PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

200,000-year environmental history of continental shelf based on a deep-sea core from Okinawa Trough

2013-09-26
(Press-News.org) A new research paper shows that a great number of nearby terrigenous pollen and charcoal have been found from the deep-sea sediments of the last 200 kyrs in Okinawa Trough. It is tesitfied that the continental shelf of the East China Sea was exposed and covered with the huge wetland and grassland ecosystems during the the last two glacial periods. They discovered that the variation of terrestrial sources is concordent with global glacial volume and sea-level changes at orbital-scale since 200 kyrs before present. Their work, entitled "A ~200 ka pollen record from Okinawa Trough: Paleoenvironment reconstruction of glacial-interglacial cycles", was published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences.2013, Vol 56 (doi: 10.1007/s11430-013-4619-0)

This research work concerns mainly the Quaternary environment and global chages based on pollen analysis from a deep-sea core in Okinawa Trough. The project was directed by Department of Earth Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, with colaboration of University Claude Bernard-Lyon 1 and Laboratory of Climate and Environment Sciences in Gif-sur-Yvette. The first author is professor ZHENG Zhuo from Sun Yat-sen University. Their research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 40772113, 41072128).

The discoreries show that terrestrial-source materials vary greatly during the transition of glacial and interglacial periods, proving the sensitive response on the global ice volume and sea-level changes. This deep-sea record has firstly documented high percentage of sedge, grass and many freshwater algaes in the glacial interval, which indicates that the offshore distance of Okinawa Trough has obviously shortened due to the exposed continental shelf during the glacial stages. The vegetation on the exposed continental shelf was dominated by intrazonal communities such as halophyte grasslands and freshwater wetlands. New evidence demonstrated that the fundamental changes of sediment sources in Okinawa Trough since ~200 ka BP were affected by combine factors including the offshore coastline distance, monsoon variability and sea-level changes.

This new research provides an oldest record of Quaternry environment reconstruction so far in the Okinawa Trough. It has a great scientific significance on highlighting the evolution history of continental shelf extension, the tracing of the sediment source areas of the Okinawa Trough and global climate changes since the last 200 kyrs.



INFORMATION:

See the article: Zheng Z, Huang K Y, Deng Y, Cao L L, Yu S H, Suc J P, Berne S, Guichard F., A ~200 ka pollen record from Okinawa Trough: Paleoenvironment reconstruction of glacial-interglacial cycles. SCI CHINA Earth Sci, 2013 Vol. 56 (doi: 10.1007/s11430-013-4619-0)

http://earth.scichina.com:8080/sciDe/EN/abstract/abstract511107.shtml#

Science China Press Co., Ltd. (SCP) is a scientific journal publishing company of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). For 50 years, SCP takes its mission to present to the world the best achievements by Chinese scientists on various fields of natural sciences researches.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UTSW study unlocks origin of brown fat cells important in weight maintenance

2013-09-26
DALLAS – Sept. 26, 2013 – In ongoing research aimed at battling obesity, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have deciphered how new fat cells are formed in energy-storing fat pads. In particular, researchers sought to find out the origin of "brown" fat cells and whether humans can make more of them in order to burn extra calories – a finding that could have significant impact in battling obesity and related diseases. "Much of the current excitement in the obesity field stems from recent observations highlighting that, even as adults, we have the ability to generate ...

New genus of electric fish discovered in 'lost world' of South America

2013-09-25
A previously unknown genus of electric fish has been identified in a remote region of South America by a team of international researchers including University of Toronto Scarborough professor Nathan Lovejoy. The Akawaio penak, a thin, eel-like electric fish, was discovered in the shallow, murky waters of the upper Mazaruni River is northern Guyana. Lovejoy's team at UTSC analyzed tissue samples collected during a recent expedition by a researchers led by Hernán López-Fernández at the Royal Ontario Museum. By sequencing its DNA and reconstructing an evolutionary tree, ...

