A high-resolution millennial record of the south asian monsoon from himalayan ice cores

A high-resolution ice core record from Dasuopu, Tibet, reveals that this site is sensitive to fluctuations in the intensity of the South Asian Monsoon. Reductions in monsoonal intensity are recorded by dust and chloride concentrations. The deeper, older sections of the Dasuopu cores suggest many other periods of drought in this region, but none have been of greater intensity than the greatest recorded drought, during 1790 to 1796 A.D. of the last millennium. The 20th century increase in anthropogenic activity in India and Nepal, upwind from this site, is recorded by a doubling of chloride concentrations and a fourfold increase in dust. Like other ice cores from the Tibetan Plateau, Dasuopu suggests a large-scale, plateau-wide 20th-century warming trend that appears to be amplified at higher elevations.

Molecular imprinting of bulk, microporous silica

Molecular imprinting aims to create solid materials containing chemical functionalities that are spatially organized by covalent or non-covalent interactions with imprint (or template) molecules during the synthesis process. Subsequent removal of the imprint molecules leaves behind designed sites for the recognition of small molecules, making the material ideally suited for applications such as separations, chemical sensing and catalysis. Until now, the molecular imprinting of bulk polymers and polymer and silica surfaces has been reported, but the extension of these methods to a wider range of materials remains problematic. For example, the formation of substrate-specific cavities within bulk silica, while conceptually straightforward, has been difficult to accomplish experimentally. Here we describe the imprinting of bulk amorphous silicas with single aromatic rings carrying up to three 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane side groups; this generates and occupies microporosity and attaches functional organic groups to the pore walls in a controlled fashion. The triethoxysilane part of the molecules' side groups is incorporated into the silica framework during sol-gel synthesis, and subsequent removal of the aromatic core creates a cavity with spatially organized aminopropyl groups covalently anchored to the pore walls. We find that the imprinted silicas act as shape-selective base catalysts. Our strategy can be extended to imprint other functional groups, which should give access to a wide range of functionalized materials.

A 25,000-year tropical climate history from bolivian ice cores

Ice cores that were recovered from the summit of Sajama mountain in Bolivia provide carbon-14-dated tropical records and extend to the Late Glacial Stage (LGS). Oxygen isotopic ratios of the ice decreased 5.4 per mil between the early Holocene and the Last Glacial Maximum, which is consistent with values from other ice cores. The abrupt onset and termination of a Younger Dryas-type event suggest atmospheric processes as the probable drivers. Regional accumulation increased during the LGS, during deglaciation, and over the past 3000 years, which is concurrent with higher water levels in regional paleolakes. Unlike polar cores, Sajama glacial ice contains eight times less dust than the Holocene ice, which reflects wetter conditions and extensive snow cover.