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The ionic composition of human prostatic fluid varied greatly between individuals, reflecting the secretory activity of the gland and the presence or absence of prostatic inflammatory disease. In normal prostatic fluid the major anion was citrate, while chloride concentrations were lower. Their counterions were mainly sodium and potassium, together with calcium, magnesium and zinc. Prostatic secretions from men with prostatitis comprised mainly sodium and chloride. The electrolytes were closely correlated to each other (except for sodium, which was essentially invariant at about 145 nm). The molar changes per mole of citrate were about 0.52, potassium; -0.53, chloride; 0.17, calcium; 0.14, magnesium; and 0.09, zinc. The pH was also associated with citrate, decreasing from 8.0 to 6.2 as the citrate increased. These various ionic changes can be explained as responses to citrate secretion, without the need to propose specific transport mechanisms for the other ions measured. The marked effect of prostatic inflammation on the composition of prostatic fluid can be seen as being due mainly to decreased secretion rather than active modification.

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The physical stratigraphy of a 470-m-thick, claystone-dominated exhumed middle to upper submarine slope succession was constrained within an area of 400 km 2 in which five sand-prone units were characterized (Units D/E, E, F, G, and H). Units D/E to Unit F show an overall pattern of thickening upward and basinward stepping. This stacking pattern is reversed from the top of Unit F to the base of Unit H, above which basinward stepping is again observed. Different architectural styles of sand-prone deposits occupy predictable stratigraphic positions within the basinward-stepping section, starting with intraslope lobes through channel-levee complexes to entrenched slope valleys. Sandstone percentage is highest in the intraslope lobes and lowest in the slope valley fills, reflecting a change from depositional to bypass processes. The landward-stepping stratigraphy is dominated by claystone units with thin distal fringes of distributive deposits. The upper basinward-stepping succession (Unit H) is a distributive system possibly linked to a shelf edge delta. Across-strike complexity in the distribution of sand-prone units was controlled by cross-slope topography driven by differential compaction processes. Hemipelagic claystones separating the sand-prone units represent shutdown of the sand delivery to the whole slope and are interpreted as relative sealevel highstand deposits. Eleven depositional sequences are identified, nine of which are arranged into three composite sequences (Units E, F, and G) that together form a composite sequence set. The highly organized physical stratigraphic stacking suggests that glacioeustasy, during the Late Permian icehouse period, was the main driving process for the analyzed succession.

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