Origin of the Changbai intraplate volcanism in Northeast China： Evidence from seismic tomography

Seismic images of the mantle beneath the active Changbai intraplate volcano in Northeast China determined by teleseismic travel time tomography are presented. The data are measured at a new seismic network consisting of 19 portable stations and 3 permanent stations. The results show a columnar low-velocity (-3%) anomaly extending to 400 km depth under the Changbai volcano. High velocity anomalies are visible in the mantle transition zone, and deep earthquakes occur at depths of 500--600 km under the region,suggesting that the subducting Pacific slab is stagnant in the transition zone, as imaged clearly also by global tomography.These results suggest that the Changbai intraplate volcano is not a hotspot like Hawaii but a kind of back-arc volcano related to the upwelling of hot asthenospheric materials associated with the deep subduction and stagnancy of the Pacific slab under northeast Asia.     

Formation mechanism of ferromagnetic minerals in loess of China： TEM investigation

The results of TEM investigation indicate that magnetite and maghemite are the major ferromagnetic minerals in loess-paleosol sequences. Primary magnetite has the similar morphology and surface characteristics as eolian detrital particles. The magnetite can be classified into two categories, high-titaninm and low-titanium, which may be the indicators of magmatic rocks and metamorphic rocks,respectively. TEM investigation at nanometer scale shows that primary detrital magnetite of micron scale had been partially weathered to magnetite of 5-20 nanometer during the pedogenic process, which maintain the pseudomorphism of the aeolian debris. Some chlorite particles were also weathered to nanometer scale magnetite or maghemite in the pedogenic process. So weathering of the two minerals leads to formation of superparamagnetism, which may be the important mechanism of magnelic-susceptibnlty increase in paleosols. The mgnelite or maghhemite resulting from the weathering of chlorite contains a small amount of P and S,which is the signal of microbe-mineral interaction, and indicates that microbes may play a certain role in chlorite weathering and formation of Superparamagnetic particles.     

Recent advances in the study of Mesozoic-Cenozoic petrified wood from Thailand

Mesozoic to Cenozoic petrified woods are very rich and well preserved in the Khorat Plateau, Northeast Thailand, serving as remarkable material for investigations of tropical vegetation history, paleoclimatic evolution, and paleoenvironmental changes. Our recent field survey and investigations have defined about 50 species of fossil wood assigned to 19 genera and 11 families from Mesozoic to Cenozoic deposits in this region. These woods are ascribed to two groups, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Among them, about 20 species assigned to 7 genera and 5 families are the first reports of the taxa in Thailand. The fossil wood floras indicate that during the late Mesozoic period, the tropical conifer vegetation in Northeast Thailand was dominated by the family Araucariaceae. From the Miocene to Pleistocene, a tropical climate prevailed in this region with perhaps both deciduous and evergreen broadleaf forests comprising the vegetation.     

Progress in the study of tectophysicochemistry

Tectophysicochemistry is a research area that deals with the interrelations between physical and chemical changes of crustal materials caused by tectonism. A given tectonic force may be resolved into two parts: homogeneous stress and differential stress. Homogeneous stress refers to isotopic pressure, which is superimposed on the original pressure and affects the equilibrium of various chemical reactions. It is also a factor that influences petrogenesis,metallogenesis and metamorphism. Differential stress is commonly produced when external forces act on a given solid body. It may cause deformation of crustal materials and generate various kinds of structural features. Tectophysicochemistry pays special attention to pressure, temperature and other physicochemical conditions produced or induced by tectonism and studies the influences of additional tectonic parameters on various chemical equilibria, so it gradually develops into an independent area of science.     

