A 2000-yr-long multi-proxy lacustrine record from eastern Baffin Island, Arctic Canada reveals first millennium AD cold period

We generate a multi-proxy sub-centennial-scale reconstruction of environmental change during the past two millennia from Itilliq Lake, Baffin Island, Arctic Canada. Our reconstruction arises from a finely subsectioned ²¹⁰Pb- and ¹⁴C-dated surface sediment core and includes measures of organic matter (e.g., chlorophyll a; carbon–nitrogen ratio) and insect (Diptera: Chironomidae) assemblages. Within the past millennium, the least productive, and by inference coldest, conditions occurred ca. AD 1700–1850, late in the Little Ice Age. The 2000-yr sediment record also reveals an episode of reduced organic matter deposition during the 6th–7th century AD; combined with the few other records comparable in resolution that span this time interval from Baffin Island, we suggest that this cold episode was experienced regionally. A comparable cold climatic episode occurred in Alaska and western Canada at this time, suggesting that the first millennium AD cold climate anomaly may have occurred throughout the Arctic. Dramatic increases in aquatic biological productivity at multiple trophic levels are indicated by increased chlorophyll a concentrations since AD 1800 and chironomid concentrations since AD 1900, both of which have risen to levels unprecedented over the past 2000 yr.     

Late Holocene temperature fluctuations on the Tibetan Plateau

Proxy data of palaeoclimate, like ice cores, tree rings and lake sediments, document aspects of climate changes on the Tibetan Plateau during the last 2000 years. The results show that the Tibetan Plateau experienced climatic episodes such as the warm intervals during AD 800–1100 and 1150–1400, the “Little Ice Age” between AD 1400 and 1900, and an earlier cold period between the 4th and 6th centuries. In addition, temperatures varied from region to region across the plateau. A warm period from AD 800 to 1100 in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau was contemporaneous with cooling in the southern Tibetan Plateau, which experienced warming between AD 1150 and 1400. Large-scale trends in the temperature history from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau resemble those in eastern China more than the trends from the southern Plateau. The most notable similarities between the temperature variations of the Tibetan Plateau and eastern China are cold phases during AD 1100–1150, 1500–1550, 1650–1700 and 1800–1850.     

Past occurrences of hypoxia in the Baltic Sea and the role of climate variability,environmental change and human impact

The hypoxic zone in the Baltic Sea has increased in area about four times since 1960 and widespread oxygen deficiency has severely reduced macro benthic communities below the halocline in the Baltic Proper and the Gulf of Finland, which in turn has affected food chain dynamics, fish habitats and fisheries in the entire Baltic Sea. The cause of increased hypoxia is believed to be enhanced eutrophication through increased anthropogenic input of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. However, the spatial variability of hypoxia on long time-scales is poorly known: and so are the driving mechanisms. We review the occurrence of hypoxia in modern time (last c. 50 years), modern historical time (AD 1950–1800) and during the more distant past (the last c. 10 000 years) and explore the role of climate variability, environmental change and human impact. We present a compilation of proxy records of hypoxia (laminated sediments) based on long sediment cores from the Baltic Sea. The cumulated results show that the deeper depressions of the Baltic Sea have experienced intermittent hypoxia during most of the Holocene and that regular laminations started to form c. 8500–7800 cal. yr BP ago, in association with the formation of a permanent halocline at the transition between the Early Littorina Sea and the Littorina Sea s. str. Laminated sediments were deposited during three main periods (i.e. between c. 8000–4000, 2000–800 cal. yr BP and subsequent to AD 1800) which overlap the Holocene Thermal Maximum (c. 9000–5000 cal. yr BP), the Medieval Warm Period (c. AD 750–1200) and the modern historical period (AD 1800 to present) and coincide with intervals of high surface salinity (at least during the Littorina s. str.) and high total organic carbon content. This study implies that there may be a correlation between climate variability in the past and the state of the marine environment, where milder and dryer periods with less freshwater run-off correspond to increased salinities and higher accumulation of organic carbon resulting in amplified hypoxia and enlarged distribution of laminated sediments. We suggest that hydrology changes in the drainage area on long time-scales have, as well as the inflow of saltier North Sea waters, controlled the deep oxic conditions in the Baltic Sea and that such changes have followed the general Holocene climate development in Northwest Europe. Increased hypoxia during the Medieval Warm Period also correlates with large-scale changes in land use that occurred in much of the Baltic Sea watershed during the early-medieval expansion. We suggest that hypoxia during this period in the Baltic Sea was not only caused by climate, but increased human impact was most likely an additional trigger. Large areas of the Baltic Sea have experienced intermittent hypoxic from at least AD 1900 with laminated sediments present in the Gotland Basin in the Baltic Proper since then and up to present time. This period coincides with the industrial revolution in Northwestern Europe which started around AD 1850, when population grew, cutting of drainage ditches intensified, and agricultural and forest industry expanded extensively.     

