Origin of extant domesticated sunflowers in eastern North America

Eastern North America is one of at least six regions of the world where agriculture is thought to have arisen wholly independently. The primary evidence for this hypothesis derives from morphological changes in the archaeobotanical record of three important crops--squash, goosefoot and sunflower--as well as an extinct minor cultigen, sumpweed. However, the geographical origins of two of the three primary domesticates--squash and goosefoot--are now debated, and until recently sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has been considered the only undisputed eastern North American domesticate. The discovery of 4,000-year-old domesticated sunflower remains from San Andrés, Tabasco, implies an earlier and possibly independent origin of domestication in Mexico and has stimulated a re-examination of the geographical origin of domesticated sunflower. Here we describe the genetic relationships and pattern of genetic drift between extant domesticated strains and wild populations collected from throughout the USA and Mexico. We show that extant domesticates arose in eastern North America, with a substantial genetic bottleneck occurring during domestication.     

Two new carnivores from an unusual late Tertiary forest biota in eastern North America

Late Cenozoic terrestrial fossil records of North America are biased by a predominance of mid-latitude deposits, mostly in the western half of the continent. Consequently, the biological history of eastern North America, including the eastern deciduous forest, remains largely hidden. Unfortunately, vertebrate fossil sites from this vast region are rare, and few pertain to the critically important late Tertiary period, during which intensified global climatic changes took place. Moreover, strong phylogenetic affinities between the flora of eastern North America and eastern Asia clearly demonstrate formerly contiguous connections, but disparity among shared genera (eastern Asia-eastern North America disjunction) implies significant periods of separation since at least the Miocene epoch. Lacustrine sediments deposited within a former sinkhole in the southern Appalachian Mountains provide a rare example of a late Miocene to early Pliocene terrestrial biota from a forested ecosystem. Here we show that the vertebrate remains contained within this deposit represent a unique combination of North American and Eurasian taxa. A new genus and species of the red (lesser) panda (Pristinailurus bristoli), the earliest and most primitive so far known, was recovered. Also among the fauna are a new species of Eurasian badger (Arctomeles dimolodontus) and the largest concentration of fossil tapirs ever recorded. Cladistical analyses of the two new carnivores strongly suggest immigration events that were earlier than and distinct from previous records, and that the close faunal affinities between eastern North America and eastern Asia in the late Tertiary period are consistent with the contemporaneous botanical record.     

A transitional snake from the Late Cretaceous period of North America

Snakes are the most diverse group of lizards, but their origins and early evolution remain poorly understood owing to a lack of transitional forms. Several major issues remain outstanding, such as whether snakes originated in a marine or terrestrial environment and how their unique feeding mechanism evolved. The Cretaceous Coniophis precedens was among the first Mesozoic snakes discovered, but until now only an isolated vertebra has been described and it has therefore been overlooked in discussions of snake evolution. Here we report on previously undescribed material from this ancient snake, including the maxilla, dentary and additional vertebrae. Coniophis is not an anilioid as previously thought a revised phylogenetic analysis of Ophidia shows that it instead represents the most primitive known snake. Accordingly, its morphology and ecology are critical to understanding snake evolution. Coniophis occurs in a continental floodplain environment, consistent with a terrestrial rather than a marine origin; furthermore, its small size and reduced neural spines indicate fossorial habits, suggesting that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards. The skull is intermediate between that of lizards and snakes. Hooked teeth and an intramandibular joint indicate that Coniophis fed on relatively large, soft-bodied prey. However, the maxilla is firmly united with the skull, indicating an akinetic rostrum. Coniophis therefore represents a transitional snake, combining a snake-like body and a lizard-like head. Subsequent to the evolution of a serpentine body and carnivory, snakes evolved a highly specialized, kinetic skull, which was followed by a major adaptive radiation in the Early Cretaceous period. This pattern suggests that the kinetic skull was a key innovation that permitted the diversification of snakes.     

North Pacific seasonality and the glaciation of North America 2.7 million years ago

In the context of gradual Cenozoic cooling, the timing of the onset of significant Northern Hemisphere glaciation 2.7 million years ago is consistent with Milankovitch's orbital theory, which posited that ice sheets grow when polar summertime insolation and temperature are low. However, the role of moisture supply in the initiation of large Northern Hemisphere ice sheets has remained unclear. The subarctic Pacific Ocean represents a significant source of water vapour to boreal North America, but it has been largely overlooked in efforts to explain Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Here we present alkenone unsaturation ratios and diatom oxygen isotope ratios from a sediment core in the western subarctic Pacific Ocean, indicating that 2.7 million years ago late-summer sea surface temperatures in this ocean region rose in response to an increase in stratification. At the same time, winter sea surface temperatures cooled, winter floating ice became more abundant and global climate descended into glacial conditions. We suggest that the observed summer warming extended into the autumn, providing water vapour to northern North America, where it precipitated and accumulated as snow, and thus allowed the initiation of Northern Hemisphere glaciation.     

