An Archaean heavy bombardment from a destabilized extension of the asteroid belt

The barrage of comets and asteroids that produced many young lunar basins (craters over 300 kilometres in diameter) has frequently been called the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB). Many assume the LHB ended about 3.7 to 3.8 billion years (Gyr) ago with the formation of Orientale basin. Evidence for LHB-sized blasts on Earth, however, extend into the Archaean and early Proterozoic eons, in the form of impact spherule beds: globally distributed ejecta layers created by Chicxulub-sized or larger cratering events4. At least seven spherule beds have been found that formed between 3.23 and 3.47?Gyr ago, four between 2.49 and 2.63?Gyr ago, and one between 1.7 and 2.1?Gyr ago. Here we report that the LHB lasted much longer than previously thought, with most late impactors coming from the E belt, an extended and now largely extinct portion of the asteroid belt between 1.7 and 2.1 astronomical units from Earth. This region was destabilized by late giant planet migration. E-belt survivors now make up the high-inclination Hungaria asteroids. Scaling from the observed Hungaria asteroids, we find that E-belt projectiles made about ten lunar basins between 3.7 and 4.1?Gyr ago. They also produced about 15 terrestrial basins between 2.5 and 3.7?Gyr ago, as well as around 70 and four Chicxulub-sized or larger craters on the Earth and Moon, respectively, between 1.7 and 3.7?Gyr ago. These rates reproduce impact spherule bed and lunar crater constraints.     

The Earth as a planet

A comparison of the Earth with the Moon and other planets can help considerably in the solving of geophysical problems. Professor Cook deals with some of these problems in this article, which is a summary of the inaugural lecture he gave as professor of geophysics at Edinburgh on January 15.     

土楼夯土墙的风驱雨撞击荷载影响分析

运用流体力学的相关知识,分析雨滴降落的运动方程,在考虑风速的基础上推算出风驱雨的雨滴撞击荷载,并分析各因素对撞击荷载的影响.研究结果表明:雨滴降落的竖直极限速度与雨滴的直径及牵引阻力系数有关,并随着雨滴直径的增大而增大;雨滴的水平极限速度等于风速.理论分析表明:雨滴的撞击荷载及其法向分荷载、切向分荷载均随着风速和雨滴直径的增大而增大.     

Tungsten isotope evidence from approximately 3.8-Gyr metamorphosed sediments for early meteorite bombardment of the Earth

The 'Late Heavy Bombardment' was a phase in the impact history of the Moon that occurred 3.8 4.0 Gyr ago, when the lunar basins with known dates were formed. But no record of this event has yet been reported from the few surviving rocks of this age on the Earth. Here we report tungsten isotope anomalies, based on the (182)Hf (182)W system (half-life of 9 Myr), in metamorphosed sedimentary rocks from the 3.7 3.8-Gyr-old Isua greenstone belt of West Greenland and closely related rocks from northern Labrador, Canada. As it is difficult to conceive of a mechanism by which tungsten isotope heterogeneities could have been preserved in the Earth's dynamic crust mantle environment from a time when short-lived (182)Hf was still present, we conclude that the metamorphosed sediments contain a component derived from meteorites.     

冲击荷载作用下挡土墙上的附加土压力

根据强夯冲击荷载作用时挡土墙的实际受力状态，从静力法的观点出发，按照碰撞理论得出的接触应力，结合布辛尼斯克(Boussinesq)解，推导并给出了冲击荷载作用时挡土墙上所受土压力的实用计算公式，解决了挡土墙后填土实施强夯时的土压力计算问题．     

用钉螺作为指示生物监测其孳生地重金属污染状况

用等离子体原子发射法测定了钉螺软体组织与其孳生地土壤中重金属元素Cr、Cu、Zn、Mn、Cd和Pb的含量,对其污染状况进行了分析.结果表明:钉螺是监测其孳生地土壤重金属污染的理想的指示生物,根据重金属在钉螺体内的累积情况可以判定土壤受重金属污染的程度.     

中国古代文化中以"金"修辞现象考察

人类使用金的历史非常悠久。在中国古代，金逐渐成为财富、才德、意志、信誉等许多贵重之物、美好事物的象征，以致于在古代文化中以“金”修辞现象非常多，所涉及的范围非常广。其语用的形式主要体现在比喻、借代、敬称、美称等修辞手段的运用上。     

Carbonaceous meteorites as a source of sugar-related organic compounds for the early Earth.

The much-studied Murchison meteorite is generally used as the standard reference for organic compounds in extraterrestrial material. Amino acids and other organic compounds important in contemporary biochemistry are thought to have been delivered to the early Earth by asteroids and comets, where they may have played a role in the origin of life. Polyhydroxylated compounds (polyols) such as sugars, sugar alcohols and sugar acids are vital to all known lifeforms-they are components of nucleic acids (RNA, DNA), cell membranes and also act as energy sources. But there has hitherto been no conclusive evidence for the existence of polyols in meteorites, leaving a gap in our understanding of the origins of biologically important organic compounds on Earth. Here we report that a variety of polyols are present in, and indigenous to, the Murchison and Murray meteorites in amounts comparable to amino acids. Analyses of water extracts indicate that extraterrestrial processes including photolysis and formaldehyde chemistry could account for the observed compounds. We conclude from this that polyols were present on the early Earth and therefore at least available for incorporation into the first forms of life.     