Modeled Nitrogen Loading to Narragansett Bay: 1850 to 2015

Nutrient loading to estuaries with heavily populated watersheds can have profound ecological consequences. In evaluating policy options for managing nitrogen (N), it is helpful to understand current and historic spatial loading patterns to the system. We modeled N inputs to Narragansett Bay from 1850 to 2000, using data on population, human waste disposal, livestock, fertilizer, and atmospheric deposition. We found that total N loading to the bay increased 250% from 1850 to 2000, and 80% from 1900 to 2000. Loading to the upper bay increased far more than that to the lower bay, and the most important source shifted from non-point animal waste to human waste concentrated at sewage treatment facilities. We also modeled future N loads in 2015 under four management scenarios. Planned improvements in sewage treatment would reduce N loads 9% below business-as-usual, to the 1990 loading rate. Greater reductions, to circa 1900 rates of loading, may be possible.     

Decadal-scale autumn temperature reconstruction back to AD 1580 inferred from the varved sediments of Lake Silvaplana (southeastern Swiss Alps)

A quantitative high-resolution autumn (September-November) temperature reconstruction for the southeastern Swiss Alps back to AD 1580 is presented here. We used the annually resolved biogenic silica (diatoms) flux derived from the accurately dated and annually sampled sediments of Lake Silvaplana (46°27′N, 9°48′E, 1800 m a.s.l.). The biogenic silica flux smoothed by means of a 9-yr running mean was calibrated (r = 0.70, p < 0.01) against local instrumental temperature data (AD 1864-1949). The resulting reconstruction (± 2 standard errors = ± 0.7 °C) indicates that autumns during the late Little Ice Age were generally cooler than they were during the 20th century. During the cold anomaly around AD 1600 and during the Maunder Minimum, however, the reconstructed autumn temperatures did not experience strong negative departures from the 20th-century mean. The warmest autumns prior to 1900 occurred around AD 1770 and 1820 (0.75 °C above the 20th-century mean). Our data agree closely with two other autumn temperature reconstructions for the Alps and for Europe that are based on documentary evidence and are completely unrelated to our data, revealing a very consistent picture over the centuries.     

Spatial reconstruction of summer temperatures in Central Europe for the last 500 years using annually resolved proxy records: problems and opportunities

Most palaeoclimate studies in Central Europe, utilizing annually resolved proxies such as tree-ring and documentary sources to reconstruct past temperatures, have focused mainly upon single sites or regional studies. The combined information of published summer temperature reconstructions from the Alpine region show a generally coherent picture of cool conditions for the periods c. 1450-1475, 1575-1610, 1660-1710, 1800-1850 and 1875-1925. These reconstructed cool periods can be partly explained by external forcing (e.g. low solar activity and volcanic events). However, these reconstructions, in their present form, cannot be used to comparatively assess spatial summer temperature variability through the region due to methodological differences in their development and the fact that many of them were not originally developed to emphasize spatial patterns. We propose that a network of tree-ring chronologies which have been processed in a consistent way would allow the robust reconstruction of spatial summer temperature variability for high elevations in Central Europe. Unfortunately, most living tree-ring chronologies only go back into the 18th century - so restricting the length of reconstruction. As a possible solution, we introduce a historical database of ring-width series, measured from string instruments, that could be used to extend high elevation spruce chronologies in Central Europe back for at least 500 years.     