对北美文化多样性与教育的反思

通过对一群亚裔加拿大社会服务从业者与来自其同一族裔社区的妇女工作的经验的描述 ,就文化适切实践模式对文化的假设提出质疑 ,并论述了文化的复杂性和多变性 ,阐述了文化适切实践的话语如何把殖民和种族权力的关系简约为文化问题。     

Subcontinental-scale crustal velocity changes along the Pacific-North America plate boundary

Transient tectonic deformation has long been noted within approximately 100 km of plate boundary fault zones and within active volcanic regions, but it is unknown whether transient motions also occur at larger scales within plates. Relatively localized transients are known to occur as both seismic and episodic aseismic events, and are generally ascribed to motions of magma bodies, aseismic creep on faults, or elastic or viscoelastic effects associated with earthquakes. However, triggering phenomena and systematic patterns of seismic strain release at subcontinental (approximately 1,000 km) scale along diffuse plate boundaries have long suggested that energy transfer occurs at larger scale. Such transfer appears to occur by the interaction of stresses induced by surface wave propagation and magma or groundwater in the crust, or from large-scale stress diffusion within the oceanic mantle in the decades following clusters of great earthquakes. Here we report geodetic evidence for a coherent, subcontinental-scale change in tectonic velocity along a diffuse approximately 1,000-km-wide deformation zone. Our observations are derived from continuous GPS (Global Positioning System) data collected over the past decade across the Basin and Range province, which absorbs approximately 25 per cent of Pacific-North America relative plate motion. The observed changes in site velocity define a sharp boundary near the centre of the province oriented roughly parallel to the north-northwest relative plate motion vector. We show that sites to the west of this boundary slowed relative to sites east of it by approximately 1 mm yr(-1) starting in late 1999.     

Iron and phosphorus co-limit nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical North Atlantic

The role of iron in enhancing phytoplankton productivity in high nutrient, low chlorophyll oceanic regions was demonstrated first through iron-addition bioassay experiments and subsequently confirmed by large-scale iron fertilization experiments. Iron supply has been hypothesized to limit nitrogen fixation and hence oceanic primary productivity on geological timescales, providing an alternative to phosphorus as the ultimate limiting nutrient. Oceanographic observations have been interpreted both to confirm and refute this hypothesis, but direct experimental evidence is lacking. We conducted experiments to test this hypothesis during the Meteor 55 cruise to the tropical North Atlantic. This region is rich in diazotrophs and strongly impacted by Saharan dust input. Here we show that community primary productivity was nitrogen-limited, and that nitrogen fixation was co-limited by iron and phosphorus. Saharan dust addition stimulated nitrogen fixation, presumably by supplying both iron and phosphorus. Our results support the hypothesis that aeolian mineral dust deposition promotes nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical North Atlantic.     

Large temperature drop across the Eocene-Oligocene transition in central North America

The Eocene-Oligocene transition towards a cool climate (approximately 33.5 million years ago) was one of the most pronounced climate events during the Cenozoic era. The marine record of this transition has been extensively studied. However, significantly less research has focused on continental climate change at the time, yielding partly inconsistent results on the magnitude and timing of the changes. Here we use a combination of in vivo stable isotope compositions of fossil tooth enamel with diagenetic stable isotope compositions of fossil bone to derive a high-resolution (about 40,000 years) continental temperature record for the Eocene-Oligocene transition. We find a large drop in mean annual temperature of 8.2 +/- 3.1 degrees C over about 400,000 years, the possibility of a small increase in temperature seasonality, and no resolvable change in aridity across the transition. The large change in mean annual temperature, exceeding changes in sea surface temperatures at comparable latitudes and possibly delayed in time with respect to marine changes by up to 400,000 years, explains the faunal turnover for gastropods, amphibians and reptiles, whereas most mammals in the region were unaffected. Our results are in agreement with modelling studies that attribute the climate cooling at the Eocene-Oligocene transition to a significant drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.     

