Some new progress in scientific research on the Lop Nur Lake region, Xinjiang, China

The Lop Nur Lake, a famous lake in the arid areas of China, is located in the communi-cations center of the ancient Silk Road which facilitated the flow of culture between China andWestern countries and enjoyed the great reputation in the ancient history of China. Since the re-cent 100 years, some Chinese and foreign scholars have explored and investigated here, they,however, could not get to the hinterland of the lake basin due to the hard and dangerous roads.Therefore, there are many divergences and controversies about the Lop Nur Lake region[1'2]. Inorder to clarify these issues, know the usable natural resources and sum up the historical experi-ences and lessons of dry-up of the Lop Nur Lake, a scientific investigation team was organized byXinjiang Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to carry out the investigation and researchabout the Lop Nur Lake region in the 1980s. Recently, some personnel from CCTV and other in-stitutions went to the lower reaches of the Tarim River and the Lop Nur Lake region to undertakethe research for coordinating the strategic decision of the Great Development of Western Chinaand the synthetic harnessing of the Tarim River, and a series of achievements in scientific researchhave been achieved.     

禹荥泽——古黄河的一块天然滞洪区

荥泽是我国古代的一个著名湖泊,是我国经典地理著作《禹贡》记载的湖泊之一,其产生年代、形成环境及地理位置一直存在着不同的认识.本文以文献记载为线索,通过野外实地调查,从地质构造、地层分布和古地理环境诸方面,对荥阳地区槽状洼地内的湖相地层进行了较为系统的研究,并根据该地层的14C测年数据,认为这一湖相地层是由《禹贡》济水"入于河,溢为荥"的古湖泊所形成,因此将这个古湖泊称作禹荥泽.这个古湖泊实际上相当于当时黄河的一块天然滞洪区.     

Human activity during the late Pleistocene in the Lop Nur region,northwest China: Evidence from a buried stone artifact

The Lop Nur region, in the east part of Tarim Basin, was an important transportation junction between west and east, north and south Eurasia. However, previous studies on prehistoric human activity have concentrated mostly on the Bronze Age, whereas that during the Stone Age remains largely unresearched. Here, we present a new direct evidence of human activity in the late Pleistocene, recorded on a grinding stone buried in a lacustrine sediment section of the Lop Nur region. The grain size distribution of the sediment section indicates that the site was probably in the center of a lake with weak hydrodynamic environment. Therefore, the stone artifact can only be carried to here by people instead of river and it was never move as soon as left here. Results of radiocarbon dating, the evident stratigraphic relations between the stone artifact and the sedimentary formation, indicate that the human activity could extend to approximately 13 ka BP. Furthermore, the results of starch-grain and use-wear analyses suggest that ancient humans gathered seeds of Triticeae, roots, and tubers and used the grinding stone to simply process selected plant as plant foodstuffs during this period. It implies that the environmental conditions in the river delta of the Lop Nur were inhabitable during the late Pleistocene.     

罗布泊不是游移湖--从罗布泊的演化讨论罗布泊的游移问题

从构造、沉积学的观点出发,讨论了罗布泊的发展演化,明确提出罗布泊不是游移湖.罗布泊从中更新世以来,从淡水湖演化到盐湖直至1972年干涸,其沉积中心基本是固定的.在新构造运动、气候和水源补给等的共同影响下,尽管其水域大小有一定程度的变化,其沉积中心也有过一定距离的迁移,但从总体来说并没有变化,因此,它不是“游移”湖.     

Optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon dating of sediments from Lop Nur (Lop Nor), China

Lop Nur is a playa lake occupying the lowest part of the Tarim Basin, northwestern China, and is now a desolate and barren region. In the past decades, the ages of the lacustrine sediments from the lake were determined mainly by radiocarbon dating on bulk sediment. In this study, both optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon methods were used to date the sediments from a pit in the central part of the lake. The OSL ages obtained for ten samples range from 0.5 to 9.4 ka, and are in stratigraphic order except for one sample. The ¹⁴C ages obtained for twenty-two bulk sediment samples range from 5.8 to 30.2 cal ka BP with erratic distribution. Based on the comparison of ¹⁴C with OSL ages and their age-depth models, we argue that the OSL ages are relatively reliable. The disequilibria in the U decay chain for some samples are deduced from the comparison of the NAA and TSAC results. We suggest that the OSL dating technique should preferably be applied to the playa sediments from Lop Nur, but the disequilibria in the U decay chain should be considered in evaluating dose rates. Additionally, radiocarbon reservoir effects in lakes in western China are reviewed.     

