Progress and prospects of applied research on physical geography and the living environment in China over the past 70 years (1949–2019)

Physical geography is a basic research subject of natural sciences.Its research object is the natural environment which is closely related to human living and development,and China's natural environment is complex and diverse.According to national needs and regional development,physical geographers have achieved remarkable achievements in applied basis and applied research,which also has substantially contributed to the planning of national economic growth and social development,the protection of macro ecosystems and resources,and sustainable regional development.This study summarized the practice and application of physical geography in China over the past 70 years in the following fields:regional differences in natural environments and physical regionalization;land use and land cover changes;natural hazards and risk reduction;process and prevention of desertification;upgrading of medium-and low-yield fields in the Huang-Huai-Hai region;engineering construction in permafrost areas; geochemical element anomalies and the prevention and control of endemic diseases;positioning and observation of hysical geographical elements;and identification of geospatial differentiation and geographical detectors. Furthermore, we have proposed the future direction of applied research in the field of physical geography.     

河套地区新生代湖泊演化与“吉兰泰-河套”古大湖形成机制的初步研究

研究发现,河套地区在距今5～6万年前存在一个统一的"吉兰泰-河套"古大湖,覆盖吉兰泰和河套盆地的大部分地区。本研究试图依据钻孔资料和湖泊沉积物的测年结果,讨论新生代以来河套盆地的湖泊演化和古大湖的形成机制。结果表明,新生代以来,特别是早更新世以来吉兰泰盆地和河套平原的3个坳陷盆地就已经处于湖泊环境,但没有证据显示存在统一的湖泊。湖泊沉积及其OSL测年显示,"吉兰泰-河套"古大湖大约在距今10万年前后开始发育,至距今5～6万年之前湖面达到海拔1080m上下,随后湖泊衰退。我们认为,鄂尔多斯高原东北边缘距今12万年前后开始的快速构造隆升,可能导致了晋陕峡谷黄河外流受阻,最终在河套盆地积水形成统一湖泊,末次冰期中期(深海氧同位素3阶段)相对湿润的气候环境进一步促进了"吉兰泰-河套"古大湖的发育。     

中国黄土和阿拉斯加黄土磁化率气候记录的两种模式探讨

在中国和中欧黄土-古土壤研究中发现的磁化率与成壤作用(或古气候温湿程度)的正相关性已被第四纪科学家广泛认识,并应用于古气候研究中.成壤过程形成的亚铁磁性矿物被认为是古土壤磁化率增加的主要原因;然而,这一模式并不一定适用于其他黄土沉积地区,如阿拉斯加和西伯利亚黄土沉积显示了一个完全相反的磁化率行为,即在黄土层获高磁化率值而在古土壤层获低磁化率.这种相反的关系过去被解释为磁化率反映的是与风动力吹来的亚铁磁性矿物的含量,即与风速或风力大小有关.本研究发现阿拉斯加黄土与古土壤的磁性矿物性质有明显差异,不仅仅是粒径的大小,还有磁性矿物的种类即矿物相的差别.这一证据很难单纯以风力强度的大小来解释,意味着阿拉斯加古土壤的低磁化率至少部分是在成壤过程中亚铁磁性矿物发生改变(如溶解)而造成,表明阿拉斯加黄土和中国黄土的磁化率与古气候记录可能存在两种模式,即氧化和还原条件下的成土模式.黄土磁化率在不同的气候(温度湿度)条件下有着不同的对应关系:在低降水量、高蒸发量的干旱氧化成壤条件下,利于亚铁磁性矿物的生成,其磁化率与古气候的关系呈正相关,如中国和中亚黄土;在高纬高湿的还原成壤条件下,亚铁磁性矿物会被破坏被分解,其磁化率与古气候呈负相关关系,如阿拉斯加黄土.如果成壤条件在氧化和还原之间来回变换,那么就很难找到两者之间的联系.因此,将磁化率应用于古气候的重建时要加倍的小心.     

Relationships between chironomids and water depth in Bosten Lake,Xinjiang, northwest China