An Arctic mammal fauna from the Early Pliocene of North America

A peat deposit on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, allows a unique glimpse of the Early Pliocene terrestrial biota north of the Arctic Circle. The peat accumulated in a beaver pond surrounded by boreal larch forest near regional tree line in coastal hills close to the Arctic Ocean. The ecological affinities of the plant and beetle remains contained in the peat indicate that winter temperatures on Ellesmere Island were nearly 15 degrees C higher and summer temperatures 10 degrees C higher than they are today. Here we show that the mammalian remains buried in the peat represent mainly taxa of Eurasiatic zoogeographic and phyletic affinities, including the first North American occurrence of a meline badger (Arctomeles). This deposit contains direct evidence of the composition of an Early Pliocene (4-5 million years ago) arctic mammalian fauna during an active period of interchange between Asia and North America.     

美国西部开发中的城市化

美国西部开发中的城市化，与十叶当时的区域关系、采矿业、横贯大陆铁路铺设联系紧密。这种城市的崛起，推动了西部经济体系的形成和发展。     

北祁连山东段苏家山高Mg埃达克岩地球动力学意义

苏家山花岗闪长岩位于北祁连山东段,老虎山弧后盆地残留体北侧,侵入于原奥陶系阴沟群及前寒武纪变质岩系中,在空间分布上与米家山、扁强沟、清凹山、黄家凹山、银硐梁以及东侧南华山花岗岩共同构成长约220 km的花岗岩带,沿NW-NWW向展布.地球化学研究结果表明:苏家山花岗闪长岩富Na贫K,属钙碱性系列;高Sr低Y,Yb,高Mg#,Ni,Cr,可划归高Mg,Sr低Y型花岗闪长岩;微量元素蛛网图显示,岩石富集大离子亲石元素,亏损高场强元素及HREE,(w(La)/w(Yb))n>22,δEu轻微负异常;K-Ar同位素年龄为425 Ma.结果指示:苏家山花岗闪长岩具有高镁埃达克岩的特点,是在早古生代晚期北祁连东段造山作用过程中,滞留在地幔楔中的老虎山弧后盆地俯冲板片发生部分熔融,熔体与地幔橄榄岩发生明显的交代作用而形成.与此同时,阿拉善古陆南缘也卷入了造山作用,埃达克岩浆作用使陆壳在垂向上得以生长.     

A discontinuity in mantle composition beneath the southwest Indian ridge

The composition of mid-ocean-ridge basalt is known to correlate with attributes such as ridge topography and seismic velocity in the underlying mantle, and these correlations have been interpreted to reflect variations in the average extent and mean pressures of melting during mantle upwelling. In this respect, the eastern extremity of the southwest Indian ridge is of special interest, as its mean depth of 4.7 km (ref. 4), high upper-mantle seismic wave velocities and thin oceanic crust of 4-5 km (ref. 6) suggest the presence of unusually cold mantle beneath the region. Here we show that basaltic glasses dredged in this zone, when compared to other sections of the global mid-ocean-ridge system, have higher Na(8.0), Sr and Al2O3 compositions, very low CaO/Al2O3 ratios relative to TiO2 and depleted heavy rare-earth element distributions. This signature cannot simply be ascribed to low-degree melting of a typical mid-ocean-ridge source mantle, as different geochemical indicators of the extent of melting are mutually inconsistent. Instead, we propose that the mantle beneath approximately 1,000 km of the southwest Indian ridge axis has a complex history involving extensive earlier melting events and interaction with partial melts of a more fertile source.     

借鉴北美英语教法的EDA技术教学探讨

探讨了北美英语教法对EDA技术教学的借鉴意义.针对EDA技术课程实践性强的特点,论述了将北美英语教法强调的原则贯穿于EDA技术教学过程的可行性,并提出了具体的教学实施过程.结果显示,与传统教学方法相比,这种借鉴可以更好地激发学生的学习兴趣,取得良好的教学效果.     

南京城市边界层微气象特征观测与分析

南京大学大气科学系分别于2005年7月17日～7月31日,2006年2月18日～3月10日在南京市市区和郊区两个观测点进行了城市边界层气象观测,同时采用流动观测方法和在6个固定观测点进行城市热岛观测,观测发现:南京市存在明显的城市热岛特征,气温由市区中心的最高值向郊区逐步减少,冬夏季节的平均热岛强度分别为1.2℃和0.83℃,晴天热岛强度大于阴天,夜间热岛强度普遍高于白天,夏季和冬季热岛强度最大可达3.6℃和2.4℃.热岛强度随高度增加而减小,在约400 m高度,城区和郊区气温没有明显差异.观测结果还表明城区湿度普遍低于郊区,冬夏季节的城市与郊区的相对湿度差分别为10.6%和7.3%.南京紫金山森林地区对附近地区的气温和湿度有明显影响;城区风速明显低于郊区,高度越低,城区与郊区风速相差越大.南京市区的平均零平面位移约为19.9 m,平均粗糙度1.1m.     