How cold was the Little Ice Age? A proxy-based reconstruction from Finland applying modern analogues of fossil midge assemblages

Climate dynamics during the past ca. 700 years in southern Finland were reconstructed using fossil midge (Diptera:Nematocera) assemblages aiming to estimate quantitatively the temperature change that has occurred from the Little Ice Age to the present. Midge stratigraphies of two sediment cores from eastern and southern Finland were chosen to be examined for temperature inferences utilizing the modern analogue technique. The new midge-based temperature inference model had a coefficient of determination of 0.901 and a prediction error of 0.498 °C, showing improvement over the previous Finnish models. The combined curve of the inferred temperatures derived from both of the cores showed a decrease towards ca. 1700 AD, when temperatures were approximately 1 °C cooler than the past 700 years average and almost 2 °C colder than present. The temperatures began to increase in southern Finland from 1800 AD and in eastern Finland from 1900 AD onwards. The highest temperatures were reached at the top of the core, representing the present climate warming. Although there was slight overestimation in the recent inferred values, the reconstructed trends were in close correspondence with the previous proxy-based, historical, and measured data that suggests that the reconstruction was realistic and reliable.     

中国历史耕地变化及其对自然环境的影响*

农业开发已经直接或间接地影响并正在影响自然环境的许多方面,中国农业开发历史悠久,对自然环境造成的影响广泛而强烈,对认识人类活动导致的全球与区域环境变化具有代表性。文中总结了近年来基于考古和历史文献记录的中国历史耕地变化定量重建和耕地开发环境影响的研究成果。主要结论包括: (1)中国在历史耕地变化重建方面具有独特的优势,主要数据源包括田亩、税赋、人口等与耕地数量相关的数值记录,考古遗址点、聚落、路网、行政建制等与农业活动相关的信息,有关土地开发和农业生产的描述性记录等三大类。 (2)对全国尺度的耕地面积推断始于春秋战国时期,过去1000年以来已重建了省(路)域的垦殖率,过去300年基于历史记录重建的东北、华北等区域垦殖率的分辨率已到县,在重建基础上利用分配模型获得的过去300年格网化垦殖率的分辨率可达10 km×10 km甚至1 km×1 km。相比于当前广泛使用的国际数据集,这些区域定量重建结果更为准确。(3)历史时期中国耕地的3次大规模扩张分别主要出现在西汉、两宋和清中叶,与此相对应,植被破坏和水土流失从北方地区扩展到南方地区,从平原低地扩展到低山丘陵、深山地区;过去300年耕地变化导致了碳排放的增加和可辨识的区域气候变化。未来中国的历史耕地变化重建及其对环境影响研究,应与国际过去土地利用/覆盖研究衔接,研究重点为延长历史耕地重建时限、提高重建单元的空间分辨率和改进耕地格网化分配模型。     

基于网格化模型的黑河流域中游历史时期耕地分布模拟

黑河流域悠久的农业开发史和历史文献为研究历史时期耕地空间分布格局变化提供了有利条件.根据黑河流域历史时期土地开发利用的特点,深入分析了海拔、坡度、土壤、人口等自然及人文主导因子与耕地分布的关系,遴选出对耕地分布具有明显作用且易量化的影响因子,并以此为依据设计了一套历史耕地数据网格化模型,模拟了黑河流域历史时期耕地分布趋势.采用人均耕地面积与粮食单产2种途径,估算了明代以前黑河中游耕地面积总量.基于该模型并结合古遗址、遥感影像判别的结果,重建了黑河流域中游地区明代以前耕地的空间分布.     

