Preliminary study on the spore-pollen assemblages found in the Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in Grove Mountains, east Antarctica and its climatic implications

Glaciogene sedimentary rocks have been found in modem tills of the Grove Mountains, east Antarctica during the 1998 - 1999 Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition （CHNARE）. Based on the lithilogic and sedimentary features, these sedimentary rocks are correlated with Cenozoic sedimentary strata of the Pagodroma Group in the neighboring Prince Charles Mountains and the Sorsdal Formation in VestFold Hills. Sedimentary clasts contain sparsely Late Tertiary spores and pollens, including ： Toroisporis （ Lygodiaceae）, Osmunda, Granulatisporites （ Pteridaceae？） , Polypodiaceae, Podocarpus , Araucariaceae, Artemisia , Rhus , Nothofagidites , Proteacidites （Proteaceae） , Quercus , Fraxinoipollenites （ Oleaceae ） , Oleoidearumpollenites（ Oleaceae ）, Operculumpollis, and Tricolpopollenites. Most of the pollen and spores contained in these samples originate from local sources according to the conditions of their preservations as well as correlations with the microfossil assemblages found in the neighboring areas. The majority of the pollen assemblages, as represented by Podocarpus and Nothofagus, belong to the Weddellian biogeocenose, however some exotic components from the old sedimentary basement rocks may have been included during erosion of the proximal ice sheet. If the source areas of glaciogenic sedimentary rocks that bear the pollen and spores are assumed to be local, or in the up glacier areas, the pollen assemblages in these samples might represent an inland flora during a warmer period of the ice-sheet evolutionary history. The finding of the Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae in the pollen assemblages implies that they may belong to late Tertiary （most probably Pliocene）. The absence of diatoms in the samples analyzed may indicate that there are no Cenozoic marine strata in the interior of the east Antarctica beyond the Grove Mountains. The significances of the finding of the Nothofagus in these pollen assemblages are discussed on the basis of current knowledge about the age, distribution and ecological conditions of this kind of fossils found in Sirius Group or other strata outcropped in Antarctica. As a preliminary conclusion, we think that the existence of the Cenozoic glaciogenenic rocks and their pollen assemblages present new evidence for a large scale glacial retreat history in Grove Mountains of east Antarctica, and thus support a dynamic East Antarctic Ice Sheet （EAIS）. This is consistent with the interpretations of Webb et al. （1984）.     

Androecium of Archaefructus,the Late Jurassic Angioperms from Western Liaoning,China

Androecium of the earliest known flowering plant Archaefructus liaoningensis was found from the Upper Jurassic Jianshangou Formation of western Liaoning, China. The androecium consists of numerous stamens bearing in pair on the re-productive axes below conduplicate carpels. The stamens are composed of a short filament and basifixed anther for each. Mo-nosulcate pollen in situ are found from the anthers. The characters of the androecium reveals that Archaefructus are probably protandrous, and the paired stamens and monosulcate pollen appear to indicate that Archaefructus, as primitive angiosperms, might be derived from extinct seed-ferns during the Older Mesozoic. Archaefructus is considered Late Jurassic in age.     

Seasonal variations of phosphorus species in the Tuohe River,China. Part Ⅰ. Sediments

Sediment cores were collected at an upstream site(Jintang) and a downstream site(Neijiang) in summer and winter in the Tuohe River, which is one of the five largest tributaries of the Changjiang(Yangtze) River in China. A sequential leaching procedure was applied to determine the concentrations of the different forms of solid phosphorus, including exchangeable phosphorus(Exc-P) as well as phosphorus associated with iron oxides(Fe-P), with aluminum oxides(Al-P), with apatite(Ca-P) and with the residual fraction(Res-P), as correlated with water content and total organic carbon. The seasonal variations and the vertical distributions of phosphorus species in sediments at both sampling sites demonstrated that: 1) total phosphorus(TP) in summer and winter were ranged between 1 313–2 330, 1 491–2 228 mg/kg in Jintang and 543–2 128, 603–1 175 mg/kg in Neijiang, respectively. It can predicated the pollution of TP in Jintang is serious than that in Neijiang both in summer and winter; 2) total inorganic phosphorus(TIP) was the dominant form of TP; 3) Ca-P was the main chemical forms of TIP in the sediments. Based on the profiles in sediments and bio-available phosphorus data, it revealed that bio-available phosphorus(BAP) represented only a minor portion(0.61%–3.59%) of TP, and the vertical distribution of soluble reactive phosphorus(SRP) in corresponding porewaters was more abundant in the upper layer of the sediment, which suggests that BAP may be converted to non-bioavailable phosphorus in deeper layer of the sediment of this dynamic system.     