A significant relationship between the distribution and abundance of chironomids and water depth has long been recognized. Few studies on this topic, however, have been carried out in arid regions where the chironomid community is usually controlled by water salinity. Bosten Lake, northwest China, the largest inland freshwater lake (~1,260 km²) in the country, provides a unique opportunity to investigate this relationship in an arid region. A total of 42 surface sediment samples from water depths of 0.9–17.0 m, and 12 chironomid taxa, were used in the analysis. The first principal component analysis (PCA) axis explained 59.3 % of the variance in the chironomid assemblage and there was a significant correlation between PCA axis 1 scores and water depth (R² = 0.84, P < 0.001). The chironomid assemblages change significantly at 8.0 m water depth. This threshold corresponds to an abrupt change in the basin slope and the spatial distribution of aquatic vascular plants. Redundancy analysis showed that abundances of Chironomus plumosus-type, Microchironomus and Cryptochironomus are positively correlated with water depth, whereas abundances of Tanytarsus, Polypedilum nubifer-type, Cricotopus and Psectrocladius sordidellus-type are negatively correlated with water depth. These ecological relationships are supported by published data. Qualitative chironomid-inferred changes in lake level and diatom-inferred changes in salinity from sediment core BSTC001 were compared. Close agreement in trends for these two variables validates the use of chironomid assemblages to study palaeo-hydrological variability in this westerlies-dominated, arid region of central Asia.     

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic study of carbonate along a loess/paleosol section in Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, on the southeastern edge of the Chinese Loess Plateau

Studies of carbonate carbon isotope of loess/paleosol (δ¹³C_carb) in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) have shown δ¹³C_carb less negative in loess and more negative in paleosol, which is opposite to that of bulk organic matter. Although some mechanisms have been proposed to explain this inconsistency, few studies have been conducted to investigate how carbonate migration could affect the reliability of utilizing δ¹³C_carb as an effective indicator. Here, a loess/paleosol profile with a nodule horizon intercalated in the loess layer, located on the southeastern edge of the CLP, was investigated to understand the influence of carbonate eluviation and reprecipitation on δ¹³C_carb along the section. The mean grain size and magnetic susceptibility generally conform to the field observed loess/paleosol stratigraphy. However, carbonate content shows distinct differences in the two sides of the nodule horizon, clearly indicating eluviation along the section. The variation of carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of soil carbonate (δ¹³C_SC and δ¹⁸O_SC) and nodule carbonate (δ¹³C_NC and δ¹⁸O_NC) along the profile does not present a clearly meaningful picture. Generally, δ¹³C_SC and δ¹⁸O_SC have a similar change trend along the profile and are positively correlated, but there is no apparent relationship between δ¹³C_NC and δ¹⁸O_NC. More importantly, δ¹⁸O_NC values fall in the range of δ¹⁸O_SC, whereas δ¹³C_NC values are much more positive than δ¹³C_SC. Detailed analyses of the data indicate migration of carbonate along the profile, which is an important factor that determines that loess/paleosol δ¹³C_carb could not be employed as a high-resolution paleovegetational and paleoenvironmental indicator in the CLP, at least on or below the glacial/interglacial scales.     

Increased water vapor supply in winter and spring leading to the arid Central Asian wetting in last 6000 years

Science China Earth Sciences - Paleoclimate reconstructions show that the arid Central Asia (ACA) is characterized by a wetting trend from the mid-Holocene (MH) to the Preindustrial period (PI),...     

Information geography: The information revolution reshapes geography

The information revolution has been one of the driving forces to the innovation in geography. However, environmental remote sensing, geographic information science and technology, and geocomputing, which once resided within the family of geography, are gradually moving close to information science but are alienated from geography. Therefore, it is necessary to reexamine the interactive convergence of geography and information science, and advance the disciplinary system of geographic science to accommodate the researches with information as subjects and methods. In this paper, we propose to reformulate the relationship between geographic science and information science with a new discipline, i.e., information geography, which not only refers to the geography of information but also a methodological system for studying geography using information science.This paper summarizes the background of information geography’s emergence, its definition, and the difference and similarities with other disciplinary concepts. The impact of information geography on geographic paradigm shift is also investigated from the ontological, epistemological, and methodological perspectives.     

1949年以前青藏高原探险和科学考察活动概况

本文收集整理了1949年以前对青藏高原区域的主要探险和考察活动。青藏高原的探险和考察主要可划分为4个阶段：① 古代主要是与国内外宗教活动相关的附带零星记录;② 晚清时期主要是西方人以科学名义的初步科学考察;③ 1912—1949年中外联合科学考察; ④ 1912—1949年中国学者主导的较系统科学考察。清代以前对青藏高原的考察,以地理现象描述、资料收集、单学科考察和研究为主,1912—1949年科学考察已过渡到采用简易科学仪器进行地理要素的测量、对某一专题（如植物）的局部区域有了比较深入的研究。1912—1949年中国学者从配合西方科学家开展联合科学考察发展到政府组织国内学者对青藏高原地理、地貌、地质和气象气候、植物等的考察和研究,中国学者的一些成果也开始走向国际,扩大了国内外对青藏高原的认识。     

Disciplinary structure of geographic science in China

Journal of Geographical Sciences - International and domestic circumstances have led to new opportunities and higher requirements for the development of geographic science in China. In this paper,...