Evidence of Shock Metamorphism Effects in Allochthonous Breccia Deposits from the Colonia Crater,Sao Paulo,Brazil

The 3.6 km-diameter Colonia impact crater, centred at 2352'03"S and 4642'27"W,?lies 40 km to the south-west of the S?o Paulo city. The structure was formed on the crystalline basement rocks and displays a bowl-shaped with steeper slope near the top that decreases gently toward the centre of the crater. Over recent years were drilled two boreholes inside the crater, which reached a maximum depth of 142 m and 197 m. Geological profile suggests four different lithological associations: 1) unshocked crystalline basement rocks (197 - 140 m);2) fractured/brecciated basement rocks (140 - 110 m);3) polymictic allochthonous breccia deposits (110 - 40 m);and 4) post-impact deposits (40 - 0 m). Petrographic characterisation of the polymictic allochthonous breccia reveals a series of distinctive shock-metamorphic features, including, among others, planar deformation features in quartz, feldspar and mica, ballen silica, granular texture in zircon and melt-bearing impact rocks. The occurrence of melt particles and very high-pressure phase transformation in suevite breccia suggest a shock pressure regime higher than 60 GPa.

A method of quantitatively calculating amount of allochthonous organic carbon in lake sediments

TOTAL organic matter(TOM) or total organic carbon(TOC) is often treated as an importantindicator of lake environment. As a matter of fact, TOC is of multi-origin, and can simply bedivided into two parts: autochthonous and allochthonous organic carbon. The autochthonousorganic carbon is mainly controlled by the production of the plankton of lake itse1f; and the al-lochthonous one by climate and environment in the catchment area, e. g. more precipitationand runoff and densely developed vegetation will give rise to more allochthonous organic com-

Dissolved Organic Matter Features of Three Adjacent Eastern Mediterranean Urbanized Watersheds

Landscape urbanization broadly affects ecosystems in coastal watersheds, but, until now, the influence of nonpoint source urban inputs on dissolved organic matter (DOM) amount, composition, and source is poorly understood. To understand how DOM composition varied with urbanization, fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) were determined for urban and non-urban waters from upstream to downstream sites along three adjacent coastal watersheds that flow into the Mediterranean Sea. Two humic DOM fluorescent components (humic-like and fulvic-like peaks) and two proteinic components (tyrosine-like and tryptophane-like peaks) were identified by EEM fluorescence. The results indicated that urbanization had an important influence on DOM concentration and composition, with urban waters having a high degree of DOM variation due to different land uses surrounding each body of water. Urban waters show a higher DOM fluorescence index (FI), the highest fluorescence intensity of protein-like manifested also by BIX values, and a lower value of the humification index (HIX) than non-urban waters which were dominated by allochthonous inputs. In addition, the EEM was compared in dry and wet season where higher DOM amounts and FI appeared in summer due to autochthonous production coming from algae growth compared to allochthonous input from rainfall dominated in wet season. The concentration of DOC increased from upstream to downstream for the three rivers, especially Beirut River. The increase in DOC values was observed in both dry and wet seasons by 39 and 19 times respectively compared to upstream (0.93 - 0.91 mgC/L).

The importance of terrestrial carbon in supporting molluscs in the wetlands of Poyang Lake

Allochthonous organic matter plays an important role in nutrient cycling and energy mobilization in freshwater ecosystems. However, the subsidies of this carbon source in floodplain ecosystems have not yet well understood. We used a Bayesian mixing model and stable isotopes （613C and 815N） of primary food resources and dominant molluscs species, to estimate the relative importance of allochthonous carbon sources for consumers in a representative sub-lake of Poyang Lake during a prolonged dry season. Our study inferred that terrestrial-derived carbon from Carex spp. could be the primary contributor to snails and mussels in Dahuchi Lake. The mean percentage of allochthonous food resources accounted for 35%- 50% of the C incorporated by these consumers. Seston was another important energy sources for benthic consumers. However, during the winter and low water-level period, benthic algae and submerged vegetation contributed less carbon to benthic consumers. Our data highlighted the importance of terrestrial organic carbon to benthic consumers in the wetlands of Poyang Lake during the prolonged dry period. Further, our results provided a perspective that linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems might be facilitated by wintering geese via their droppings.

Mixed Carbonate-Siliciclastic Deposits in a Channel Complex in the Northern South China Sea