The Origin and Evolution of the Animal Fauna in Shaanxi

The animal fauna in shaanxi devleoped from Tertiary Hipparion faunato faunas of south and North Qinlin mountains. The development of theNorth Qinlin Mountain fauna was--→Hipparion Lan Tian Lochi He river-Yan Xin fauna--→Lan Tian Congwan Ling fauna--→Dincun faunatBan     

Evidence of crustal ＇channel flow＇ in the eastern margin of Tibetan Plateau from MT measurements

Magnetotelluric （MT） survey has been carried out in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and its neighboring Shimian-Leshan area, Sichuan Province. Analysis of this MT data reveals that the electric structure of the Tibetan Plateau differ much from that of the Sichuan block. In general, the electric resistivity of crust beneath the Sichuan block in the east is larger than that of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in the west. The crust of the plateau is divided into upper, middle, and lower layers. The middle crust is a low resistivity layer with minimum down to 3-10Ωm about 10-15 km thick. It presumably contains partial melt and/or salt-bearing fluids with low viscosity, prone to deform and flow, producing a ＂channel flow＂ under the southeastward squeeze of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. This low-resistivity layer makes the upper crust decoupled mechanically from the lower crust. In the brittle upper crust, faults are dominated by left-lateral strike-slip and thrust motions, leading to surface rising and shallow earthquakes. The low-resistivity layer also cut the Xianshuihe-Anninghe fault zone into two sections vertically. In this region, the thicknesses of upper, middle, and lower crust vary laterally, producing a transitional zone in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau characterized by thicker crust and higher elevation in the west and thinner crust and lower elevation in the east.     

Aepyosciurinae——a new subfamily of Sciuridae(Rodentia, Mammalia)from basal loess deposits at the northeastern border of Tibetan Plateau

Aepyosciurinae,a new subfamily of Sciurldae,were found at the base of the early Pleistocene loess deposits in dongxiang County,Gansu Province.Its umilaterally hyp-sodont and lophodont cheek teeth are unique among the sciurids so far known all over the world.Certain degree of similarity can be observed between the cheek teeth of the new subfamily and the Anomalurinae living in tropical and subtropical forests in central and western Africa.Aepyosci-uris orientalis gen.et sp.nov.might have lived in montaneous woodland or grassland and lived on harder leaves,harks,or even grass.This tends to show that the northeastern border area of the Tibetan Plateau had been lifted considerably high in early Pleistocene(ca.2 Ma),with drier climate,becoming a suitable habitat for Aepyosciurus orientalis.     

Multi-core structure of the main part of the Kuroshio at G-PN section in the East China Sea

Off the east of Taiwan Island the Kuroshio strides over the Ilan Ridge and flows into the East China Sea, where it encounters the continental break. The Ku-roshio then turns right and flows along the Okinawa Trough, where its main axis does not show obvious swaying. This stream continuously flows eastwards in the southwest of Kyushu, and feeds into sea in the south of Japan. This section of the Kuroshio is named“the East China Sea Kuroshio”. Along the East China Sea Kuroshio, there …     

Heterogeneity of water in UHP eclogites from Bixiling in Dabieshan： Evidence fromgarnet

Garnets in ultrahigh pressure (UHP) eclogites from Bixiling in Dabieshan were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). The results demonstrate that all garnets contain structural water which occurs as hydroxyl (OH), with contents ranging from 164 to 2034 ppm (H2O wt.) and mostly higher than 500 ppm. Like omphacite which is another major OH-rich mineral in eclogites, garnet is an important carrier that can recycle the surface water into deep mantles. Heterogeneity of water in garnets exists not only among different samples of the same outcrop (～150 m), but also among different crystals of the same sample (～1 cm). This indicates that the mobility of fluids during UHP metamorphism is very limited (possibly on centimeter scales), and that both subduction and exhumation processes of UHP rocks are very fast.     