Fossil evidence for an ancient divergence of lorises and galagos

Morphological, molecular, and biogeographic data bearing on early primate evolution suggest that the clade containing extant (or 'crown') strepsirrhine primates (lemurs, lorises and galagos) arose in Afro-Arabia during the early Palaeogene, but over a century of palaeontological exploration on that landmass has failed to uncover any conclusive support for that hypothesis. Here we describe the first demonstrable crown strepsirrhines from the Afro-Arabian Palaeogene--a galagid and a possible lorisid from the late middle Eocene of Egypt, the latter of which provides the earliest fossil evidence for the distinctive strepsirrhine toothcomb. These discoveries approximately double the previous temporal range of undoubted lorisiforms and lend the first strong palaeontological support to the hypothesis of an ancient Afro-Arabian origin for crown Strepsirrhini and an Eocene divergence of extant lorisiform families.     

Possible cometary origin of heavy noble gases in the atmospheres of Venus, Earth and Mars

Models that trace the origin of noble gases in the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets (Venus, Earth and Mars) to the 'planetary component' in chondritic meteorites confront several problems. The 'missing' xenon in the atmospheres of Mars and Earth is one of the most obvious; this gas is not hidden or trapped in surface materials. On Venus, the absolute abundances of neon and argon per gram of rock are higher even than those in carbonaceous chondrites, whereas the relative abundances of argon and krypton are closer to solar than to chondritic values (there is only an upper limit on xenon). Pepin has developed a model that emphasizes hydrodynamic escape of early, massive hydrogen atmospheres to explain the abundances and isotope ratios of noble gases on all three planets. We have previously suggested that the unusual abundances of heavy noble gases on Venus might be explained by the impact of a low-temperature comet. Further consideration of the probable history of the martian atmosphere, the noble-gas data from the (Mars-derived) SNC meteorites and laboratory experiments on the trapping of noble gases in ice lead us to propose here that the noble gases in the atmospheres of all of the terrestrial planets are dominated by a mixture of an internal component and contribution from impacting icy planetesimals (comets). If true, this hypothesis illustrates the importance of impacts in determining the volatile inventories of these planets.     

Complete nucleotide sequence of an immunoglobulin VH gene homologue from Caiman, a phylogenetically ancient reptile

Immunoglobulin variable (V) gene regions typify extensive multigenic families in terms of overall size, chromosomal arrangement and presence of large numbers of apparent pseudogenes. A unique mechanism of somatic reorganization involving recombination of VH, D and JH or VL and JL segments accompanies the differentiation of lymphoid cells and together with somatic mutation and other types of recombination accounts for V-region diversity. Although these processes have been well characterized in higher mammals, little is known concerning their origin and diversification during phylogenetic time. Previously, we described the blot-hybridization characteristics of murine VHIII probes with restriction enzyme-digested genomic DNA isolated from several phylogenetically critical species, including Caiman crocodylus, a modern representative of an ancient reptilian subclass. Here we have used a murine probe, S107V, to select homologous clones from a library of Caiman genomic DNA constructed in a lambda bacteriophage. The complete nucleotide sequence of a Caiman gene homologous to the murine VH gene and its adjacent 5' and 3' region is described. Comparison of the sequence with mammalian prototypes shows evidence of considerable organizational and structural homology extending outside the presumed VH-coding region and including elements believed to be involved in somatic recombination. Inferences about the evolution of this multigenic family can now be extended to the level of phylogenetic class.     

以稀土合金材料为驱动器的高速开关阀的研究与设计

为了提高电液高速开关阀的开关速度,改进流体脉宽调制(Pulse Width Modulation,简称PWM)电液数字控制的精度,对以稀土合金超磁致伸缩材料作为驱动器来驱动液压开关阀进行了研究,并研制了一种特殊结构的新型高速开关阀。仿真计算与试验结果表明,这种阀具有很高的切换速度及频率,其开关时间少于1ms,能够显著地提高PWM电液控制精度。     

碎石土古滑坡弹塑性接触有限元稳定性分析

为了准确评价碎石土古滑坡的稳定性,通过资料搜集整理和分析、现场工程地质调查与勘探和室内外的物理力学试验,采用三维大变形弹塑性接触有限元算法,结合复活碎石土古滑坡工程实例,提出利用三维计算结果计算二维剖面稳定性系数的方法,分析了滑坡的稳定性.结果表明,采用三维大变形弹塑性接触有限元算法分析滑坡稳定性可以考虑滑坡体的空间效应,使计算结果更加符合实际.新方法可以更准确分析碎石土滑坡的稳定性和获得该类型滑坡所处的实际状态,为滑坡治理提供准确的科学信息.     

以丽江古城为例谈城市历史文化遗产的保护和规划

一个城市历史文化遗产的保护状况是城市文明的重要标志。在城市建设和发展中,必须正确处理现代化建设和历史文化保护的关系,尊重城市发展的历史,使城市的风貌随着岁月的流逝而更具内涵和底蕴。保护历史文化遗产是人类文明发展的必然需要,也是城市规划的重要内容。历史文化名城丽江对历史文化遗产的保护和规划工作总结出了很好的原则和做法,值得其它城市学习和借鉴。