罗布泊“大耳朵”成因的体散射特性模拟与分析

根据SAR信号对干燥地表的穿透性能,在对罗布泊湖盆区域复杂散射机制深入分析的基础上,结合野外考察和实验室测量的数据,利用双层散射结构模型对湖盆区域的微波散射特性进行描述,并对次地表稳定沉积物的体散射分量进行模拟.为了对模型进行验证,本文利用Cloude极化分解方法将ALOS PALSAR数据进行散射机制的分解,并以体散射贡献量作为标准数据,与模型模拟的结果进行对比,得到的水平和垂直极化方式的均方根误差分别为1.62%和1.68%,证明了模型的可用性和有效性.同时,对模型的相关参数进行扩展分析,结果表明,次地表稳定沉积物是罗布泊古湖盆演化结果的直接反映,沉积物的含盐量是罗布泊"大耳朵"特征形成的根本原因.     

Multiple evidences indicate no relationship between prehistoric disasters in Lajia site and outburst flood in upper Yellow River valley,China

All around the world, ancient legends exist about the Great Flood, and the influence of the Great Flood in human evolutionary history is a hotly debated topic. In China, the legend of the prehistoric Great Flood and Yu the Great’s flood control has a long history and is considered to be closely linked to the establishment of the Xia Dynasty. However, there is a lack of solid scientific evidence. Against this issue, some scholars have proposed that an earthquake around 1920 BCE in the Guanting Basin along the upper reaches of the Yellow River led to the creation of a lake by damming in the Jishi Gorge and that the outburst of water from that lake led to the massive flood in the Yellow River region. These studies provided new scientific evidence for the Chinese legend. In this paper, we date skeletal samples embedded in earthquake sand blasting from the Lajia site, analyze remains from natural disasters (such as earthquakes and floods) and also archaeological remains. In addition, we compared the skeletal samples dating with that of sediments from the dammed-up lake. Our results are inconsistent with those of previous scholars. The earthquake at the Lajia site occurred no earlier than 1800 BCE, and the dammed-up lake in Jishi Gorge had disappeared by 3600 BCE. Thus, the formation and outburst of the dammed lake, the sudden death of ancient humans at the Lajia site and the ancient earthquake were independent events occurring at different times. In addition, the massive flood in the upper reaches of the Yellow River did not actually happen. Thus, we argue against and invalidate the hypothesis that the massive flood was related to Yu the Great’s flood control and the establishment of the Xia Dynasty.     

罗布泊湖相沉积物极化散射特性及其环境意义

通过对罗布泊古湖盆区域("大耳朵")湖相沉积物含水量与含盐量、介电性质、地表微地貌等理化参量的分析,本文提出了罗布泊古湖盆区域的散射过程与次地表散射结构;利用全极化测量技术(PolSAR, Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar),本文对不同纹理区域进行了物理散射机制的定量化剖析,同极化相关分析与极化度推算结果表明整个"大耳朵"区域后向散射强烈,亮条带比暗条带的散射机制更为复杂,地表微地貌状态是造成"大耳朵"特征的表观原因.在此基础上,本文利用极化分解技术进一步分离不同散射机制分量,通过定量比较各部分贡献对于"大耳朵"特征的表征能力,提出次地表介质性质(如含盐量)是"大耳朵"特征的根本性成因,相关性可达0.784,同时分析了次地表高含水含盐湖相沉积物在SAR响应中的重要性及其与地表形态之间的动力学形成机制.最后,本文论证了合成孔径雷达(SAR, Synthetic Aperture Radar)在罗布泊地区的穿透能力,预示着SAR遥感技术在干旱区环境研究中的应用潜力.     

