Low marine sulphate and protracted oxygenation of the Proterozoic biosphere

Progressive oxygenation of the Earth's early biosphere is thought to have resulted in increased sulphide oxidation during continental weathering, leading to a corresponding increase in marine sulphate concentration. Accurate reconstruction of marine sulphate reservoir size is therefore important for interpreting the oxygenation history of early Earth environments. Few data, however, specifically constrain how sulphate concentrations may have changed during the Proterozoic era (2.5-0.54 Gyr ago). Prior to 2.2 Gyr ago, when oxygen began to accumulate in the Earth's atmosphere, sulphate concentrations are inferred to have been <1 mM and possibly <200 microM, on the basis of limited isotopic variability preserved in sedimentary sulphides and experimental data showing suppressed isotopic fractionation at extremely low sulphate concentrations. By 0.8 Gyr ago, oxygen and thus sulphate levels may have risen significantly. Here we report large stratigraphic variations in the sulphur isotope composition of marine carbonate-associated sulphate, and use a rate-dependent model for sulphur isotope change that allows us to track changes in marine sulphate concentrations throughout the Proterozoic. Our calculations indicate sulphate levels between 1.5 and 4.5 mM, or 5-15 per cent of modern values, for more than 1 Gyr after initial oxygenation of the Earth's biosphere. Persistence of low oceanic sulphate demonstrates the protracted nature of Earth's oxygenation. It links biospheric evolution to temporal patterns in the depositional behaviour of marine iron- and sulphur-bearing minerals, biological cycling of redox-sensitive elements and availability of trace metals essential to eukaryotic development.     

Evidence for non-selective preservation of organic matter in sinking marine particles

The sinking of particulate organic matter from ocean surface waters transports carbon to the ocean interior, where almost all is then recycled. The unrecycled fraction of this organic matter can become buried in ocean sediments, thus sequestering carbon and so influencing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. The processes controlling the extensive biodegradation of sinking particles remain unclear, partly because of the difficulty in resolving the composition of the residual organic matter at depth with existing chromatographic techniques. Here, using solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy, we characterize the chemical structure of organic carbon in both surface plankton and sinking particulate matter from the Pacific Ocean and the Arabian Sea. We found that minimal changes occur in bulk organic composition, despite extensive (>98%) biodegradation, and that amino-acid-like material predominates throughout the water column in both regions. The compositional similarity between phytoplankton biomass and the small remnant of organic matter reaching the ocean interior indicates that the formation of unusual biochemicals, either by chemical recombination or microbial biosynthesis, is not the main process controlling the preservation of particulate organic carbon within the water column at these two sites. We suggest instead that organic matter might be protected from degradation by the inorganic matrix of sinking particles.     

Evidence for cultivar adoption and emerging complexity during the mid-Holocene in the La Plata basin

Multidisciplinary investigations at the Los Ajos archaeological mound complex in the wetlands of southeastern Uruguay challenge the traditional view that the La Plata basin was inhabited by simple groups of hunters and gatherers for much of the pre-Hispanic era. Here we report new archaeological, palaeoecological and botanical data indicating that during an increasingly drier mid-Holocene, at around 4,190 radiocarbon (14C) years before present (bp), Los Ajos became a permanent circular plaza village, and its inhabitants adopted the earliest cultivars known in southern South America. The architectural plan of Los Ajos during the following Ceramic Mound Period (around 3,000-500 14C yr bp) is similar to, but earlier than, settlement patterns demonstrated in Amazonia, revealing a new and independent architectural tradition for South America.     

Discussion of gas enrichment mechanism and natural gas origin in marine sedimentary basin, China

There are abundant natural gas resources in Chinese marine sedimentary basin. The exploration hot shots of natural gas are the Palaeozoic marine strata here in recent years, and several large scale gas fields have been discovered. Chinese Palaeozoic high-post matured and coal measure hydrocarbon source rocks are mainly prone to gas generation in the present. This research considered that gas source rocks and TSR are the key cause of gas enrichment of marine strata. High-quality argillaceous and coal measure hydrocarbon rocks are distributed widely in the Palaeozoic marine strata, which have been in highly matured phase in the present. The argillaceous source rock generally contains various sulfates that could accelerate crude oil cracking to gas for TSR occurrence, and coal measure source rock mainly generates gas, so Chinese marine basin gives priority to accumulating gas. Marine strata have not founded oil reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin and Ordos Basin, and they consist mainly of dry gas. Marine natural gases are the mixed gases of oil cracking gas and coal-formed gas in a general way, oil cracking gases contain usually some H2S and CO2. Hydrocarbon carbon isotopes are very complicated, and methane and ethane isotopic values bear apparent reversal caused by thermal evolution and mixing among different genetic types of natural gas. Coal-formed gases are the main component of Chinese marine natural gas. The Upper Permian of the Sichuan Basin and the Carboniferous-Permian of the Ordos Basin coal measure hydrocarbon source rock present large hydrocarbon generation po- tential, which are the prospecting highlight of marine natural gas hereafter. Oil cracking gas exploration will be paid much attention to in the Tarim Basin because of the lack of coal measure hydrocarbon source rock.     

