Luminescence dating of sand–loess sequences and response of Mu Us and Otindag sand fields (north China) to climatic changes

The sand–loess transition zone in north China is sensitive to climate change, and is an ideal place to investigate past environmental changes. However, past climate change at millennial–centennial timescales in this region has not been well reconstructed because of limited numerical dating. Alternations of sandy loam soils with aeolian sand layers in the Mu Us and Otindag sand fields, which lie along the sand–loess transition zone, indicate multiple intervals of dune activity and stability. This change is probably a response to variations of the East Asian monsoon climate during the late Quaternary. The single aliquot regeneration (SAR) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating protocol, which has been successfully applied to aeolian deposits worldwide, is applied to these two sand fields in this study. The OSL ages provide reliable constraints for reconstruction of past climate changes at suborbital timescale. Sections in both sand fields contain aeolian sand beds recording millennial‐scale episodes of dry climate and widespread dune activation, including episodes at about the same time as Heinrich Event 5 and the Younger Dryas in the North Atlantic region. These results demonstrate the potential of aeolian sediments in semi‐arid north China to record millennial‐scale climatic events, and also suggest that dry–wet climate variation at the desert margin in China may be linked to climatic change elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, through atmospheric circulation. This article was published online on 27 November 2008. An error was subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected (16 December 2008). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Runoff responses to afforestation in a watershed of the Loess Plateau,China

Afforestation has been suggested as a means of improving soil and water conservation in north‐western China, especially on the Loess Plateau. Understanding of the hydrological responses to afforestation will help us develop sustainable watershed management strategies. A study was conducted during the period of 1956 to 1980 to evaluate runoff responses to afforestation in a watershed on the Loess Plateau with an area of 1·15 km², using a paired watershed approach. Deciduous trees, including locust (locusta L.), apricot (praecox L.) and elm (ulmus L.), were planted on about 80% of a treated watershed, while a natural grassland watershed remained unchanged. It was estimated that cumulative runoff yield in the treated watershed was reduced by 32% as a result of afforestation. A significant trend was also observed that shows annual runoff reduction increases with the age of the trees planted. Reduction in monthly runoff occurred mainly from June to September, which was ascribed to greater rainfall and utilization by trees during this period. Afforestation also resulted in reduction in the volume and peak flow of storm runoff events in the treated watershed with greater reduction in peak flow. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

南极乔治王岛长城湾沿岸固定冰中有色层生态观察

自1988年11月至1989年3月,对南极乔治王岛的长城湾沿岸水域中的海洋生物和环境因子进行了调查,1988年11月20日在2号站采得的冰芯中部有一层约5cm的棕色层,而1988年11月17日、20日和26日在5号站采得的冰芯样中有二层棕色层。固定冰中叶绿素a浓度范围在2.55～56.8mg/m~3之间,而且大部分含量集中在海冰的中间层中,而不象其它海区如昭和、戴维斯、凯西和麦克默多等站,大部分叶绿素a集中在海冰的底部,造成这种差别的原因、可能是由于海冰的结构和形成过程不同所致。     

Short-term Climate Characteristics at Ny-(A)lesund over the Arctic Tundra Area

Based on the Germany Koldwey Station's 1994-2003 conventional observation hourly data, this paper conducts a statistical analysis on the short-term climate characteristics for an arctic tundra region (Ny-(A)lesund island) where our first arctic expedition station (Huanghe Station) was located. Affected by the North Atlantic warming current, this area has a humid temperate climate, and the air temperature at Ny-(A)lesund rose above 0 ℃ even during deep winter season during our research period. The wind speed in this area was low and appeared most at southeast direction. We find that the temperature at Ny-(A)lesund rose in the faster rate (0.68 ℃/10 a) than those at the whole Arctic area. Compared with the floating ices where our expedition conducted in the Arctic, Ny-(A)lesund was warmer and more humid and had lower wind speed. Comparison of the near surface air temperature derived by NCEP/NCAR reanalysis to the conventional measurements conducted at the Koldwey site in Ny-(A)lesund area shows a good agreement for winter season and a significant difference for summer season.     