青海湖最近25年变化的遥感调查与研究

青海湖是我国最大的内陆水体,它及其流域的生态环境近来一直倍受广泛关注．其水位下降、湖水面积缩小、湖体分离等更是研究的热点问题．本文针对这些问题展开遥感调查与研究,收集了多时相、多种信息源的影像数据;分析了1975年至2000年25年以来湖泊的变迁及成因,湖岸变化及湖体分离状况;用遥感方法反推25年以来湖水位的变化;计算了1975、2000年两个年份的湖水面积,并遥感分析了湖水面积萎缩的原因．此外,对青海湖进行了实地调查与水深测量,建立了该湖泊水深反演模型．     

大布苏湖地貌——沉积类型与湖泊演化

大布苏湖地处松嫩平原南部,是一个封闭的构造断湖,湖区山貌类型复杂,沉积环境独具特色,根据地形面的分层和特征,结合^14C测年,确定大布苏湖形成于晚更新世晚期,湖泊形成的早期,曾经历了深湖的发育阶段,全新世以来,湖面波动式下降,并有两次规模较大的扩张和收缩时期,形成了两个完整的湖进、湖退沉积旋回、晚全新世以来,气候干燥,风力作用活跃,湖面明显萎缩,形成我国东部地区极为罕见的盐湖。     

Assessing the influence of the Merzbacher Lake outburst floods on discharge using the hydrological model SWIM in the Aksu headwaters,Kyrgyzstan/NW China

Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) often have a significant impact on downstream users. Including their effects in hydrological models, identifying past occurrences and assessing their potential impacts are challenges for hydrologists working in mountainous catchments. The regularly outbursting Merzbacher Lake is located in the headwaters of the Aksu River, the most important source of water discharge to the Tarim River, northwest China. Modelling its water resources and the evaluation of potential climate change impacts on river discharge are indispensable for projecting future water availability for the intensively cultivated river oases downstream of the Merzbacher Lake and along the Tarim River. The semi‐distributed hydrological model SWIM was calibrated to the outlet station Xiehela on the Kumarik River, by discharge the largest tributary to the Aksu River. The glacial lake outburst floods add to the difficulties of modelling this high‐mountain, heavily glaciated catchment with poor data coverage and quality. The aims of the study are to investigate the glacier lake outburst floods using a modelling tool. Results include a two‐step model calibration of the Kumarik catchment, an approach for the identification of the outburst floods using the measured gauge data and the modelling results and estimations of the outburst flood volumes. Results show that a catchment model can inform GLOF investigations by providing ‘normal’ (i.e. without the outburst floods) catchment discharge. The comparison of the simulated and observed discharge proves the occurrence of GLOFs and highlights the influences of the GLOFs on the downstream water balance. © 2013 The Authors. Hydrological Processes Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

鄱阳湖成因与演变的历史论证

本文通过大量史料分析和地质钻孔证据,认为鄱阳湖大水面形成于公元400年前后,为距今约1600年的年青湖泊。鄱阳湖形成的直接和主导因素是长江主泓道南移到湖口一带,因江水阻碍赣江水的下泄,使湖泊水域向南扩张,到唐初面积最大时曾达6000km~2。之后,鄱阳湖水位和面积的变化主要取决于湖口处长江水位的变化。     

Spatio-temporal patterns of hydrological processes and their responses to human activities in the Poyang Lake basin,China

