Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data

The Cenozoic collision between the Indian and Asian continents formed the Tibetan plateau, beginning about 70 million years ago. Since this time, at least 1,400 km of convergence has been accommodated by a combination of underthrusting of Indian and Asian lithosphere, crustal shortening, horizontal extrusion and lithospheric delamination. Rocks exposed in the Himalaya show evidence of crustal melting and are thought to have been exhumed by rapid erosion and climatically forced crustal flow. Magnetotelluric data can be used to image subsurface electrical resistivity, a parameter sensitive to the presence of interconnected fluids in the host rock matrix, even at low volume fractions. Here we present magnetotelluric data from the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen from 77 degrees E to 92 degrees E, which show that low resistivity, interpreted as a partially molten layer, is present along at least 1,000 km of the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau. The inferred low viscosity of this layer is consistent with the development of climatically forced crustal flow in Southern Tibet.     

Detectable clonal mosaicism from birth to old age and its relationship to cancer

We detected clonal mosaicism for large chromosomal anomalies (duplications, deletions and uniparental disomy) using SNP microarray data from over 50,000 subjects recruited for genome-wide association studies. This detection method requires a relatively high frequency of cells with the same abnormal karyotype (>5-10%; presumably of clonal origin) in the presence of normal cells. The frequency of detectable clonal mosaicism in peripheral blood is low (<0.5%) from birth until 50 years of age, after which it rapidly rises to 2-3% in the elderly. Many of the mosaic anomalies are characteristic of those found in hematological cancers and identify common deleted regions with genes previously associated with these cancers. Although only 3% of subjects with detectable clonal mosaicism had any record of hematological cancer before DNA sampling, those without a previous diagnosis have an estimated tenfold higher risk of a subsequent hematological cancer (95% confidence interval = 6-18).     

Different life histories of brook trout populations invading mid-elevation and high-elevation cutthroat trout streams in Colorado

Brook Trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ), native to eastern North America, have invaded many montane cold-water systems of western North America, and these invasions are implicated in the decline of native cutthroat trout ( Oncorhynchus clarki ). If fisheries biologists are to be effective in managing brook trout invasions, demographic models that predict invasion success will need to incorporate life history variation in different environments. We tested whether brook trout populations invading streams at 2 different elevations varied in life history characteristics that influence population dynamics and potential invasion success. In the high-elevation stream (3195 m), water temperatures were colder and brook trout apparently grew more slowly (i.e., had shorter lengths-at-age), became sexually mature 2 years later, and had life spans 2 to 3 times longer than those in the mid-elevation stream (2683 m). This flexibility in life history may allow brook trout to maximize their chance of establishment and invasion success among elevations. We propose that in mid-elevation streams fast growth and early maturity maximize fitness and can lead to rapid establishment and high population growth rates. In high-elevation streams, slow growth, later maturity, and a long reproductive life span may allow brook trout to successfully establish populations in these marginal habitats where recruitment is often poor.     

Les propriétés mécaniques du caoutchouc

Summary A survey of recent work on the theories of the peculiar mechanical behaviour of substances with rubber-like properties is given. All the theories are based on the assumption that these substances (including rubber itself) are composed of very long, flexible chainmolecules. Any segment of a chain is linked to two neighbouring segments by bonds similar to those which are present in typical solids and to all other neighbours by linkages like the bonds prevailing between the particles of liquids. The chain molecules are intermingled so as to form a kind of a felt.This state of aggregation is intermediate between the solid and the liquid; it is called the rubber-like state (état gommoïdal). Elasticity, viscosity and plastic flow as well as the influence of crystallization, vulcanization and degradation are discussed in terms of this theory.     

Dealing with the Ghost: Phantasmagorical Apparitions of Bertolt Brecht

Taken together, the commentaries by Sigrid Merx and Tom Paulus suggest a remarkable dialectical relationship with regard to our article “Performing Phenomenology: Negotiating Presence in Intermedial Theatre”. On the one side a lack of elaborated political consciousness is being detected, while on the other side an alleged surplus of political consciousness is being criticized. Although apparently contradictory, these reactions seem to originate in the same ideological stress: both are somehow haunted by the legacy of Bertolt Brecht and the ideology of the image implicit in critical theory. We argue that the tension between illusion and deconstruction indeed is crucial to the history of the mediatized image, but that it should be taken to a deeper level where it not only remains unsolved but where it forms the heart of the experience. The user knows very well that she is being fooled and, moreover, generously lets herself being fooled. We historicize this fundamental ambivalence with a short excursion in pre-cinematic, pre-Brechtian times. Throughout the nineteenth and the twentieth century, periodic shifts between illusion and its suspension indicates the emergence of what we, in the digital era, might refer to as a ‘meta-realism’, an imagery that incorporates its own critique inside itself. If this analysis holds true, we eventually have to reformulate the stakes of deconstruction and push critical theory beyond its own borders.     

A new atmospherically relevant oxidant of sulphur dioxide

Atmospheric oxidation is a key phenomenon that connects atmospheric chemistry with globally challenging environmental issues, such as climate change, stratospheric ozone loss, acidification of soils and water, and health effects of air quality. Ozone, the hydroxyl radical and the nitrate radical are generally considered to be the dominant oxidants that initiate the removal of trace gases, including pollutants, from the atmosphere. Here we present atmospheric observations from a boreal forest region in Finland, supported by laboratory experiments and theoretical considerations, that allow us to identify another compound, probably a stabilized Criegee intermediate (a carbonyl oxide with two free-radical sites) or its derivative, which has a significant capacity to oxidize sulphur dioxide and potentially other trace gases. This compound probably enhances the reactivity of the atmosphere, particularly with regard to the production of sulphuric acid, and consequently atmospheric aerosol formation. Our findings suggest that this new atmospherically relevant oxidation route is important relative to oxidation by the hydroxyl radical, at least at moderate concentrations of that radical. We also find that the oxidation chemistry of this compound seems to be tightly linked to the presence of alkenes of biogenic origin.     

室温下水-花岗岩作用时液相组分的演化

使用批反应器实验研究21℃时花岗岩与蒸馏水的作用来探讨水-岩作用以及液相随作用时间的地球化学演化。粒度为1～2mm，O．5～1mm和0．2～0．5mm的花岗岩样品各150g和750ml纯水加入用聚丙烯做成的3个批反应器中进行反应试验。试验过程中用电动马达连续转动反应器。试验时间为60d。结果表明，液相主要是Ca-(K)-HCO3型水或K-(Ca)-HCO3型水。K^ 主要来自钾长石的溶解，Ca^2 主要与斜长石中钙长石组分的溶解有关。K^ 很容易从含K^ 的原生矿物中被释放出来，同时K^ 也容易从水中析出形成次生矿物。水中“Ca过剩”可以很好地用斜长石的不一致性溶解反应来解释，钙长石和钠长石悬殊的溶解度差异也是水中“Ca过剩”可能的原因之一。实验结果与用表面反应控制速率模式的解释及Na^ 和H^ 的表面竞争交换相一致。