1800—1813年上海地区梅雨特征和汛期降水量的复原

私人日记是重建高分辨率历史天气气候序列的珍贵史料来源。以《查山学人日记》中的雨日记录为指标复原了日记史料相对缺乏的19世纪早期(1800—1813年)上海地区的梅雨特征,并将雨日区分为5个降水等级,同时将1951—1998年上海龙华站器测日降水量划分为与日记降水记录相匹配的5个降水等级,然后根据龙华站梅雨期、汛期各级雨日数与降水量之间的回归关系复原了1800—1813年的梅雨量和汛期降水量。结果显示:(1)1800—1813年的梅雨相对典型,平均入梅日期为6月10日,出梅日期7月7日,梅期雨日数20.1天,梅期长度27.1天,梅雨量257.3 mm,汛期降水量669.5 mm,与利用《雨雪分寸》重建的梅雨期大体一致,梅雨量有较大差异。(2)整体上看,该时段平均入、出梅日期比龙华站各年代有所提前,梅期雨日数和长度略有增加,梅雨量偏丰,梅雨强度偏强,汛期降水量在适中水平。梅雨特征量、汛期降水量与龙华站各年代不存在显著差异,与20世纪80、90年代最相近。(3)复原的“梅期雨日数、梅期长度”、汛期降水量与区域旱涝状况均有较好的对应关系,与东亚夏季风强弱变化指示的降水空间变化特征也比较相符,反映出文中所用的日记资料以及复原方法和结果具有较高的可靠性。     

小冰期气候的研究

本文总结分析了近年来国内外对小冰期气候的研究，对亚洲、欧洲、北美、南美、非洲、北极地区及南极洲的各种重建气温序列进行了整理。所有序列均取１０００－１９８９年每５０年的平均值(最后一个仅有４０年)，并统一对近千年平均求距平。发现１７世纪及１９世纪的冷期有很大普遍性。平均比２０世纪后半低１．０℃左右。火山活动与太阳活动(¹⁴Ｃ)指数及平均气温序列的相关系数分别为－０．４９及－０．７３，说明这两个因素可能是小冰期形成的原因。     

基于聚落考古信息的中国北方农牧交错带东段历史耕地覆盖格网化重建*

中国北方农牧交错带是半农半牧、时农时牧的地带,此类区域因其独特自然环境和社会经济发展过程,准确地重建耕地覆盖难度较大。采用能够指示农业活动时空位置的考古遗址信息重建历史耕地覆盖,是提高此类区域耕地覆盖重建结果可靠性的有效途径之一。本研究选择位于中国北方农牧交错带带宽最大的东段作为研究区,使用聚落考古信息与历史文献重建了辽、金、元、明4个时期5'×5'的耕地覆盖变化。结论如下: (1)从辽代至明代,研究区耕地面积总量减少了98.0%,元明时期的耕地显著少于辽金时期,表明该区发生了从半农半牧到牧业的根本转变。(2)辽代耕地分布范围最大,金代耕地分布范围有所缩小,辽金时期均呈现“插花式”的分布格局,元代耕地分布范围急剧缩减,至明代仅有零星耕地分布。(3)研究区耕地覆盖变化受气候变化和人文因素的双重影响。辽金时期,气候相对温暖湿润,统治者重视农业发展; 元明时期,气候寒冷干燥,民族习惯以牧为主。基于聚落考古信息重建的历史时期耕地覆盖,不仅再现了该区域“插花式”的耕地分布格局,还刻画了该区由农转牧的土地利用变化过程。     