Discussion of gas enrichment mechanism and natural gas origin in marine sedimentary basin,China

There are abundant natural gas resources in Chinese marine sedimentary basin. The exploration hot shots of natural gas are the Palaeozoic marine strata here in recent years, and several large scale gas fields have been discovered. Chinese Palaeozoic high-post matured and coal measure hydrocarbon source rocks are mainly prone to gas generation in the present. This research considered that gas source rocks and TSR are the key cause of gas enrichment of marine strata. High-quality argillaceous and coal measure hydrocarbon rocks are distributed widely in the Palaeozoic marine strata, which have been in highly matured phase in the present. The argillaceous source rock generally contains various sulfates that could accelerate crude oil cracking to gas for TSR occurrence, and coal measure source rock mainly generates gas, so Chinese marine basin gives priority to accumulating gas. Marine strata have not founded oil reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin and Ordos Basin, and they consist mainly of dry gas. Marine natural gases are the mixed gases of oil cracking gas and coal-formed gas in a general way, oil cracking gases contain usually some H2S and CO2. Hydrocarbon carbon isotopes are very complicated, and methane and ethane isotopic values bear apparent reversal caused by thermal evolution and mixing among different genetic types of natural gas. Coal-formed gases are the main component of Chinese marine natural gas. The Upper Permian of the Sichuan Basin and the Carboniferous-Permian of the Ordos Basin coal measure hydrocarbon source rock present large hydrocarbon generation potential, which are the prospecting highlight of marine natural gas hereafter. Oil cracking gas exploration will be paid much attention to in the Tarim Basin because of the lack of coal measure hydrocarbon source rock.     

淮河流域枯水流量演变特征、成因与影响研究

基于1956—2016年淮河流域9个水文站的日径流量系列数据,采用M-K非参数检验法、小波分析等方法,研究淮河流域连续最小1、7、15、30d平均流量(枯水流量)时空演变规律.研究发现:1)淮河流域枯水流量Cv值为0.23~1.34,年最小枯水流量为0.002~24.5m~3·s~(-1),枯水流量年际变化剧烈.息县、王家坝、蒋家集和横排头站在4种序列中的变异点多发生于2001年;阜阳和鲁台子站在4种序列中的变异点均出现在1964年.各站点变异时间多发生在20世纪60年代初及21世纪初.2)息县、潢川、班台和王家坝站在Q1、Q7、Q15中的变化趋势基本一致,整体呈震荡上升趋势.阜阳站和蚌埠站变化恰好相反.空间分布上,上游枯水流量呈增加趋势,而中游则呈下降趋势.3)息县、班台、阜阳、蚌埠和鲁台子这5个站点均在1960—1977年存在显著周期,潢川、班台、王家坝、蒋家集、横排头和蚌埠站在1997—2012年的时间段内存在2.0~4.6a的显著周期变化.     

开发海洋能源，建设海洋强国

海洋能源开发是海洋强国建设的重要支撑。论述了近年来科技创新为海洋能源勘探开发做出的巨大贡献,提出了中国海洋能源开发未来的主攻方向及建议:加大近海非常规油气开发技术攻关,为中国油气工业提供更多现实的贡献;加大深海油气勘探开发力度,打造中国油气产业未来的重要接替区;突破天然气水合物规模化开发关键技术,早日实现商业化开采;打造深海能源开发装备舰队,支撑海洋强国建设;抢占先机,布局并推进大洋矿产的勘探开发;进一步加强极地科研攻关,深度参与极地开发。     

Evidence for free precession in a pulsar

Pulsars are rotating neutron stars that produce lighthouse-like beams of radio emission from their magnetic poles. The observed pulse of emission enables their rotation rates to be measured with great precision. For some young pulsars, this provides a means of studying the interior structure of neutron stars. Most pulsars have stable pulse shapes, and slow down steadily (for example, see ref. 20). Here we report the discovery of long-term, highly periodic and correlated variations in both the pulse shape and the rate of slow-down of the pulsar PSR B1828-11. The variations are best described as harmonically related sinusoids, with periods of approximately 1,000, 500 and 250 days, probably resulting from precession of the spin axis caused by an asymmetry in the shape of the pulsar. This is difficult to understand theoretically, because torque-free precession of a solitary pulsar should be damped out by the vortices in its superfluid interior.     