New high-resolution 3D seismic data image a submarine channel complex in the northern slope of the South China Sea. The channel complex stretches hundreds of kilometers across the slope and flows into the deepsea from the siliciclastic shelf margin, linking neritic environment to the pelagic plain. The evolution of the channel complex developed two sedimentary stages, stage Ⅰ （19.1-18.5 Ma） and stage Ⅱ （18.5-17.5 Ma）, separated by erosional surfaces. In the first stage, the complex was rifled with pure siliciclastic sediments, forming thick-massive sandstone intercalated by thin layers of mudstone. During the stage Ⅱ, the channel complex was deposited five carbonate-siliciclastic cycles. The unexpected channel-fifl carbonate deposits present allochthonous characteristics, suggesting the siliciclastic channel was surprisingly used to transport carbonate sediment from the adjacent neritic carbonate platform. By analyzing the periodical carbonate sedimentary process in the siliciclastic channel complex, we infer that it was related to the in situ carbonate production of the neritic carbonate platform and was most likely to be controlled by the relative sea-level changes. Unlike line-source carbonate slope aprons or smafl-sized carbonate channels, the large-sized siliciclastic channel complex links directly neritic carbonate platform to deepwater basin and can transport large volumes of neritic carbonates to the pelagic environment in a short period. The new findings help to estimate the contributions of neritie siliciclastic shelf and carbonate platform to deepwater slope more accurately. This study suggests that channel systems are more complex than expected and have significant implications on the conceptual models describing the deepwater sedimentary theory.

Observation and implication of the paleo-cave sediments in Ordovician strata of Well Lundong-1 in the Tarim Basin

Well Lundong-1 is located in the periclinal area on the eastern flank of the Tahe-Lunnan paleo-uplift in the Tarim Basin. A 25-m-high cave fill sequence was observed in the Upper Ordovician interval of the well at 6800-6825m. A third cut of cores was obtained from the top of the cave. The following conclusions were obtained by studying the cave sediments and depositional sequence, and by undertaking paleontological and elemental geochemistry analyses. 1. The cave sediments contain abundant brachiopod, gastropod, echinoderm, ostracod, and acritach fossils, which can be classified into two groups: cave autochthonous and cave allochthonous fossils (from collapse breccia dissolution or transportation by underflow). The fossils indicate that the cave was formed before the Carboniferous and partly-filled and buried during Carboniferous resubsidence. 2. Elemental geochemistry shows that the mud that filled the cave is sourced from calcareous paleo-soil and weathered crust that came from a salty environment with poor water circulation. 3. The formation and evolution of the cave occurred in three stages. The first stage occurred after the deposition of the Late Ordovician Lianglitage Formation, the second stage took place after the deposition of the Late Ordovician Sangtamu Formation, and the last stage happened after Silurian deposition. Major dissolution occurred in the latter two stages as a result of bedding-confined deep underflow karstification. Based on the reconstruction of the cave formation history, favorable paleokarst targets can be predicted and estimated to aid paleogeography and paleokarstology studies.

Guadalupian (Middle Permian) Radiolarian and Sponge Spicule Faunas from the Bancheng Formation of the Qinzhou Allochthon,South China

The Gujingling （古井岭） Section in Xiaodong （小董）, Guangxi （广西） Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, consists of cherts and siliceous siltstones, which belongs to the Bancheng （板城）Formation of the Qinzhou （钦州） allochthon. Three successive radiolarian assemblage-zones related to the Guadalupian （Middle Permian） appear in the section in the following ascending order： Pseudoalbaillella sp. aff. Pseudoaibailleila longicornis-Pseudoalbaillella fusiformis, Follicucuilus monacanthus, and Follicucuilus scholasticus-Foilicucullus porrectus. The radiolarian content in this section is generally greater than that of sponge spicules. The radiolarian fauna commonly consists of abundant Albaillellaria and spherical radiolaria with minor Latentifistularia and Entactinaria. The sponge fauna is composed mainly of hexactinellids with minor demosponges. These siliceous fossil faunal features, comparable with those in a deep basin of the western belt of the Phosphoria Basin in the western United States, indicate that the Bancheng Formation in the Gujingling Section was deposited in a basin deeper than 1 000 m. The siliceous siltstones in the section are characterized by inclusion of silt-sized quartz and no inclusion of sand-sized materials, suggesting that the Gujingling Section was located at least a few hundred kilometers from the South China Block in the Guadalupian.

Antimicrobial impacts of selected Lamiaceae plants on bacteria isolated from vegetables and their application in edible films

Fresh vegetables can be contaminated with spoilage and food-borne pathogenic bacteria during cultivation,harvesting,transport and further processing.The essential oils seem a promising solution for preserving vegetables incorporated in edible films.During the study it was determined the prevalence of allochthonous bacteria on some fresh vegetables with classical cultivation and molecular biology techniques.The evaluation of the antibacterial effect of Thymus vulgaris,Origanum vulgare,Mentha piperita and Melissa officinalis essential oils against identified bacteria from vegetables and on some standard foodborne pathogenic bacteria was realized with agar diffusion method.The prevalence of allochthonous bacteria in the examined vegetables was diverse.In some cases,high contamination level could be detected reaching the level of 104 colony forming units/g.The identified bacteria belong to different genera like Bacillus,Enterobacter,Pseudomonas etc.Of the tested plant essential oils,the most pronounced antibacterial effect was detected in the case of thyme and oregano,with over 30 mm inhibition zone.The isolated bacteria from vegetables showed higher resistance to the used essential oils.The results suggest that edible films containing thyme and oregano essential oils possess efficient antibacterial effect against mesophilic aerobic bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus.These findings seem a promising solution for preserving vegetables with natural antimicrobial containing edible films.