阿拉善变质基底古元古代晚期的构造热事件

阿拉善地块可分为太古宙的叠布斯格杂岩(岩群)、古元古代的巴彦乌拉山杂岩(岩组)和古-中元古代的阿拉善杂岩(岩群)、波罗斯坦庙片麻杂岩和毕级格台片麻杂岩。太古宙的叠布斯格岩群和片麻岩中的锆石记录了1926Ma和1802Ma的变质事件年龄,角闪石记录了1918Ma的变质事件年龄,斜长石记录了1722Ma的冷却年龄。同时,在波罗斯坦庙变形的片麻状杂岩中的锆石记录了1839Ma的岩浆事件年龄。该区古元古代晚期的构造热事件,可初步将划分为2000～1900Ma的早期事件和1850～1800Ma的晚期事件,并在时间和特点上与大青山-集宁-大同一带变质地体中广泛发育古元古代晚期的岩浆-变质事件非常相似,进而表明,华北克拉通西部陆块中的古元古代晚期造山带(孔兹岩带)向西可延伸到阿拉善东部地区。     

Younger Dryas cirque glaciers in western Spitsbergen: smaller than during the Little Ice Age

The outermost moraines in front of the Scottbreen glacier in Spitsbergen date from c . AD 1900. These moraines rest on top of a marine shoreline radiocarbon-dated to about 11 200 ¹⁴C yr BP and demonstrate that the AD-1900 moraines show the maximum glacier extent since late Allerød time. This means that Scottbreen was smaller during the Younger Dryas than at AD 1900, in contrast with glaciers on mainland western Europe, which were all much larger during the Younger Dryas. The explanation is probably starvation of precipitation on western Spitsbergen during the Younger Dryas. In contrast, ice sheets and glaciers in Spitsbergen reacted more or less in concert with glaciers in western Europe, during the global Last Glacial Maximum and the Little Ice Age.     

Mid to Late Holocene hydroclimatic and geochemical records from the varved sediments of East Lake,Cape Bounty,Canadian High Arctic

A long sedimentary sequence from East Lake, Cape Bounty, Melville Island (74°55′N; 109°30′W) contains a 4200 year-long clastic varved record of paleohydrologic variations at high resolution. Sedimentary elemental geochemistry from micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) and sediment fabric variability reflect changes in sediment sources and lacustrine conditions through time. The sedimentary environment progressed from marine in the mid-Holocene, to estuarian from 2195 BC to 243 AD, to fully lacustrine source after 244 AD. Correlation with local meteorological data indicates that varve thickness (VT) is positively correlated with snow depth on May 1st and negatively correlated with mean Sept–May temperatures. Our paleoclimatic reconstruction from VT series revealed high snow accumulation and warm Sept–May months before 1350 BC, and a period of low snow accumulation and cold Sept–May between 1600–1900 AD that may correspond to the Little Ice Age. The general trends of VT series from Cape Bounty are in phase with the δ¹⁸O series in Agassiz Ice Cap, and in anti-phase with the VT series from Lower Murray Lake in the northeastern of Queen’s Elizabeth Islands (QEI). Low mean Arctic temperatures coincide with clusters of high sediment yield events at East, Nicolay and South Sawtooth Lakes, especially during 1600–1750 AD and 1810–1910 AD. The East Lake record also exhibits the signature of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) for periods: 600–850 AD, 1400–1550 AD and 1750–1850 AD.     

基于遥感与GIS的20世纪90年代中国城镇用地时空特征

文章利用20世纪90年代初期、中期和末期全国1:100000土地利用动态变化数据提取城镇用地动态变化数据,利用单元自动机和人工神经网络模型对全国城镇用地进行了区划.在此基础上,研究了90年代两个阶段中国城镇用地时空格局.研究表明:90年代前5年东部沿海地区受经济高速发展和开放政策的影响,城镇用地扩展迅速,中西部地区城镇用地扩展较慢;90年代后5年国家加大了耕地资源保护力度,在政府宏观调控政策和耕地资源保护条例的影响下,东部沿海地区城镇用地扩展大幅回落,中部地区城镇扩展也有较大幅度回落,西部地区随着经济发展加快,城镇用地扩展回落较小.     