Isotopic evidence for Mesoarchaean anoxia and changing atmospheric sulphur chemistry

The evolution of the Earth's atmosphere is marked by a transition from an early atmosphere with very low oxygen content to one with an oxygen content within a few per cent of the present atmospheric level. Placing time constraints on this transition is of interest because it identifies the time when oxidative weathering became efficient, when ocean chemistry was transformed by delivery of oxygen and sulphate, and when a large part of Earth's ecology changed from anaerobic to aerobic. The observation of non-mass-dependent sulphur isotope ratios in sedimentary rocks more than approximately 2.45 billion years (2.45 Gyr) old and the disappearance of this signal in younger sediments is taken as one of the strongest lines of evidence for the transition from an anoxic to an oxic atmosphere around 2.45 Gyr ago. Detailed examination of the sulphur isotope record before 2.45 Gyr ago also reveals early and late periods of large amplitude non-mass-dependent signals bracketing an intervening period when the signal was attenuated. Until recently, this record has been too sparse to allow interpretation, but collection of new data has prompted some workers to argue that the Mesoarchaean interval (3.2-2.8 Gyr ago) lacks a non-mass-dependent signal, and records the effects of earlier and possibly permanent oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere. Here we focus on the Mesoarchaean interval, and demonstrate preservation of a non-mass-dependent signal that differs from that of preceding and following periods in the Archaean. Our findings point to the persistence of an anoxic early atmosphere, and identify variability within the isotope record that suggests changes in pre-2.45-Gyr-ago atmospheric pathways for non-mass-dependent chemistry and in the ultraviolet transparency of an evolving early atmosphere.     

轮机模拟器船舶柴油机改进的仿真软件

介绍轮机模拟器船舶柴油机改进的仿真软件.首先,对6S60MC柴油机工作过程数学建模,包括气缸、涡轮增压器、空冷器、扫气过程和排气过程等;其次,采用一种改进的方法计算排气过程,在满足计算精度要求的同时,缩短工作过程仿真的计算时间;第三,计算柴油机各缸的主要工作参数,比如,示功图P-ψ,P-V和T-ψ,dQ/dψ-ψ,dx/dψ-ψ等曲线图,以及扫气空气系数、残余废气系数、燃烧室壁温等参数;第四,软件有许多故障设置,以训练学生或学员判断故障的能力;第五,软件还有报警参数等.     

Evidence for complete denitrification in a benthic foraminifer

Benthic foraminifera are unicellular eukaryotes found abundantly in many types of marine sediments. Many species survive and possibly reproduce in anoxic habitats, but sustainable anaerobic metabolism has not been previously described. Here we demonstrate that the foraminifer Globobulimina pseudospinescens accumulates intracellular nitrate stores and that these can be respired to dinitrogen gas. The amounts of nitrate detected are estimated to be sufficient to support respiration for over a month. In a Swedish fjord sediment where G. pseudospinescens is the dominant foraminifer, the intracellular nitrate pool in this species accounted for 20% of the large, cell-bound, nitrate pool present in an oxygen-free zone. Similarly high nitrate concentrations were also detected in foraminifera Nonionella cf. stella and a Stainforthia species, the two dominant benthic taxa occurring within the oxygen minimum zone of the continental shelf off Chile. Given the high abundance of foraminifera in anoxic marine environments, these new findings suggest that foraminifera may play an important role in global nitrogen cycling and indicate that our understanding of the complexity of the marine nitrogen cycle is far from complete.     

Evidence for a viral superantigen in humans.

Superantigens bind class II major histocompatibility proteins and stimulate powerful proliferative responses of T lymphocytes bearing particular V beta sequences as part of their alpha beta antigen receptor. Exogenous bacterial superantigens are responsible for food poisoning and toxic shock syndrome. Murine virus-encoded self-superantigens induce clonal deletion of T lymphocytes. Although superantigen-like properties have been suggested for human immunodeficiency virus-1, no viral superantigen has been identified in humans. Here we report that the nucleocapsid of the rabies virus is an exogenous superantigen specific for V beta 8 human T lymphocytes which binds to HLA class II alpha-chains.     

低佛氏数对冲式消力池紊流水流的数值模拟

采用RNG k-ε紊流模型和体积函数法(volume of fluid．VOF)追踪自由水面的方法，数值模拟了低佛汝德数对冲式消力池中的水流结构，并与试验进行了比较，结果显示其水流特性、断面流速、压力分布及自由水面位置与物理模型试验吻合良好，此成果有助于了解对冲式消力池的水流结构．为工程设计提供依据。     

高岭石与片钠铝石成因联系的岩石学证据：

松辽盆地南部长岭凹陷乾安地区青山口组和华字井阶地孤店地区泉头组四段含片钠铝石砂岩中次生黏土矿物分布广泛,其中自生高岭石最为常见。本文以松辽盆地南部长岭凹陷－华字井阶地50余口钻井资料为基础,选择其中23个含片钠铝石砂岩样品进行普通薄片鉴定、扫描电镜观察、茜素红-S染色薄片观察和X-射线衍射分析。对片钠铝石与高岭石之间的关系进行了详细研究表明：在含片钠铝石砂岩中高岭石与片钠铝石的含量互为消长,并且在扫描电镜下可观察到高岭石溶解并被片钠铝石交代的现象。将这些岩石学的证据与国外热力学及地球化学实验成果总结归纳,进一步肯定了高岭石在碱性、富CO2流体环境中化学性质不稳定,并最终向片钠铝石转化。