulously) on rock type, temperature and whether or not unbound water is present. Hence, it is unclear precisely how Earth material properties translate to continental deformation zones ranging from tens to thousands of kilometres in width, why deforming zones are sometimes interspersed with non-deforming blocks and why large earthquakes occasionally rupture in otherwise stable continental interiors. An important clue comes from observations that mountain belts and rift zones cyclically form at the same locations despite separation across vast gulfs of time (dubbed the Wilson tectonic cycle), accompanied by inversion of extensional basins and reactivation of faults and other structures formed in previous deformation events. Here we show that the abundance of crustal quartz, the weakest mineral in continental rocks, may strongly condition continental temperature and deformation. We use EarthScope seismic receiver functions, gravity and surface heat flow measurements to estimate thickness and seismic velocity ratio, v(P)/v(S), of continental crust in the western United States. The ratio v(P)/v(S) is relatively insensitive to temperature but very sensitive to quartz abundance. Our results demonstrate a surprising correlation of low crustal v(P)/v(S) with both higher lithospheric temperature and deformation of the Cordillera, the mountainous region of the western United States. The most plausible explanation for the relationship to temperature is a robust dynamical feedback, in which ductile strain first localizes in relatively weak, quartz-rich crust, and then initiates processes that promote advective warming, hydration and further weakening. The feedback mechanism proposed here would not only explain stationarity and spatial distributions of deformation, but also lend insight into the timing and distribution of thermal uplift and observations of deep-derived fluids in springs.     

白云石-方解石氧同位素温度计在川东北地区飞仙关组白云岩成因研究中的尝试

川东北地区三叠系飞仙关组中,作为最重要储集岩的粒屑白云岩和结晶白云岩的形成机制一直都是高度关注的热点问题.在白云岩结构分类、氧同位素分析的基础上,通过白云石-方解石氧同位素温度计获得了川东北地区飞仙关组不同类型白云岩的形成温度,其中大多数计算温度集中分布在40～140℃区间内,结晶白云岩(包括结构类似的过渡岩石类型)和孔洞白云石的计算温度集中分布在相对高温区间,粒屑白云岩和微晶白云岩的计算温度集中分布在相对低温区间,与前人关于流体包裹体、白云岩形成环境等分析结果有较好的一致性.白云石-方解石氧同位素温度计的初步尝试及其获得的计算温度,可望为川东北地区飞仙关组优质白云岩储层的形成机制研究提供有价     

大巴山前陆构造带主断裂碳酸盐岩碳、氧同位素特征及其对流体的响应

综合运用主断裂处碳酸盐原岩及其节理充填方解石碳、氧同位素分析以及反演构造应力场等方法,对大巴山前陆构造带流体的来源及活动期次进行研究.结果表明:大巴山前陆构造带存在两次大的流体活动,分别对应于早期的(T3-J1)印支运动和晚期的(J3-K1)燕山运动;各断裂的流体来源复杂,城口断裂和鸡鸣寺断裂流体来源多样,有海相沉积水、低温热液及受火成岩影响的变质水,镇巴断裂和坪坝断裂流体来源单一,主要来自与断裂相接触的海相地层中的沉积水.     

Banach序列空间的强端点

得到了Ｂａｎａｃｈ序列空间ｌｐ（Ｅ）其单位球面上的点ｘ０＝（ｘ０（ｉ））为强端点的充分必要条件是ｘ０（ｉ）‖ｘ０（ｉ）‖是Ｂａｎａｃｈ空间Ｅ的单位球面的强端点，进而指出ｌｐ（Ｅ）为中点局部一致凸的充分必要条件是Ｂａｎａｃｈ空间Ｅ是中点局部一致凸的。     

Extreme sexual dimorphism in a Miocene hominoid

Some Miocene hominoids may have been extremely sexually dimorphic for body size, inferred from the apparent dimorphism of dental and gnathic remains. But this has never been demonstrated convincingly for any fossil species because of small sample sizes, uncertainties about the number of species in most fossil samples, and the inability to reliably sex individual specimens. Here we demonstrate a case of extreme dental dimorphism, and presumed body-size dimorphism, in a Miocene hominoid sample in which these limitations have been overcome. Lufengpithecus lufengensis from the late Miocene site of Lufeng, China, was more dimorphic than the most dimorphic living hominoid, the orangutan, and may have been more dimorphic than any living anthropoid.     

Evaluation of crustal stability in the lower Yellow River region

The evaluation of crustal stability in the lower Yellow River region （LYR） is vital to the engineering project of the Yellow River embankment and construction of the Huang-Huai-Hai plain. From three aspects of tectonic stability, surface stability and medium stability, this paper analyzes in detail the factors such as tectonic activity, tectonic stress, exogenic geologic disasters and ground material composition which affect crustal stability in the study area and the spatial distributions of subordinate degree of the evaluation factors. It then constructs the crustal stability evaluation model of fuzzy mathematics based on GIS by using AHP to among the various factors find out the interrelations comprehensive evaluation of fuzzy mathematics and the functions of spatial overlay and spatial database of ArcGIS. Based upon this the crustal stability evaluation is carried out, the results show that the areas of stable and instable regions are basically the same, being 48.72% and 51.28% respectively. The area of moderate stable region takes a dominant position, being about 70.58%. The crust instable region presents zonal distribution and under the control of tectonic faulted belt. But the region where the LYR runs across is mostly instable with a total length of the river being 568.345 km, or 78.93% of all. The river reach where the crustal stability is relatively poor along the LYR is concentrated in the Lankao-Dongping section.     

Extreme damping in composite materials with negative-stiffness inclusions

When a force deforms an elastic object, practical experience suggests that the resulting displacement will be in the same direction as the force. This property is known as positive stiffness. Less familiar is the concept of negative stiffness, where the deforming force and the resulting displacement are in opposite directions. (Negative stiffness is distinct from negative Poisson's ratio, which refers to the occurrence of lateral expansion upon stretching an object.) Negative stiffness can occur, for example, when the deforming object has stored (or is supplied with) energy. This property is usually unstable, but it has been shown theoretically that inclusions of negative stiffness can be stabilized within a positive-stiffness matrix. Here we describe the experimental realization of this composite approach by embedding negative-stiffness inclusions of ferroelastic vanadium dioxide in a pure tin matrix. The resulting composites exhibit extreme mechanical damping and large anomalies in stiffness, as a consequence of the high local strains that result from the inclusions deforming more than the composite as a whole. Moreover, for certain temperature ranges, the negative-stiffness inclusions are more effective than diamond inclusions for increasing the overall composite stiffness. We expect that such composites could be useful as high damping materials, as stiff structural elements or for actuator-type applications.