Climate warming, euxinia and carbon isotope perturbations during the Carnian (Triassic) Crisis in South China

The Carnian Humid Episode (CHE), also known as the Carnian Pluvial Event, and associated biotic changes are major enigmas of the Mesozoic record in western Tethys. We show that the CHE also occurred in eastern Tethys (South China), suggestive of a much more widespread and probably global climate perturbation. Oxygen isotope records from conodont apatite indicate a double-pulse warming event. The CHE coincided with an initial warming of 4 °C. This was followed by a transient cooling period and then a prolonged ~7 °C warming in the later Carnian (Tuvalian 2). Carbon isotope perturbations associated with the CHE of western Tethys occurred contemporaneously in South China, and mark the start of a prolonged period of carbon cycle instability that persisted until the late Carnian. The dry-wet transition during the CHE coincides with the negative carbon isotope excursion and the temperature rise, pointing to an intensification of hydrologic cycle activities due to climatic warming. While carbonate platform shutdown in western Tethys is associated with an influx of siliciclastic sediment, the eastern Tethyan carbonate platforms are overlain by deep-water anoxic facies. The transition from oxygenated to euxinic facies was via a condensed, manganiferous carbonate (MnO content up to 15.1 wt%), that records an intense Mn shuttle operating in the basin. Significant siliciclastic influx in South China only occurred after the CHE climatic changes and was probably due to foreland basin development at the onset of the Indosinian Orogeny. The mid-Carnian biotic crisis thus coincided with several phenomena associated with major extinction events: a carbonate production crisis, climate warming, δ 13 C oscillations, marine anoxia, biotic turnover and flood basalt eruptions (of the Wrangellia Large Igneous Province)

Influences of Y Addition on Mechanical Properties and Oxidation Resistance of CrN Coating

AbstractCr1-xYxN coatings were fabricated by reactive co-sputtering deposition and the Y content was changed by varying the Y target power. The influence of varying amounts of Y addition on the mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of CrN coatings has been studied. The results reveal that Y ions substitute Cr ions in Cr-N lattice forming the solid solution Cr1-xYxN coatings. Y doping has a beneficial effect on the improvements of hardness and adhesion of the coatings. After the oxidation in air at 850°C for 2h, The CrN coating with 1.2 at. % Y addition exhibits superior oxidation resistance than Y-free CrN coating, while over doping of Y produces detrimental effects on oxidation resistance of the coatings

Polysaccharides and polyphenols in sea buckthorn leaf tea have synergistic impact on studied colonic strains in vitro and bacteria in vivo

Present research on prebiotics focuses on either polysaccharides or polyphenols. This study compared the individual and combined impact of polysaccharide, quercetin, and gallic acid (GA) treatment on three human faecal strains. In vitro pure culturing and correlation analysis confirmed that the growth of both beneficial microbe B. longum subsp. longum (0.695, 0.205: R2, slope, respectively) and pathogenic C. perfringens (0.712, 0.085: R2, slope, respectively) increased due to polysaccharide treatment, and only GA treatment would inhibit C. perfringens (0.789, –0.165: R2, slope, respectively) growth. In vivo studies also revealed that genome copies of Bifidobacterium increased and C. perfringens decreased in the faeces, when a blend of the three nutrients rather than single polysaccharide or polyphenols were fed to rats. These data suggested that combined prebiotic treatment improved human faecal strain composition better than single treatment

Effects of a nanoscopic filler on the structure and dynamics of a simulated polymer melt and the relationship to ultra-thin films

We perform molecular dynamics simulations of an idealized polymer melt surrounding a nanoscopic filler particle to probe the effects of a filler on the local melt structure and dynamics. We show that the glass transition temperature $T_g$ of the melt can be shifted to either higher or lower temperatures by appropriately tuning the interactions between polymer and filler. A gradual change of the polymer dynamics approaching the filler surface causes the change in the glass transition. We also find that while the bulk structure of the polymers changes little, the polymers close to the surface tend to be elongated and flattened, independent of the type of interaction we study. Consequently, the dynamics appear strongly influenced by the interactions, while the melt structure is only altered by the geometric constraints imposed by the presence of the filler. Our findings show a strong similarity to those obtained for ultra-thin polymer films (thickness $\lesssim 100$ nm) suggesting that both ultra-thin films and filled-polymer systems might be understood in the same context