Evidence of Hydrogen Bonding in Chloroform and Polyacrylates from NMR Measurements

IntroductionHydrogen bonding in polymer solutions hasattracted particular attention in recent yearsbecause of its importance in the understanding ofintermolecular interactions,which often affectphysical properties of polymer mixtures[17] .Studies have indicated that hydrogen bondingaffects the phase equilibrium behavior[8] ,e.g.,chloroform shows abnormal thermodynamicproperties in its vapor pressure,as well as in theheat and the volume of mixing with poly( propylene glycol dimethyl ether) [9] …     

Involvement of the crebellum in sequential finger movement learning： Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging

Whether the cerebellum is involved in voluntary motor learning or motor performance is the subject of a new debate. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging （fMRI）, we examined cerebellar activation in eight voluntecrs before and after an extended period of training. Activation volume on both sides of cerebellum after learning was significantly reduced compared to that before learning even under the same motor frequency. Remarkably, while motor frequency for the training sequence was significantly higher than the control sequence after 41 d of learning, activation in the cerebellum for both sequences, with respect to activation loci and volumes, was very similar. These results suggest that the cerebellum was involved in motor learning but not motor performance. Changes of cerebellar activation from training thus appear to be associated with learning but not with improvement on task performance.     

Endocasts—the direct evidence and recent advances in the study of human brain evolution

Brain evolution is one of the most important aspects of human evolution,usually studied through endocasts.Analysis of fossil hominid endocasts allows inferences on functional anatomy,physiology,and phylogeny.In this paper,we describe the general features of endocast studies and review some of the major topics in paleoneurology.These are:absolute and relative brain size evolution;brain shape variation;brain asymmetry and lateralization;middle meningeal vessels and venous sinuses;application of computed tomography and virtual imaging;the history of Chinese brain endocast studies.In particular,this review emphasizes endocast studies on Chinese hominin fossils.     

Endocasts—the direct evidence and recent advances in the study of human brain evolution

Brain evolution is one of the most important aspects of human evolution, usually studied through endocasts. Analysis of fossil hominid endocasts allows inferences on functional anatomy, physiology, and phylogeny. In this paper, we describe the general features of endocast studies and review some of the major topics in paleoneurology. These are: absolute and relative brain size evolution; brain shape variation; brain asymmetry and lateralization; middle meningeal vessels and venous sinuses; application of computed tomography and virtual imaging; the history of Chinese brain endocast studies. In particular, this review emphasizes endocast studies on Chinese hominin fossils.     

Dust storms and loess accumulation on the Tibetan Plateau：A case study of dust event on 4 March 2003 in Lhasa

Whether the Tibetan Plateau is a significant dust source area is of great importance, because this is related to the understanding of sources, accumulation and environmental effects of dusts on the Tibetan Plateau and inthe Far East-Pacific Ocean regions as well as to the evointion of coupling of the Tibetan Plateau and atmaspbere-oeean-continent exchange. Synoptic dynamics and remote sensing tracing of a dust storm on 3 to 5 March, 2003 in Lhasa onSouth Tibet demonstrate that the Tibetan Plateau possessesall factors and conditions of generating dust storms. Accompanied with this dust storm is a strong ascending stream onthe Plateau which has raised various sizes of durst particlesinto different levels. The lifted coarse particles were largelyfallen down and accumulated as loess on the eastern TibetanPlateau, and the fine particles were translated by the westerly jet and subsided in the northern Pacific Ocean. The spa-tial-temporal distribution of dust-storms between years 1961and 2000 ou the Plateau shows that duststorms mainly occurin winter and early spring with high frequency, and tile pathof dust storm moves gradually from south to north, which isclosely coupled with the northward moving of the westerlyjet from winter to spring over the Tibetan Plateau. Com-pared with other twelve dust source areas in China. the Ti-betan Plateau is one of the key dust souree areas for thelong-distance transport because its high occurring frequencyand elevation cause fine particles easily to be lifted into thezone of the westerly jet.     

Oxygen isotopic heterogeneity in the mantle: Evidence from clinopyroxene megacrysts of Nüshan, eastern China

Major element, REE and oxygen isotopic compositions of fourteen clinopyroxene megacrysts from Nushan, eastern China have been obtained. They are believed to represent crystallization products of one mantle-derived alkali basaltic magma. Oxygen isotopic ratios are homogeneous within the same sample, but heterogeneous among different samples, 18O values of these megacrysts are from 4.86‰ to 6.48‰. We suggest that the oxygen isotopic variation of clinopyroxene megacrysts should be inherited from their source magma, and the heterogeneity of source magma results from contamination of subducted oceanic materials.     