Abstract

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China, and plays a major role in flood mitigation, restoration and conservation of the ecological environment in the middle Yangtze River basin. Sediment load and streamflow variations in Poyang Lake basin are important for the scouring and deposition changes of this lake. However, these hydrological processes are heavily influenced by human activities, such as construction of water reservoirs, and land-use/land cover changes. By thorough analysis of long series of sediment and streamflow obtained from five major hydrological stations, we systematically investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of these hydrological processes and the hydrological responses to human activities using the Mann-Kendall trend test, the double cumulative mass curve and the linear regression method. The results show: (1) no significant change in streamflow followed by an increasing tendency after the 1990s that turns to be decreasing about 2000; and (2) a sharp increase of sediment load during the late 1960s and 1970s triggered by extensive deforestation (during the “Cultural Revolution” in China) followed by a tendency to decrease after the early 1980s. Construction of water reservoirs has greatly reduced the sediment load of the Poyang Lake basin, and this is particularly the case in the Ganjiang River, where the sediment load changes may be attributed to the trapping effects of the Wan'an Reservoir, the largest water reservoir within the Poyang Lake basin. There is no evidence to corroborate the influence of water reservoirs on the streamflow variations. It seems that the streamflow variations are subject mainly to precipitation changes, but this requires further analysis. The current study may be of scientific and practical benefit in the conservation and restoration of Poyang Lake, as a kind of wetland, and also in flood mitigation in the middle Yangtze River basin that is under the influence of human activities.

Citation Zhang, Q., Sun, P., Jiang, T. & Chen, X.-H. (2011) Spatio-temporal patterns of hydrological processes and their hydrological responses to human activities in the Poyang Lake basin, China. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(2), 305–318.     

Humid Little Ice Age in arid central Asia documented by Bosten Lake, Xinjiang, China

Short sediment cores retrieved from Bosten Lake, the largest inland freshwater lake in China, were used to explore humidity and precipitation variations in arid central Asia during the past millennium. The chronology of the cores was established using 137Cs, 210Pb and AMS 14C dating re- sults. Multi-proxy high-resolution analysis, including pollen ratios of Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae (A/C), carbonate content and grain size, indicates that the climate during the past millennium can be divided into three stages: a dry climate between 1000―1500 AD, a humid climate during the Little Ice Age (LIA) (c. 1500―1900 AD), and a warm dry period after 1900 AD. On centennial timescales, the climate change in northwestern China during the past 1000 years is characterized by oscillations between warm-dry and cold-humid climate conditions. All the proxies changed significantly and indi- cate increased precipitation during the LIA, including increased pollen A/C ratios and pollen concen- trations, decreased carbonate content and increased grain size. The humid period during the LIA re- corded by the Bosten Lake sediments is representative of arid central Asia and is supported by nu- merous records from other sites. During the LIA, the water runoff into the Keriya River and Tarim River in the Tarim Basin increased, while the ice accumulation in the Guliya ice core increased. Additionally, the lake levels of the Aral and Caspian Sea also rose, while tree-ring analysis indicates that precipita- tion increased. We hypothesize that both the lower temperature within China and the negative anomalies of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) during this period may have contributed to the humid climate within this area during LIA.     

基于生态适宜性分析的湖泊保护与利用——以湖北斧头湖为例

为了湖泊生态系统健康及湖泊资源的可持续利用,需要根据湖泊的具体情况加强对湖泊生态系统的管理.建立在生态适宜性分析基础上的湖泊生态功能分区,可为科学合理地开发湖泊资源、协调湖泊生态系统结构与功能提供依据.以湖北省斧头湖为对象,在对斧头湖生态环境调查基础上,选取具有代表性的水质、生物及人为干扰因子;根据《地表水环境质量标准》(GB3838-2002)确定水质评价等级,采用专家论证法确定生物及人为干扰因子评价等级,建立起湖泊生态养殖适宜性评价等级体系;采用主成分分析法确定评价因子权重,并在GIS技术的支持下,采用因子叠加法,对斧头湖生态养殖适宜性进行综合评价.根据各区域生态养殖适宜性综合评价结果,同时考虑到湖泊生态环境和综合资源保护要求、斧头湖自然生态系统功能和生态渔业的可持续发展,可将斧头湖划分为极适宜区、高度适宜区、中度适宜区、轻度适宜区和较不适宜区;各适宜区面积分别占斧头湖总面积的12.04%、24.81%、49.65%、9.58%和3.92%.从湖泊生态系统保护及渔业的可持续利用角度看,极适宜区、高度适宜区适合开展生态养殖;中度适宜区和轻度适宜区要以生态恢复为主,可进行一定规模的放养养殖;较不适宜区应进行生态修复,不适宜进行各种开发活动.     