常德维吾尔族学生身体形态发育现状比较研究

常德维吾尔族居民是新疆维吾尔族移民的后裔,其7～15岁学生身体形态发育特点与常德汉族学生基本一致,发育曲线呈波浪形,女生9岁,男生12岁前后进入形态发育突增期,身高和体重的均数较新疆维吾尔族学生的大,男女学生的身高、体重发育曲线第一次交叉的年龄较新疆维吾尔族学生早. 研究结果提示,环境因素对移民后代的身体形态发育具有重要的影响作用.     

Interannual variation of North China rainfall in rainy season and SSTs in the equatorial eastern Pacific

The rainfall in North China during rainy season （July and August （JA）） exhibits a strong interannual variability. In this study, the atmospheric circulation and SST anomalies associated with the interannual variation of JA North China rainfall are examined. It is found that on the interannual timescale, the JA North China rainfall is associated with significant SST anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific, and the North China rainfall and SST anomaly in the equatorial eastern Pacific correspond to the similar variation of the upper-level westerly jet stream over East Asia. A possible mechanism is proposed for the influence of the SST anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific on the North China rainfall.     

亚洲、北美洲奥运项目布局的比较研究

文章运用因子分析的统计方法,将25-28届夏季奥运会期间各区域各奥运项目群体分为两个因子.结果表明,北美洲和亚洲有着不同的项目布局,首先,稳定因子和非稳定因子所包括的项目群体各不相同,亚洲稳定因子的组成以女子项目为主.其次,亚洲稳定因子体现出蓬勃发展的竞技优势,而北美洲该因子竞技实力日益流失;亚洲非稳定因子竞技实力虽然表现出较大的不稳定性,使其仍然保持着较快的发展速度,而北美洲该因子竞技实力日益没落.另外,随着时间的变化,各区域中稳定因子和非稳定因子有着不同的变化趋势,其稳定性和非稳定性也存在很大的差别.     

Stimulated influences of Lake Agassiz on the climate of central North America 11,000 years ago

Eleven thousand years ago, large lakes existed in central and eastern North America along the margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The large-scale North American climate at this time has been simulated with atmospheric general circulation models, but these relatively coarse global models do not resolve potentially important features of the mesoscale circulation that arise from interactions among the atmosphere, ice sheet, and proglacial lakes. Here we present simulations of the climate of central and eastern North America 11,000 years ago with a high-resolution, regional climate model nested within a general circulation model. The simulated climate is in general agreement with that inferred from palaeoecological evidence. Our experiments indicate that through mesoscale atmospheric feedbacks, the annual delivery of moisture to the Laurentide Ice Sheet was diminished at times of a large, cold Lake Agassiz relative to periods of lower lake stands. The resulting changes in the mass balance of the ice sheet may have contributed to fluctuations of the ice margin, thus affecting the routing of fresh water to the North Atlantic Ocean. A retreating ice margin during periods of high lake level may have opened an outlet for discharge of Lake Agassiz into the North Atlantic. A subsequent advance of the ice margin due to greater moisture delivery associated with a low lake level could have dammed the outlet, thereby reducing discharge to the North Atlantic. These variations may have been decisive in causing the Younger Dryas cold event.     

由北美页岩气勘探开发看我国页岩气选区评价

美国是世界上最早对页岩气进行商业性勘探开发的国家.2009年,美国页岩气勘探开发更是取得了惊人成就,页岩气产量接近900×108 m3.页岩气快速勘探开发使得美国天然气储量增加了40%.加拿大是继美国之后世界上第二个对页岩气投入勘探开发的国家,勘探开发的地区主要集中在不列颠哥伦比亚省东北部中泥盆统Horn River盆地与三叠纪Montney页岩,近年来又逐渐扩展到了其他省份.分析北美地区页岩气勘探开发特点与成功经验,对比我国页岩气形成的地质条件,可以得出以下几点启示:(1)页岩气是一种潜力巨大、近期可实现经济勘探开发的现实资源,应引起勘探开发决策的高度重视;(2)页岩气是一种广分布、低丰度、易发现、难开采的自生自储连续型非常规低效气藏,其勘探开发需要先进的技术、严格的成本控制、优惠的税收扶持政策以及考虑必要的环境保护;(3)我国页岩气形成的地质背景比北美地区复杂,页岩气的选区评价需要建立适合我国页岩气形成地质条件特点的标准.