Distribution and Accumulation of Mercury in Sediments of Kaohsiung River Mouth, Taiwan

AbstractThis study was conducted using the data collected in May 2009 to investigate and analyze mercury (Hg) contained in the surface sediments, and to evaluate the accumulation of Hg and the degree of its potential risk. The results show that samples collected at all monitoring stations near the mouth of Kaohsiung River contain 0.15–1.15mg kg-1of Hg with average of 0.68±0.30mg kg-1. The spatial distribution of Hg reveals that the Hg concentration is relatively high in the river mouth region, and gradually diminishes toward the harbor region. This indicates that upstream industrial and municipal wastewater discharges along the river bank are major sources of pollution. The accumulation factor and potential ecological risk index indicate that the sedimentation at Kaohsiung River mouth has the most serious degree of Hg accumulation and the highest ecological potential risk. Therefore, a strategy for effective controlling and managing Kaohsiung River upstream pollution needs to be immediately implemented in order to improve the sediment quality and alleviate the ecological risk

Copper Contamination in the Sediments of Salt River Mouth, Taiwan

AbstractThis study was conducted using the data collected at the mouth of Salt River to investigate and analyze copper (Cu) contained in the sediments, and to evaluate the accumulation of Cu and the degree of its potential risk. The results show that samples collected at all monitoring stations near the mouth of Salt River contain 286–895mg/kg of Cu with average of 501±243mg/kg. The spatial distribution of Cu reveals that the Cu concentration is relatively high in the river mouth region, and gradually diminishes toward the harbor region. This indicates that upstream industrial and municipal wastewater discharges along the river bank are major sources of pollution. The accumulation factor and potential ecological risk index indicate that the sedimentation at Salt River mouth has the most serious degree of Cu accumulation and the highest ecological potential risk

Shoshonitic enclaves in the high Sr/Y Nyemo pluton, southern Tibet: Implications for Oligocene magma mixing and the onset of extension of the southern Lhasa terrane

Post-collisional potassic and high Sr/Y magmatism in the Lhasa terrane provides critical constraints on the timing and mechanism of subduction of Indian lithosphere and its role in the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we report whole-rock geochemistry, mineral geochemistry, zircon U Pb ages, and in situ zircon Hf isotope ratios for the Nyemo pluton, a representative example of such magmatism. The Nyemo pluton is composed of high Sr/Y host rocks and coeval shoshonitic mafic microgranular enclaves (MMEs). Whole-rock compositions of the host rocks and MMEs form linear trends in Harker diagrams, consistent with modification of both end-members by magma mixing. Although the main high Sr/Y phase of the pluton formed by partial melting of the lower crust of the thickened Lhasa terrane, the MMEs display abnormally enriched light rare earth elements, low whole-rock ε_(Nd)(t) and low zircon ε_(Hf)(t) that suggest derivation from low degree melting of hydrous and enriched mantle. Based on the occurrence of shoshonitic magma and high La/Yb and high Sr/Y with adakitic affinity host rocks around 30 Ma, the Nyemo pluton is best explained as a record of onset of extension that resulted from convective removal of the mantle lithosphere beneath Tibet in the Oligocene

Middle-Late Jurassic magmatism in the west central Lhasa subterrane, Tibet: Petrology, zircon chronology, elemental and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf-Mg isotopic geochemistry

Mesozoic magmatic rocks are widespread in the Lhasa terrane, but most of them are of cretaceous age. Because Jurassic rocks are relatively rare and our knowledge on such earlier magmatism in the context of the tectonic setting and evolution is limited. In this study, we focus on the mid-late Jurassic granitoids that occur in the west central Lhasa subterrane. We present the results of a systematic study of these granitoid rocks of tonalite composition together with the hosted mafic magmatic enclaves. We dated 4 representative tonalite samples and 2 enclaves using zircon U-Pb method that gives the age range of 167–154 Ma. All these samples have Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr = 0.713941–0.718417, εNd(t) = −14 to −9.8, 206Pb/204Pb = 18.806–18.936, 207Pb/204Pb = 15.739–15.764, 208Pb/204Pb = 39.257–39.798) similar to the composition of gneisses from the basement of the Lhasa terrane, suggesting that magmas parental to these mid-late Jurassic granitoids of tonalitic composition are of largely crustal origin, which is also supported by the petrographic observations. Both of the tonalite samples and the mafic enclaves have a wide span of zircon εHf(t) of −15.9 to −0.2 and − 13.8 to −7.4, respectively. These samples also show varying δ26Mg ranging from −0.40 to −0.18, with an average δ26Mg = −0.27 ± 0.06‰ (2SD) that is best understood as representing the Mg composition of the continental crust of the Lhasa terrane. All these observations allow us to conclude that basaltic melts derived from metasomatized mantle were involved in the petrogenesis of these granitoids. Specifically, southward subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean lithosphere and subsequent slab rollback metasomatized the mantle wedge and the lithospheric mantle above, whose melting produced basaltic magmas. Underplating and intrusion of these basaltic magmas caused crustal melting and generation of granitoid magmas parental to the tonalite and enclaves we study