Study of Bc --> J/psi pi, etac pi decays with perturbative QCD approach

The Bc --> J/psi pi, etac pi decays are studied with the perturbative QCD approach. It is found that form factors and branching ratios are sensitive to the parameters w, v, f_J/psi and f_etac, where w and v are the parameters of the charmonium wave functions for Coulomb potential and harmonic oscillator potential, respectively, f_J/psi and f_etac are the decay constants of the J/psi and etac mesons, respectively. The large branching ratios and the clear signals of the final states make the Bc --> J/psi pi, etac pi decays to be the prospective channels for measurements at the hadron collidersComment: 21 pages, revtex

Early Carnian conodont fauna at Yongyue, Zhenfeng area and its implication for Ladinian-Carnian subdivision in Guizhou, South China

The subdivision of Ladinian and Carnian strata in Guizhou, South China has been a matter of intense debate because of the paucity of age-diagnostic faunas. Here we have carried out a detailed conodont biostratigraphic investigation on the Yangliujing, Zhuganpo and Wayao formations in the Yongyue section of western Guizhou Province. Conodonts are only prolific in the Zhuganpo and Wayao formations. Three genera and twenty species are identified, including two new species Quadralella wanlanensis n. sp. and Quadralella yongyueensis n. sp. They represent a rather endemic fauna of latest Ladinian to early Carnian age. Four conodont zones are established. They are, in the ascending order, the Paragondolella foliata, Quadralella polygnathiformis, Quadralella tadpole, and Quadralella aff. praelindae zones. Thus in the study area, the Zhuganpo Formation is generally of early Carnian (Julian 1) age whilst the Wayao Formation probably extends from the Julian 2 into the late Carnian (Tuvalian substage). The Ladinian–Carnian boundary (LCB) cannot be precisely defined due to the absence of the ammonoid Daxatina Canadensis and the paucity of conodonts. However, the LCB is unlikely lower than the Yangliujing–Zhuganpo formation contact. The Julian 1–Julian 2 (early Carnian) substages boundary is defined in the uppermost Zhuganpo Formation by the occurrence of basal Julian 2 ammonoid Austrotrachyceras ex gr. A. austriacum and is also evidenced by the disappearance of most short-range Julian 1 conodonts in the overlying Wayao Formation

Wave functions and decay constants of BB and DD mesons in the relativistic potential model

With the decay constants of $D$ and $D_s$ mesons measured in experiment recently, we revisit the study of the bound states of quark and antiquark in $B$ and $D$ mesons in the relativistic potential model. The relativistic bound state wave equation is solved numerically. The masses, decay constants and wave functions of $B$ and $D$ mesons are obtained. Both the masses and decay constants obtained here can be consistent with the experimental data. The wave functions can be used in the study of $B$ and $D$ meson decays.Comment: more discussion added, to appear in EPJ

The transition form factors for semi-leptonic weak decays of J/ψJ/\psi in QCD sum rules

Within the Standard Model, we investigate the semi-leptonic weak decays of $J/\psi$. The various form factors of $J/\psi$ transiting to a single charmed meson ($D^{(*)}_{(d,s)}$) are studied in the framework of the QCD sum rules. These form factors fully determine the rates of the weak semi-leptonic decays of $J/\psi$ and provide valuable information about the non-perturbative QCD effects. Our results indicate that the decay rate of the semi-leptonic weak decay mode $J/\psi \to D^{(*)-}_{s}+e^{+}+\nu_{e}$ is at order of $10^{-10}$.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures, revised version to be published in Eur.Phys.J.