Recent Changes Occurred in the Terminus of the Debris-covered Bilafond Glacier in the Karakoram Himalayas Using Remotely Sensed Images and Digital Elevation Models (1978-2011)

Recent changes occurred in terminus of the debris-covered Bilafond Glacier in the Karakoram Range in the Himalayas, Northern Pakistan was investigated in this research. Landsat MSS, TM and ETM＋ images were used for this study. Digital elevation models derived from ASTER GDEM and SRTM were also utilized. Visible, infrared and thermal infrared channels were utilized in order to get accurate glacier change maps. Three methods were tried to map this debris-covered glacier in this research. The glacier has been mapped successfully and the changes in the glacier terminus from 1978 to 2011 have been calculated. Manual, semi-automatic and thermal methods were found to give similar results. It was found that the glacier has undergone serious ablation during this period despite of the fact that many of the larger glaciers in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain regions in the Upper Indus Basin were reported to be expanding. The terminus has been moved back about 600 meters during this period and there was an abrupt change in the glacier terminus during 1990-2002. We propose that debris thickness is not the only factor that influences the glacier ablation but the altitude of the debris-covered glacier as well. Many glaciers in the Karakoram region reported to be expanding were having higher altitudes compared to the study area.     

Palynoflora of Wulaga dinosaur site in Jiayin （ Zeya-Bureya Basin,China）

The palynological assemblage from Wulaga dinosaur site in Jiayin from southeastern Zeya-Bureya Basin was studied. The high content of pteridophytes spores is characteristic for this assemblage. The further characters are in decrease of abundance-tricolpate pollen, Ginkgocycadophytus, pollen of Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae and Taxaceae （TCT） , bisaccate pollen of Pinaceae, and triporate pollen. The bone-bearing burials of Wulaga dinosaur site formed under conditions of vast swampy river valley covered by ferns and taxodialeans. Tricolpate pollen, produced by plants, close to those of Platanaceae, Fagaceae, Betulaceae, and Juglandaceae, counts in favor of valley river open canopy forests.     

Response of Cultural Lake Eutrophication to Hemp-retting in Quidenham Mere of England in Post-Medieval

To study the influence of human activity on natural lake, chironomid fauna change in the 700–560cm lake sediment in Quidenham Mere of England associated with chironomid inferred TP presented that the lake experienced a whole eutrophication process due to human hemp-retting in Post-Medieval based on the history record and pollen analysis, which was confirmed by mollusc and ostracod analysis. However, the response of chironomid and mollusc to retting was the strongest with ostracod a little behind. It proved that cultural eutrophication existed in history and could be recovered by itself despite of some long-term unachievable destroy. And it was most important for external nutrient to be cut off during lake restoration even in ancient times.     

Controls on geomorphic characteristics of the Xiaohei River basin in the upper Lancang-Mekong,China

Understanding the evolution of the fluvial geomorphology in an orogenic belt provides valuable insight into the relationship between upper crustal deformation and surface processes.The upper Lancang-Mekong River is in an area experiencing both uplift and erosion.The related processes provide a steady sediment supply to the lower reaches of the river and play an important role in the regional environmental changes.The Xiaohei(Weiyuan)River Basin is an important sub-basin in this area,which is characterized by large-scale topographic fluctuations,active tectonics and erosion,and anthropogenic activities.These different factors introduce numerous complexities to the local surface processes.In this study,we investigate and quantify the controls of geomorphic evolution of the Xiaohei River Basin.We located and mapped the main knick-zones within the channels and examined the main genetic factors,such as faults and stratigraphic differences.The results show that the areas with the lowest uplift rates are characterized by a low steepness index and are located in the southeastern part of the basin.The stream power of the mainstream increases downstream,with an average value of^122 W/m.The erosional activity of the various stream channels is intense.Overall,the basin tends to expansion,with only local instances of inward contraction.Our analysis confirms that a number of the geomorphic evolutionary characteristics of the Xiaohei River Basin are transient.In addition,the future potential for the increasing the number of dams and the hydropower development in the basin may weaken the expansion trend of the basin over a long period of time.     

