Magmatic record of India-Asia collision

This work was financially co-supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB03010301) and other Chinese funding agencies (Project 973: 2011CB403102 and 2015CB452604; NSFC projects: 41225006, 41273044, and 41472061).New geochronological and geochemical data on magmatic activity from the India-Asia collision zone enables recognition of a distinct magmatic flare-up event that we ascribe to slab breakoff. This tie-point in the collisional record can be used to back-date to the time of initial impingement of the Indian continent with the Asian margin. Continental arc magmatism in southern Tibet during 80-40 Ma migrated from south to north and then back to south with significant mantle input at 70-43 Ma. A pronounced flare up in magmatic intensity (including ignimbrite and mafic rock) at ca. 52-51 Ma corresponds to a sudden decrease in the India-Asia convergence rate. Geological and geochemical data are consistent with mantle input controlled by slab rollback from ca. 70 Ma and slab breakoff at ca. 53 Ma. We propose that the slowdown of the Indian plate at ca. 51 Ma is largely the consequence of slab breakoff of the subducting Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere, rather than the onset of the India-Asia collision as traditionally interpreted, implying that the initial India-Asia collision commenced earlier, likely at ca. 55 Ma.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Assembly of the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes in central Tibet by divergent double subduction

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 (2011CB403102 and 2015CB452604), the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (41225006, 41472061, and 40973026), and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (20120022110001)Integration of lithostratigraphic, magmatic, and metamorphic data from the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision zone in central Tibet (including the Bangong suture zone and adjacent regions of the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes) indicates assembly through divergent double sided subduction. This collision zone is characterized by the absence of Early Cretaceous high-grade metamorphic rocks and the presence of extensive magmatism with enhanced mantle contributions at ca. 120–110 Ma. Two Jurassic−Cretaceous magmatic arcs are identified from the Caima−Duobuza−Rongma−Kangqiong−Amdo magmatic belt in the western Qiangtang Terrane and from the Along Tso−Yanhu−Daguo−Baingoin−Daru Tso magmatic belt in the northern Lhasa Terrane. These two magmatic arcs reflect northward and southward subduction of the Bangong Ocean lithosphere, respectively. Available multidisciplinary data reconcile that the Bangong Ocean may have closed during the Late Jurassic−Early Cretaceous (most likely ca. 140–130 Ma) through arc-arc “soft” collision rather than continent-continent “hard” collision. Subduction zone retreat associated with convergence beneath the Lhasa Terrane may have driven its rifting and separation from the northern margin of Gondwana leading to its accretion within Asia.PostprintPeer reviewe

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

Single spin qubit geometric gate in a silicon quantum dot

Preserving qubit coherence and maintaining high-fidelity qubit control under complex noise environment is an enduring challenge for scalable quantum computing. Here we demonstrate an addressable fault-tolerant single spin qubit with an average control fidelity of 99.12% via randomized benchmarking on a silicon quantum dot device with an integrated micromagnet. Its dephasing time T2* is 1.025 us and can be enlarged to 264 us by using the Hahn echo technique, reflecting strong low-frequency noise in our system. To break through the noise limitation, we introduce geometric quantum computing to obtain high control fidelity by exploiting its noise-resilient feature. However, the control fidelities of the geometric quantum gates are lower than 99%. According to our simulation, the noise-resilient feature of geometric quantum gates is masked by the heating effect. With further optimization to alleviate the heating effect, geometric quantum computing can be a potential approach to reproducibly achieving high-fidelity qubit control in a complex noise environment.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures

Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg interferometry

A transition between energy levels at an avoided crossing is known as a Landau-Zener transition. When a two-level system (TLS) is subject to periodic driving with sufficiently large amplitude, a sequence of transitions occurs. The phase accumulated between transitions (commonly known as the Stuckelberg phase) may result in constructive or destructive interference. Accordingly, the physical observables of the system exhibit periodic dependence on the various system parameters. This phenomenon is often referred to as Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg (LZS) interferometry. Phenomena related to LZS interferometry occur in a variety of physical systems. In particular, recent experiments on LZS interferometry in superconducting TLSs (qubits) have demonstrated the potential for using this kind of interferometry as an effective tool for obtaining the parameters characterizing the TLS as well as its interaction with the control fields and with the environment. Furthermore, strong driving could allow for fast and reliable control of the quantum system. Here we review recent experimental results on LZS interferometry, and we present related theory.Comment: 34 single-column pages, 11 figure

Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale

The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way. Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. We offer a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: Tutorial review, LaTeX, 129 pages, 41 figures, 300 references, submitted to Springer series "Lecture Notes in Physics

Internal Jugular Vein Cross-Sectional Area Enlargement Is Associated with Aging in Healthy Individuals.

Internal jugular vein (IJV) narrowing has been implicated in central nervous system pathologies, however normal physiological age- and gender-related IJV variance in healthy individuals (HIs) has not been adequately assessed.We assessed the relationship between IJV cross-sectional area (CSA) and aging.This study involved 193 HIs (63 males and 130 females) who received 2-dimensional magnetic resonance venography at 3T. The minimum CSA of the IJVs at cervical levels C2/C3, C4, C5/C6, and C7/T1 was obtained using a semi-automated contouring-thresholding technique. Subjects were grouped by decade. Pearson and partial correlation (controlled for cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension, heart disease, smoking and body mass index) and analysis of variance analyses were used, with paired t-tests comparing side differences.Mean right IJV CSA ranges were: in males, 41.6 mm2 (C2/C3) to 82.0 mm2 (C7/T1); in females, 38.0 mm2 (C2/C3) to 62.3 mm2 (C7/T1), while the equivalent left side ranges were: in males, 28.0 mm2 (C2/C3) to 52.2 mm2 (C7/T1); in females, 27.2 mm2 (C2/C3) to 47.8 mm2 (C7/T1). The CSA of the right IJVs was significantly larger (p<0.001) than the left at all cervical levels. Controlling for cardiovascular risk factors, the correlation between age and IJV CSA was more robust in males than in the females for all cervical levels.In HIs age, gender, hand side and cervical location all affect IJV CSA. These findings suggest that any definition of IJV stenosis needs to account for these factors

A Porcine Adenovirus with Low Human Seroprevalence Is a Promising Alternative Vaccine Vector to Human Adenovirus 5 in an H5N1 Virus Disease Model

Human adenovirus 5 (AdHu5) vectors are robust vaccine platforms however the presence of naturally-acquired neutralizing antibodies may reduce vector efficacy and potential for re-administration. This study evaluates immune responses and protection following vaccination with a replication-incompetent porcine adenovirus 3 (PAV3) vector as an alternative vaccine to AdHu5 using an avian influenza H5N1 disease model. Vaccine efficacy was evaluated in BALB/c mice following vaccination with different doses of the PAV3 vector expressing an optimized A/Hanoi/30408/2005 H5N1 hemagglutinin antigen (PAV3-HA) and compared with an AdHu5-HA control. PAV3-HA rapidly generated antibody responses, with significant neutralizing antibody titers on day 21, and stronger cellular immune responses detected on day 8, compared to AdHu5-HA. The PAV3-HA vaccine, administered 8 days before challenge, demonstrated improved survival and lower virus load. Evaluation of long-term vaccine efficacy at 12 months post-vaccination showed better protection with the PAV3-HA than with the AdHu5-HA vaccine. Importantly, as opposed to AdHu5, PAV3 vector was not significantly neutralized by human antibodies pooled from over 10,000 individuals. Overall, PAV3-based vector is capable of mediating swift, strong immune responses and offer a promising alternative to AdHu5