1,721,117 research outputs found

    In-situ occurrence of Muong Nong-type Australasian tektite fragments from the quaternary deposits near Huai Om, North-Eastern Thailand

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    There are several reports of Australasian tektites found within a stratum called "laterite” layer widely distributed in Indochina. However, it has been debated whether these tektites are in situ or reworked. This uncertainty is because a detailed description of their field occurrence is lacking. Here, we describe the detailed occurrence of a cluster of tektite fragments recovered from the ”laterite” layer near Huai Om, northeastern Thailand, and demonstrate the evidence of in situ occurrence of the tektites. At least 331 tektite fragments with a total weight of 713 g were found from a 40 x 30 cm area with 10 cm thickness in the uppermost part of the “laterite” layer. The very angular shapes and very poorly sorted nature of the fragments, restoration of larger tektite fragments into one ellipsoidal MN tektite mass, and the similar chemical composition of the fragments suggest that these MN tektite fragments represent a tektite mass that fragmented in situ. The fact that the fragments were found within the “laterite” layer is inconsistent with a previous interpretation that the upper surface of the “laterite” layer is a paleo-erosional surface, on which the tektites are reworked. The size distribution of the fragments is bifractal following two power laws in the range from 10 to 26 mm and from 26 to 37 mm, with fractal dimensions (Ds) of 2.2 and 7.5, respectively. The Ds for the coarse fraction of the tektite fragments is larger than the Ds for rock fragments generated by rockfalls and rock avalanches and similar to the Ds for the coarser fraction fragments generated by high speed impact experiments, suggesting that the tektite fragments were formed through intense fragmentation by a relatively high energetic process. The occurrence of the fragments forming a cluster indicate that the fragments were not moved apart significantly after fragmentation and burial. Based on these results, we concluded that the mass of a tektite was fragmented at the time of the landing on the ground after traveling a ballistic trajectory, and has not been disturbed further

    Tracing the provenance of fine-grained dust deposited on the central Chinese Loess Plateau

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    Eolian dust deposits in north China provide an excellent means of determining past variations in continental paleoclimate and atmospheric circulation. However, debate still exists on which deserts in east Asia are the dominant sources of Chinese loess and whether the dust provenance has shifted significantly at different time scales. Here we present new constraints on the provenance of fine-grained dust deposited on the central Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) by combining electron spin resonance signal intensity and crystallinity index of fine-grained quartz contained in samples from two loess-paleosol sequences. Our results show that the fine-grained dust deposits on the CLP originate mainly from the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia and the sandy deserts in northern China (primarily the Badain Juran and Tengger deserts), rather than from the Taklimakan desert in western China, at least during the last climatic cycle. The dominant source of fine-grained dust varied significantly, from southern Mongolia during cold periods, to northern China during warm periods. The glacial-interglacial provenance fluctuations are strongly coupled with changes in the intensity of the near-surface northwesterly winter monsoon. <br/

    Identification of the ejecta deposit formed by the Australasian Tektite Event at Huai Om, northeastern Thailand

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    The Australasian Tektite Event, approximately 0.8 Ma, is the youngest record of a large impact event on Earth. Although it is estimated that it occurred somewhere in Indochina based on the distribution of tektites, the crater has never been located. Here, we report the discovery and occurrence of shocked quartz with planar deformation features (PDFs) in the Quaternary depositional sequence at Huai Om in northeastern Thailand. Measurements of the orientation of lamellae using a universal stage microscope as well as observation using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were conducted to confirm the presence of PDFs. Together with the occurrence of in situ layered tektite fragments, we identify the depositional sequence as the ejecta deposit formed by the Australasian Tektite Event. We further describe the detailed lithostratigraphy of the ejecta deposit, which will allow the tracing of its distribution and lateral changes in its thickness, grain size, and grain composition. Further investigation of the lateral distribution of the ejecta deposit would provide information about the location, magnitude, and target rocks of the Australasian Tektite Event.</p

    Linear sedimentation rates and mass accumulation rates of detritus and Kosa of ODP Site 127-797 (Table 1)

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    In order to reconstruct past variations in the east Asian monsoon and to establish a direct link between terrestrial and marine climatic records, we evaluated the temporal variation in aeolian dust (Kosa or yellow sand) flux to the Japan Sea using the late Quaternary hemipelagic sediments in the sea. Contributions of four detrital subcomponents, identified by Irino and Tada (2000, datasets: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.726855) as Kosa derived from 'typical' loess, Kosa from 'weathered' loess and fine and coarse arc-derived detritus, have varied in millennial scale, as well as in glacial–interglacial scale, during the last 200 ka. Millennial scale variability of Kosa from 'typical' loess suggests the change in dust availability controlled by high-frequency variation in summer monsoon precipitation in the central to east Asia during the last 200 ka, whereas variation in Kosa from 'weathered' loess suggests the change in transport pathway of dust which was probably affected by the winter monsoon variation

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods
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