Geochemistry, detrital zircon geochronology and Hf isotope of the clastic rocks in southern Tibet: implications for the Jurassic-Cretaceous tectonic evolution of the Lhasa terrane

In order to reconstruct tectonic evolution history of the southern margin of Asia (i.e., Lhasa terrane) before the India-Asia collision, here we present a comprehensive study on the clastic rocks in the southern Lhasa terrane with new perspectives from sedimentary geochemistry, detrital zircon geochronology and Hf isotope. Clasts from the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous sedimentary sequences (i.e., Yeba and Chumulong Formations) display high compositional maturity and experienced moderate to high degree of chemical weathering, whereas those from the late Early-Late Cretaceous sequences (Ngamring and Shexing Formations) are characterized by low compositional maturity with insignificant chemical weathering. Our results lead to a coherent scenario for the evolution history of the Lhasa terrane. During the Early-Middle Jurassic (∼192-168Ma), the Lhasa terrane was speculated to be an isolated geological block. The Yeba Formation is best understood as being deposited in a back-arc basin induced by northward subduction of the Neo-Tethys ocean with sediments coming from the interiors of the Lhasa terrane. The Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Lhasa-Qiangtang collision resulted in the formation of a composite foreland basin with southward-flowing rivers carrying clastic materials from the uplifted northern Lhasa and/or Qiangtang terranes. During the late Early-Late Cretaceous (∼104-72Ma), the Gangdese magmatic arc was uplifted rapidly above the sea level, forming turbidites (Ngamring Formation) in the Xigaze forearc basin and fluvial red beds (Shexing Formation) on the retro-arc side. At the end of Late Cretaceous, the Lhasa terrane was likely to have been uplifted to high elevation forming an Andean-type margin resembling the modern South America before the India-Asia collision

Petrogenesis of Himalayan leucogranites: Perspective from a Combined Elemental and Fe‐Sr‐Nd isotope study

The petrogenesis of Himalayan leucogranites remains crucial for understanding the thermal and tectonic evolution of the Himalayan orogen. To understand whether they are largely pristine melts of crustal anatexis or have experienced a high degree of fractional crystallization (FC), we present Fe isotopic data of 30 representative Himalayan leucogranites and 9 local metasedimentary rocks. Excepting three garnet leucogranites with low δ56Fe (−0.04‰–0.06‰) that are likely affected by garnet accumulation, tourmaline, and two-mica leucogranites have largely homogeneous δ56Fe from 0.13‰ to 0.24‰ irrespective of their highly variable SiO2, MgO, and FeOt contents. Combined with observed mineral assemblages and available fractionation factors, this does not support a high degree of FC (with or without assimilation) in their petrogenesis. The elevated δ56Fe relative to the supposed source rocks, represented by metasedimentary rocks and/or metabasite with a δ56Fe value of 0.10‰, by ∼0.07‰, may reflect Fe isotope fractionation during crustal anatexis. This study indicates most leucogranites can provide robust constraints on the conditions of crustal anatexis and thus the thermal and tectonic evolution of the Himalayan orogen

Eocene magmatic processes and crustal thickening in southern Tibet : insights from strongly fractionated ca. 43 Ma granites in the western Gangdese Batholith