The Appearance of Ulva laetevirens（Ulvophyceae,Chlorophyta） in the Northeast Coast of the United States of America

Introduced species may outcompete or hybridize with native species, resulting in the loss of native biodiversity or even alteration of ecosystem processes. In this study, we reported an alien distromatic Ulva species, which was found in an embayment（Holly Pond） connected with Long Island Sound, USA. The morphological and anatomical observations in combination with molecular data were used for its identification to species. Anatomy of collected specimens showed that the cell shape in rhizoidal and basal regions was round and the marginal teeth along the basal and median region were not found. These characteristics were primarily identical to the diagnostic characteristics of Ulva laetevirens Areschoug（Chlorophyta）. The plastid-encoding tufA and nucleus-encoding ITS1 were used for its molecular identification. Phylogenetic analysis for the tufA gene placed the specimens from Holly Pond in a well-supported clade along with published sequences of U. laetevirens identified early without any sequence divergence. In ITS tree, the sample also formed well-supported clades with the sequences of U. laetevirens with an estimated sequence divergence among the taxa in these clades as low as 1%. These findings confirmed the morpho-anatomical conclusion. Native to Australia, this species was reported in several countries along the Mediterranean coast after the late of 1990 s. This is the first time that U. laetevirens is found in the northeast coast of United States and the second record for Atlantic North America.     

Changes of taxonomical composition of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous palynofloras of Bureya Basin,Russia

The changes of taxonomical composition of the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous palynofloras are revealed,in the upper stream of Bureya River in Bureya Basin.The palynofloras are dominated as follows:the Berriasian one by ferns(Cyatheaceae,Dicksoniaceae,Osmundaceae),Classopollis and bisaccate pollen;the Valanginian-Hauterivian one by ferns(Cyatheaceae,Dicksoniaceae),Ginkgocycadophytus and bisaccate pollen;the Barremian one by ferns(Cyatheaceae,Dicksoniaceae);the Aptian one by ferns(Cyatheaceae,Dicksoniaceae,Gleicheniaceae) and Ginkgocycadophytus;and the Albian one by ferns(Schizaeaceae) and bisaccate pollen.In the Albian the floral diversity raises with the angiosperms appearing.     

SR-XRF analysis of Polytrichum in the Fildes Peninsula,Antarctica

In order to study the element contents and distribution of various mosses collected in the Antarctica, we analyzed the heavy elements of 3 species of Polytri-chum in the Fildes Peninsula, P. alpinum, P. juniperinum and P. alpestre, by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence ( SR-XRF). The result shows that the elements, such as K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Sr, are nearly the same in Potytrichum. The peak intensity of K is higher than that of Ca, and the peak intensity of Ca is higher than that of Fe in P. alpinum. In P. juniperinum, the peak intensity of K is higher than that of Ca, and the peak intensity of Ca is close to that of Fe. The peak intensity of K is nearly equal to those of Ca and Fe in P. alpestre. Therefore, the habitats of 3 species of Polytrichum are similar in the Fildes Peninsula. By XRF analyzing of different parts of P. alpestre, we found that the peak intensities of relative concentration of elements are obviously different. The peak intensity of K in apical-bud is the highest in orga     

四川红原日干乔泥炭剖面中的孢粉记录及古植被演化

通过对四川红原日干乔泥炭剖面的孢粉研究,建立了4个孢粉组合带。自13.6ka以来,日干乔地区古气候经历了以下演化阶段:13.688～11.093ka以温湿气候为主,11.093～8.512ka气候较为干旱,2.74～5.39ka,8.512～5ka气候转暖,温和湿润,5ka至今,该地区气候环境最好,温暖湿润。孢粉组合特征显示该区在此阶段总体为温湿的草原环境,孢粉记录反应了红原县日干乔地区第四纪更新世经历了潮湿—干燥—潮湿的气候变化过程。     