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of tuff from the Kunyang Group in central Yunnan： Evidence for Grenvillian orogeny in South China

Whether or not Grenvillian orogeny occurred in South China still remains highly controversial because high-quality,discriminating data are lacking,and therefore,the key to resolve this matter is to find datable volcanic and/or sedimentary rocks related to Grenvillian orogeny. Such rocks are apparently present in the Fuliangpeng Member from the lower-middle part of Kunyang Group in central Yunnan; here the unit is more than 100 m thick and consists of andesitic ignimbrite,tuffite,terrigeous clastic rocks and carbonates. These volcanic rocks,developed south of the Sibao fold-thrust belts,represent the earliest calc-alkaline volcanic activity in late Precambrian time from central Yunnan and are coeval with both a change in sedimentary facies from detritus to carbonates and the beginning of seismite development elsewhere. Two samples for SHRIMP analysis were collected from this volcanic unit. Sample G3-29-2,from the bottom of Fuliangpeng Member,is an ignimbrite,and about 100 zircon crys-tals recovered from it have euhedral shapes and display relatively simple sector zonation under cathodoluminescent (CL) imaging,suggesting a magmatogenic origin. Twenty-five of the zircons were analyzed and a weighed-mean U-Pb age of 1032±9 Ma was obtained. Sample G3-29-3 from uppermost part of Fuliangpeng Member is a tuffite,and many rounded,evidently detrital zircons were recovered. Nine of these zircons were analyzed,and the oldest single-grain U-Pb zircon age is 1938±26 Ma,im-plying that Paleoproterozoic basement developed in Cathaysia. The dating result,combined with the geotectonic research on the Fuliangpeng Member,leads us to conclude that late Mesoproterozoic orogenic volcanic activity occurred in the western part of South China,and that the related collision of Yangtze and Cathaysian cratons was an integral part of the assembly of Rodinia.     

High—resolution records of Holocene from the Shuangchi Maar Lake in Hainan Island

The results of sedimentary characteristics,grain-size,clay mineral,C/N and pollen analysis reveal the evolution history of the Shuangchi Maar Lake of Hainan Island as well as the short-term climate variations in tropical areas.It is testified that the Maar sediment system was sensitive in recording the rapid climate changes in the Holocene.These multidisciplinary results demonstrate that the thermal maximum in the Holocene climate lasted from 7200 to 2700 aBP,with serveral abrupt ephemeral vibrations occurring between 7250-6120aBP and at around 4460,3850 and 2700 aBP.In the late Holocent,particularly at -2700 aBP,a distinct environmental change indicating an important climate transition in the tropical eastern Asia was recorded,probably responding to the enhancement of ENSO phenomena in the Pacific Ocean.In addition,the high-resolution algae record clearly indicates periodical climate fluctuations at 500 a cyclicity during the last 2500 years.     

Chronological record of the Early Mesozoic underplating in the northern margin of North China—U-Pb chronometry of zircons in the Late Mesozoic andesite from Western Liaoning

Cathodoluminescence spectroscopic analysis of zircons in the uppermost sanukites of the early Cretaceous Yixian Forma- tion in Western Liaoning reveals zoning structures of the zircons in the volcanic rocks. LA-ICP-MS chronometry shows that the central part of the zircons is remnant zircon with a U-Pb dating of 254 Ma,which is consistent with the age of the Early Mesozoic underplating granulites,and that the periphery is zircon crystallizing out of the host magma with a U-Pb dating of 116 Ma,which is highly consistent with the Ar-Ar dating of the host volcanic rocks.Compositions of the clinopyroxenes xenocrystals in the sanukites are similar to those of the clinopyroxenes in the underplating granulites,indicating that the granulites accreted to the lower crust in the Early Mesozoic have been reformed and disrupted by the upwelling diapers of the asthenosphere and taken part in formation of the sanukites in the Late Mesozoic.