This research was financially co-supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB03010301), the National Key Project for Basic Research of China (Project 2015CB452604), the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (41225006, 41472061, and 40973026), the MOST Special Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources (China University of Geosciences). The first author thanks the China Scholarship Council (201306400021).This study reports zircon U-Pb age and Hf isotope, whole-rock major and trace element, and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope data for the Dajia pluton, western Gangdese Batholith, in southern Tibet. These data indicate that the pluton consists of moderately (Group 1) and strongly (Group 2) fractionated granites that were emplaced synchronously at ca. 43 Ma. The Group 1 samples have SiO2 contents of 69−72 wt.% and vary in terms of the differentiation index (DI = 84−93). These rocks are depleted in Ba, Nb, Sr, P, and Ti, with moderate negative Eu anomalies, and display low heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) and Y abundances. The Group 2 samples are characterized by high SiO2 (75−78 wt.%) and DI (95−97); significantly negative Eu anomalies; marked concave-upward middle REE (Gd-Ho) patterns; and Ba, Sr, P, and Ti anomalies that are significantly more negative than those of the Group 1 samples. The Group 1 samples have whole-rock εNd(t) (-5.9 to -6.0), εHf(t) (-4.0 to -4.5), and zircon εHf(t) (-6.0 to + 5.8) values identical to those of the Group 2 samples [εNd(t) = -5.7 to -6.7, εHf(t) = -3.5 to -2.9, and zircon εHf(t) = -2.0 to + 4.2], as well as similar initial Pb isotopic compositions. These data indicate that the two groups were derived from a common source region with garnet as a residual mineral phase. The Group 1 samples were most likely derived from partial melting of garnet-bearing amphibolite (rather than eclogite) within the juvenile southern Lhasa crust and mixed with the enriched components from the subducting ancient Indian continental crust and/or the ancient central Lhasa basement. The Group 2 samples are interpreted as the products of extensive fractional crystallization (plagioclase, K-feldspar, biotite, apatite, allanite, titanite, monazite, and ilmenite) of the melts represented by the Group 1 samples. Low HREEs and Y abundances of the Dajia pluton, together with the presence of strongly fractionated granites (Group 2) identified for the first time in the Gangdese Batholith, indicate that the crust beneath the Dajia region had already been thickened by ca. 43 Ma. High whole-rock zircon saturation temperatures (815°C−869°C) of the Group 1 samples and the other ca. 43 Ma coeval magmatism documented both in the Gangdese Batholith and in the Tethyan Himalaya can be best interpreted as the final consequences of the magmatic responses to the Neo-Tethyan oceanic slab breakoff.PostprintPeer reviewe

Graphene oxide incorporated polysulfone substrate for flat sheet thin film nanocomposite pressure retarded osmosis membrane

This study focuses on the development of flat sheet thin film nanocomposite (TFN) pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) membranes for the enhancement of osmotic power generation by the incorporation of laboratory-synthesised graphene oxide (GO) into the polysulfone (PSf) polymer matrix. A series of membranes containing different weight percent of GO (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 wt%) were fabricated via a phase inversion method with polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the pore forming agent. The results show that the TFN-0.25GO membrane has excellent water flux, salt reverse flux, high porosity and an enhanced microvoids morphology compared to the control membrane. The highest power density was achieved when TFN-0.25GO was used is 8.36 Wm−2 at pressure >15 bar. It was found that the incorporation of GO into the polymer matrix has significantly improved the intrinsic and mechanical properties of the membrane

Studies on the antidiabetic activities of cordyceps militaris extract in diet-streptozotocininduced diabetic sprague-dawley rats,”

Due to substantial morbidity and high complications, diabetes mellitus is considered as the third "killer" in the world. A search for alternative antidiabetic drugs from herbs or fungi is highly demanded. Our present study aims to investigate the antidiabetic activities of Cordyceps militaris on diet-streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus in rats. Diabetic rats were orally administered with water extract or alcohol extract at 0.05 g/kg and 2 g/kg for 3 weeks, and then, the factors levels related to blood glucose, lipid, free radicals, and even nephropathy were determined. Pathological alterations on liver and kidney were examined. Data showed that, similar to metformin, Cordyceps militaris extracts displayed a significant reduction in blood glucose levels by promoting glucose metabolism and strongly suppressed total cholesterol and triglycerides concentration in serum. Cordyceps militaris extracts exhibit antioxidative effects indicated by normalized superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase levels. The inhibitory effects on blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, uric acid, and protein revealed the protection of Cordyceps militaris extracts against diabetic nephropathy, which was confirmed by pathological morphology reversion. Collectively, Cordyceps militaris extract, a safe pharmaceutical agent, presents excellent antidiabetic and antinephropathic activities and thus has great potential as a new source for diabetes treatment