Palynoflora of Wulaga dinosaur site in Jiayin （ Zeya-Bureya Basin, China）

The palynological assemblage from Wulaga dinosaur site in Jiayin from southeastern Zeya-Bureya Basin was studied. The high content of pteridophytes spores is characteristic for this assemblage. The further characters are in decrease of abundance-tricolpate pollen, Ginkgocycadophytus, pollen of Taxodiaceae, Cup ressaceae and Taxaceae ( TCT) , bisaccate pollen of Pinaceae, and triporate pollen. The bone-bearing burials of Wulaga dinosaur site formed under conditions of vast swampy river valley covered by ferns and taxodialeans. Tricolpate pollen, produced by plants, close to those of Platanaceae, Fagaceae, Betulaceae, and Juglandaceae, counts in favor of valley river open canopy forests.     

Androecium of Archaefructus, the Late Jurassic Angiosperms from Western Liaoning, China

Androecium of the earliest known flowering plant Archaefructus liaoningensis was found from the Upper Jurassic Jianshangou Formation of western Liaoning, China. The androecium consists of numerous stamens bearing in pair on the reproductive axes below conduplicate carpels. The stamens are composed of a short filament and basifixed anther for each. Monosulcate pollen in situ are found from the anthers. The characters of the androecium reveals that Archaefructus are probably protandrous, and the paired stamens and monosulcate pollen appear to indicate that Archaefructus, as primitive angiosperms,might be derived from extinct seed -ferns during the Older Mesozoic. Archaefructus is considered Late Jurassic in age.     

Androecium of Archaefructus , the Late Jurassic Angiosperms from Western Liaoning, China

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＡｒｃｈａｅｆｒｕｃｔｕｓ ,ｔｈｅｏｌｄｅｓｔｋｎｏｗｎａｎｇｉｏｓｐｅｒｍｓ ,ｗｅｒｅｆｏｕｎｄｆｒｏｍｔｈｅＵｐｐｅｒＪｕｒａｓｓｉｃＪｉａｎｓｈａｎｇｏｕＦｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎ (ｉ.ｅ .ｔｈｅｆｏｒｍｅｒｌｏｗｅｒｐａｒｔｏｆＹｉ     

Relationship between surface pollen and modern vegetation in Southwestern China

Based on the pollen data obtained from thirty-five surface soil samples and investigated vegetation data from seven plant quadrats, the quantitative relationship between surface soil pollen and modern vegetation are studied in the longitudinal range-gorge region (LRGR) in Southwestern China. R-values (referring to pollen assemblages) are calculated with pollen percentage and plant abundance. The coefficients of similarity between pollen and vegetation are analyzed. The results show that the pollen assemblages on surface soil of all vegetation zones can basically represent the native vegetation, but the pollen assemblages are not fully according with the vegetation. This is due to the influencing factors including pollen preservation ability, pollen production, amount of exotic pollen and pollen identification. The pollen representation in surface soil is different in families and genera. The pollen of woody plants such as Pinus, Tsuga, Alnus, Fagus and Castanopsis are over-representative, but those of Quercus, Carpinus Myrica, Elaeocarpaceae, Ericaceae, Theaceae and Llex are underrepresentative; the pollen of herbaceous plants such as Artemisia and Rubiaceae are over-representative, while those of others including Gramineae and Araliaceae are under-representative. The R-values of the same taxon pollen in different vegetation zones are different, depending on their distances from the pollen sources. The coefficients of the similarity between plant communities and pollen assemblages are mostly over 70%, which indicate again that the surface soil pollen and spores assemblages can represent the vegetation. It is concluded that there is a good corresponding relationship between surface pollen assemblages and native vegetation in LRGR, and it is of great significance for reconstructing the past vegetation and paleoclimate using quantitative fossil pollen data in this region.     

融合植被遥感数据的北京市次日花粉浓度预测

中国国土绿化状况公报指出,2010-2020年中国许多城市的绿化面积增加、绿化质量提高,可随之而来的影响人体健康的致敏性花粉风险也逐渐提高.本文利用遥感手段获得北京市乔木和草地生长区域平均植被叶面积指数(LAI)时间序列作为植被物候信息,并将其作为花粉浓度预测因子之一,结合日气象数据,使用具有外部输入的非线性自回归神经...