Epigenetic changes observed in blood may point to early stages in Parkinson disease

2013-09-25
Parkinson disease, a neurodegenerative disorder in which both genetic and environmental factors play important roles, has been associated with epigenetic changes (those molecular modifications that alter the behavior of genes without changing the DNA sequence). Because accurate diagnosis is not easy for this disease, scientists are continuously trying to identify early signs of the disease that enable treatment before major neurological damage occurs. In an article published in the October issue of Epigenetics, those epigenetic changes appear to be great candidates as early ...

Deep sea ecosystem may take decades to recover from Deepwater Horizon spill

2013-09-25
The deep-sea soft-sediment ecosystem in the immediate area of the 2010's Deepwater Horizon well head blowout and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will likely take decades to recover from the spill's impacts, according to a scientific paper reported in the online scientific journal PLoS One. The paper is the first to give comprehensive results of the spill's effect on deep-water communities at the base of the Gulf's food chain, in its soft-bottom muddy habitats, specifically looking at biological composition and chemicals at the same time at the same location. "This ...

Tweets reveal news readership patterns around the world

2013-09-25
Los Angeles, CA (September 25, 2013) For many international news followers, having a cup of coffee while reading the morning newspaper has turned into scrolling a Twitter feed to catch up on important news as it happens throughout the day. In a new article published in SAGE Open, researchers used data collected from Twitter to study readers' news preferences across the globe and discovered that different countries have stronger preference towards different types of articles – American and British readers are more drawn to opinion and world news, Spaniards to local and ...

Flame retardants in blood drop after state ban

2013-09-25
A class of flame retardants that has been linked to learning difficulties in children has rapidly declined in pregnant women’s blood since the chemicals were banned in California a decade ago, according to a study led by researchers at UC San Francisco. Blood levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), tested in patients at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center fell by two-thirds since they were last tested three years ago and found to be the highest levels reported among pregnant women anywhere in the world. The findings were ...

China's synthetic gas plants would be greenhouse giants

2013-09-25
DURHAM, N.C. -- Coal-powered synthetic natural gas plants being planned in China would produce seven times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional natural gas plants, and use up to 100 times the water as shale gas production, according to a new study by Duke University researchers. These environmental costs have been largely neglected in the drive to meet the nation's growing energy needs, the researchers say, and might lock China on an irreversible and unsustainable path for decades to come. "Using coal to make natural gas may be good for China's energy security, ...

Unstable chromosomes linked to less favorable response to RT and surgery in prostate cancer patients

2013-09-25
Atlanta, September 25, 2013 -- Detailed evaluation of a prostate cancer tumor biopsy may predict treatment outcomes for image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) or surgery for prostate cancer, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The study results indicate that patients who have abnormal levels of breaks at common fragile sites (CFSs), sites within the chromosomes that are sensitive to DNA damage, are more likely to have their cancer to return -- treatment failure. These CFS break abnormalities ...

Tiny camera records details of scene without losing sight of the big picture

2013-09-25
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2013—To capture all the details of a crime scene, you might take many photos at close range. To get the whole scene at once, you could use a wide-angle or fisheye lens; but without an especially large lens you would be sacrificing the fine resolution that would help you catch that partial footprint you might otherwise have missed. Now a new type of miniature camera system promises to give users a big picture view without sacrificing high-resolution. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego will describe their novel device at The Optical ...

When the going gets tough, the materialistic go shopping

2013-09-25
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Materialistic people experience more stress from traumatic events such as terrorist attacks and are more likely to spend compulsively as a result, according to an international study led by a Michigan State University business professor. These possession-driven folks tend to have lower self-esteem than others, said Ayalla Ruvio, MSU assistant professor of marketing. "When the going gets tough, the materialistic go shopping," said Ruvio. "And this compulsive and impulsive spending is likely to produce even greater stress and lower well-being. Essentially, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] 200,000-year environmental history of continental shelf based on a deep-sea core from Okinawa Trough