bentonite deposits of economic interest are widespread in tashtab mountains (khur), east of isfahan province, iran. several bentonite deposits have been developed in this area as a result of eocene volcanic alteration. these deposits are classified as khur bentonite horizon. xrd analyses reveal that alteration products consist of na-montmorillonite, kaolinite, quartz, calcite, and crystobalite....

Geographic barriers and Quaternary climate changes are two major forces driving the evolution, speciation, and genetic structuring of extant organisms. In this study, we used Pinus armandii and eleven other Asian white pines (subsection Strobus, subgenus Pinus) to explore the influences of geographic factors and Pleistocene climatic oscillations on species in South China, a region known to be c...

BACKGROUND The influence of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations on intraspecific diversification in the Qinling-Daba Mountains of East Asia remains poorly investigated. We tested hypotheses concerning refugia during the last glacial maximum (LGM) in this region by examining the phylogeography of the swelled vent frog (Feirana quadranus; Dicroglossidae, Anura, Amphibia). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FI...

The evolution of the two components of the equatorial mountain torque (EMT) applied by mountains on the atmosphere is analyzed in the NCEP reanalysis. A strong lagged relationship between the EMT component along the Greenwich axis TM1 and the EMT component along the 908E axis TM2 is found, with a pronounced signal on TM1 followed by a signal of opposite sign on TM2. It is shown that this result...