CygX—1硬态高能光子的时延

硬X射线和软射线光子的时延时研究主能辐射的一个重要方面，傅里叶交叉谱常常被用于教育处硬软光子之间的时延，但是交叉说示能在高于30Hz的傅里叶频率上从CygX-1测量到有统计意义的快速光变，由李惕培在时域上发展的交叉相关函方法能有效测量不同时间尺度上的时延，利用此交叉相关分析方法，讨论了不同观测时期CygX-1硬态高能光子时延 的性质，分析结果表明，CygX-1硬态在短的尺度（＜0．1秒）上存存在有意义的时间延迟，并将短时间尺度上的观测结果和各种CygX-1硬态模型进行了比较讨论。     

中国东部第四纪自然环境演化及庐山“冰碛层”堆积时期的自然环境研究

根据第四纪地层内孢粉组合和动物群等新资料恢复了我国东部各大区域第四纪各个时期的自然环境特征,其温暖期与干冷期的交替与深海沉积O~(18)温度变化趋势大致对应。庐山三次“冰期冰碛层”内孢粉组合表明均为温暖湿润针阔叶混交林景观,而不是寒冷的冰川环境。     

TL dating of loess in China

TL ages of 56 loess samples collected from Xinjiang and the middle reaches of the Yellow River were determined by using fine-grained quartz and man-made light source bleaching techniques.The results indicate that :1.The well-preserved loess sections in Xinjiang began depositing 400000 a ago.The loess/paleosol series may be comparable with that observed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River but the depositing time was probably delayed by 30000-50000a.2.The bottom boundary age of the Malan loess varies from one place to another.The TL dates can be divided into two group:70000-130000 a and 30000-50000 a.The TL data are con-sistent with the appearance of two warmer climate periods since the Pleistocene,indicating obvious regional differences in stratigraphic development of loess,i.e.,paleosol occurred in the warm climate period in the same location,but loess was deposited in other locations.The initial age of loess deposition tends to become older from west to east and from south to north .In contrast ,the cold cli-matic belt showed an opposite trend.The TL ages of loess provide strong evidence for the Quaternary stratigraphy throughout geological times and the shift tendency of climatic belt.3.The depositing rate of the Malan loess along the middle reaches of the Yellow River varies from place to place but the TL age shows a linear relationship with the depositing thickness.The de-positing rate of loess in the north is higher than that in the south,suggesting that loess materials are derived from desert areas of northern China.     

Cosmological implications of BL Lac objects

It has become clear in recent years that relativistic beaming is a good explanation for the BL Lac phenomenon. Of studies based on the relativistic beaming model of BL Lac objects, we note that the orientation of jet's axis to the line-of-sight is very small and, therefore, the observed flux emitted from a rapidly moving source is orders of magnitude higher than the flux in its rest-frame:F _obs = ^{3 +} F _intr, where is the bulk relativistic Doppler factor. Then the observed apparent magnitudem _v must be corrected for this effect. For our 39 samples, the corrected apparent magnitudem _v ^corr and logZ have a good correlation.     

Neutrino mass,luminosity variation,and spectrum of SN1987A

In this paper, the neutrino mass has been determined from SN1987a observation in a manner that the simultaneity of neutrino emission is not regarded as the starting point, but is itself defined through the analysis by Monte-Carlo simulation. The result is that the neutrino mass lies in 3–4 eV, possiblym _v 3.6 eV. Neutrino luminosity variation and neutrino spectrum are also obtained. Comparison with theories gives further support to the mass determination, and also predicts the mass of progenitor star of SN1987a to be in the range of 12–25M .The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

遗迹化石在层序地层学研究中的应用

以济阳坳陷古近系沙河街组和塔里木盆地志留系为例,探讨了遗迹化石与层序地层学的关系,表现在3个方面:1)层序界面的识别层序界面位置发育有特征性的受基底控制的遗迹相,且界面上下遗迹组合类型发生变化;2)准层序界面的识别较深水环境中,界面上下生物扰动强度明显差异,界面之下扰动强度较大,扰动指数可达到3,而界面之上几乎没有生物扰动,且在同一准层序内部,由下至上,扰动强度逐渐增大;3)旋回层序的识别:在潮控滨线环境中,单个准层序内部,由下至上,高能环境的Skolithos遗迹组合逐渐变为中低能环境的Planolites-Palaeophycus遗迹组合和低能环境的Cochlichnus-Planolites遗迹组合,由下至上呈现旋回性变化特征。