北方半干旱区土地利用/覆被变化对湖泊水质的影响:以岱海流域为例(2000—2018年)

土地利用/覆被变化对明晰气候变化和人类活动对湖泊水环境的影响有重要作用.以北方典型农牧交错的岱海流域为研究对象,基于遥感解译技术、马尔可夫转移矩阵、综合污染指数法等方法,对2000-2018年岱海流域土地利用/覆被和湖泊水质的变化进行分析,并结合冗余分析法和计量分析模型探究长时间序列尺度下土地利用/覆被变化对湖泊水质的影响.结果表明:近20年来,岱海流域的土地利用/覆被类型以耕地和草地为主,其变化特征主要是草地和林地转化为耕地,水域转化为季节性河流,岱海转化为内陆滩涂、沼泽草地和灌丛沼泽;岱海湖泊水质因子高锰酸盐指数、五日生化需氧量、总磷和总氮浓度存在不同程度的超标现象;岱海、湿地、林地对水质具有积极的改善作用,耕地、草地、建设用地是加剧水质污染的主要原因.该研究为岱海湖泊流域土地资源合理利用、湖泊水质改善和生态保护提供了一定的科学理论依据.     

D) Other Organisations—D) Autres Organisations

Abstract

Lake Poopó, within the large Altiplano basin of Bolivia, is connected upstream to Lake Titicaca and downstream to the salares, the big salt fields. Small changes in precipitation and river inflows strongly affect the extent of the lake surface area. For times when there are no satellite images, it is difficult to determine the extent of the lake from observations. Water balance computations were performed to create a water-level series for Lake Poopó extending back in time. The dominant water inflow to Lake Poopó is from the River Desaguadero, which constitutes the outflow of Lake Titicaca. The water-balance computations confirm the crude peasant knowledge about historical lake status. It is found that if the lake level is less than 1 m during the wet season, there is a risk that this shallow lake dries out in the dry season.     

近三百年来洪泽湖演变过程及其原因分析

洪泽湖是淮河水系中最重要的湖泊之一,是我国的第四大淡水湖,它在防洪、灌溉、航运、跨流域调水以及水资源与水环境保护等方面发挥着重要作用.过去300年来,由于黄淮关系的演变和人类活动的影响,洪泽湖水域面积发生剧烈变化.研究湖泊水域空间变化有助于认识流域环境变化与人类活动影响.本文利用18世纪初以来的古地图、历史文献资料及1981-2016年期间的7期遥感影像数据,采用遥感和地理信息系统技术相结合的方法,分析了近300年来洪泽湖水域时空演变过程及其原因.研究结果表明：过去300年来,洪泽湖面积总体呈减少趋势,年际缩减速率为0.17%,且湖域范围总体表现为由四周向中心缩小的趋势,其中西南湖域的形态变化最为显著.具体而言,清中期以前,黄河多次夺泗入淮,洪泽湖面积变化受黄淮关系、高家堰等水利枢纽的修建以及降水等因素影响.至清末,洪泽湖面积由3078.78 km²下降至2335.73 km²,共减少743.05 km²,其空间形态也发生了剧烈变化,该时期黄河改道、降水以及人口增长导致的湖滨围垦是影响洪泽湖演变的主要原因.建国以来（1949-2016年）,洪泽湖面积进一步缩小,由1757.60 km²下降至1488.43 km²,共减少了269.17 km²,其中1995-2000年间湖泊面积下降最为显著,共减少了281.43 km²,湖泊动态变化度达到2.78%,该时期自然因素对湖泊水域面积的影响减弱,而人口增长、围垦及水利工程的修建等人类活动逐渐成为影响洪泽湖演化的主导因素.     

黄河下游南四湖地区黄河河道变迁的湖泊沉积响应

黄河下游地区湖泊演化多与黄河河道变迁密切相关,进行高分辨率的湖泊沉积环境的研究,可揭示历史时期黄河下游的河道变迁,本文以南四湖ＤＳ孔为例,探讨河道变迁的湖泊沉响应。