历史时期土地利用变化研究方法综述

历史时期土地利用/覆盖变化一直是国际关注的热点问题之一。研究历史时期土地利用/覆盖变化,不但可以认识和理解陆地表层景观环境在过去的变化过程,而且对当前的土地利用方式或预测未来土地利用/覆盖变化和发展都有重要的指导意义。依据使用的主要数据源、处理方法和研究思路,从历史文档资料、古地图、考察/调查报告、模型模拟与综合多源信息和多学科知识的方法等5个方面综述国内外历史时期土地利用变化研究方法的现状。根据不同数据源的特性,探讨分析利用不同方法开展历史时期土地利用变化研究的优缺点及其不确定性:①历史文档资料种类繁多,包含的信息量巨大,但存在很多噪音和遗漏,且缺乏直观的空间信息;②古地图可以提供比较直观的空间位置信息,但是历史时期的绘图技术落后,且土地利用类别划分较粗;③过去的野外考察/调查资料记录比较规范,但时空尺度较小,难以满足较早时期的研究需要;④利用模型进行模拟研究可选择的时空尺度范围较大,但模型的选择和建立比较复杂,对驱动数据和初始值要求较高。最后,提出只有综合多源信息和多学科的知识才能比较完整地理解历史时期土地利用变化过程,融合多源信息和多学科知识的方法将是今后进行历史时期土地利用变化研究的主要思路。     

Continental cloudiness changes this century

Surface-based observations of total cloud amount have been collected from historical records for four continents: North America, Europe, India and Australia. The records extend from 1900 to around 1985. Of the 350 individual station records investigated worldwide, 86% show an increase in total cloud amount or no change. In all four continents there is evidence of an increase in total cloud amount. This upward trend appears to be statistically significant for at least two regions: North America Australia. For North America this finding is corroborated by other recent studies.     

以ArcView3．2为平台的砂岩铀矿勘查信息系统

本系统以地理信息系统软件ArcView3．2为开发平台，应用ArcView3．2提供了AVENUE语言进行二次开发，对砂岩铀矿勘查中取得的各种数据、图件、分析结果和一些空间数据分析方法及综合评价模型进行集成；在继承ArcView3．2已有功能的基础上，根据多源地学信息管理和综合评价的需要，在平台内通过AVENUE语言编写程序代码增添新的系列功能并形成友好的用户操作界面，更好地实现数据库管理、信息查询、图形编辑、地质制图、空间分析、模型分析和各种输出功能。     

Environmental changes and the Migration Period in northern Germany as reflected in the sediments of Lake Dudinghausen

Paleolimnological techniques were used to identify environmental changes in and around Lake Dudinghausen (northern Germany) over the past 4800 yr. Diatom-inferred total phosphorus (DI-TP) changes identify four phases of high nutrient levels (2600-2200 BC, 1050-700 BC, 500 BC-AD 100 and AD 1850-1970). During these high DI-TP phases, fossil pollen, sediment geochemistry and archaeological records indicate human activities in the lake catchment. Although the same paleo-indicators suggest increased human settlement and agriculture activity during the late Slavonic Age, the Medieval Time and the Modern Time (AD 1000-1850), DI-TP levels were low during this period. In the sediments, iron and total phosphorus were high from ∼AD 100 to 1850, likely due to increased inflow of iron-rich groundwater into the lake. Increased iron input would have lead to a simultaneous binding and precipitation of phosphate in the upper sediment and overlying water column. As a result, anthropogenic impact on Lake Dudinghausen was masked by these phosphorus-controlling processes from AD 1000 to 1850 and was not evident by means of DI-TP. In accordance with fossil pollen, sediment geochemistry and limited archaeological records, DI-TP levels were low from AD 100-1000. Groundwater levels likely rose during this period as the climate gradually changed toward colder and/or moister conditions. Such climate change likely led to reduced settlement activities and forest regeneration in the catchment area. Our results are concordant with similar studies from central Europe which indicate rapid decreasing settlement activities from AD 100 to 1000.