Dunes on the skeleton coast,Namibia (South West Africa): Geomorphology and grain size relationships

Simple, and locally compound, transverse and barchanoid dunes dominate the 2000 km² Skeleton Coast dunefield in northwestern Namibia/South West Africa. Dune height and spacing are closely correlated (r = 0-89) and decrease across the dunefield from southwest to northeast, with an accompanying change from transverse to barchanoid ridges and ultimately barchans. The dunes are aligned transverse to the dominant strong south and south southwest onshore winds. Alignment patterns indicate that surface roughness changes between coastal plain and dunes cause dune-forming winds to swing to the right over the dunes, but resume their original direction beyond. Grain size and sorting vary at three scales: the dune, the dune landscape and through the dunefield. Overall the sands, derived from three localities by deflation from beaches supplied by vigorous longshore drift, become progressively finer and better sorted across the dunefield paralleling changes in dune height and spacing. A statistically significant relationship (r = ?0?65) was established between dune spacing and the phi grain size of the coarser fraction of the dune sands, demonstrating the importance of the protective effects of coarse grains, and suggesting that the morphometry of simple transverse dunes may be controlled by the scale of turbulence associated with the threshold wind speed required to move the coarsest fraction of the dune sand.     

Luminescence chronology of fluvial and aeolian deposits in the Russian Altai (Southern Siberia)

Geomorphological investigations in the Russian Altai Mountains provide evidence for the extent and timing of Late Quaternary glaciations and aeolian sediments. Infrared optically stimulated luminescence (IR-OSL) and thermoluminescence (TL) dating of aeolian sediments from the central part of the Russian Altai were carried out on silty and sandy sediments that cover fluvial and glacio-fluvial terraces. Most samples from loess, loess-like sediments and sandy loess taken from different terrace sequences within the Altai Mountains provide IRSL ages suggesting a main aeolian deposition period between 25 and 15 ka. These data are consistent with those from the adjacent Mongolian Altai. Sand and silt layers within moraines yielded IRSL age estimates between 22 and 19 ka and correlate to the ice margins of the Last Glacial Maximum. Aeolian dune sands overlying or neighbouring the loess-like sediments and the fluvial terraces at some places provide evidence for Late Glacial (around 15 ka) and Early Holocene (around 9 ka) aeolian activity. The youngest sand sheets gave deposition ages of about 1.5 ka. These sediments covered graves and are related to overgrazing. They provide evidence for the significant human impact on the environment. Fluvial sediments, including silt and sandy gravel intermingled with charcoal, yielded contradicting radiocarbon and luminescence ages. IRSL age estimates obtained for the silty layers range from 19 to 18 ka and are significantly older than the radiocarbon ages, which gave sub-recent ages between 1170 and 910 BP. These data indicate fluvial sedimentation of debris and mudflows in a period of deforestation and strong soil erosion related to mining activities during the 9th and 10th century.     

Evaluation of recent hydro-climatic changes in four tributaries of the Niger River Basin (West Africa)

West Africa experienced severe drought during the 1970s and 1980s, posing a threat to water resources. A wetter climate more recently suggests recovery from the drought. The Mann-Kendall trend and Theil-Sen’s slope estimator were applied to detect probable trends in weather elements in four sub-basins of the Niger River Basin between 1970 and 2010. The cross-entropy method was used to detect breakpoints in rainfall and runoff, Spearman’s rank test for correlation between the two, and cross-correlation analysis for possible lags. Results showed an overall increase in rainfall and runoff and a decrease in sunshine duration. Spearman’s coefficients suggest significant (5%) moderate to strong rainfall–runoff correlation for three sub-basins. A significant lower runoff was observed around 1979, with a rainfall break around 1992, indicating possible cessation of the drought. Temperatures increased significantly, at 0.02–0.05°C year^-1, with a negative wind speed trend for most stations. Half of the stations exhibited an increase in potential evapotranspiration.

EDITOR M.C. Acreman

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Not assigned     

Regional grain size variations in aeolian sediments along the transition between Tibetan highlands and north‐western Chinese deserts – the influence of geomorphological settings on aeolian transport pathways

Sediment distribution is investigated applying grain size analysis to 279 surface samples from the transitional zone between high mountains (Qilian Shan) and their arid forelands (Hexi Corridor) in north‐western China. Six main sediment types were classified. Medium scale (10³ m) geomorphological setting is carefully considered as it may play an important role concerning sediment supply and availability. A tripartite distribution of sedimentological landscape units along the mountain to foreland transition is evident. Aeolian sediments (e.g. loess and dune sands) are widespread. They are used to identify aeolian transport pathways. The mU/fS‐ratio (5–11 µm/48–70 µm) among primary loess opposes the two grain size fractions being most sensitive to varying accumulation conditions. The first fraction is attributed to long‐distance transport in high suspension clouds whereas the latter represents local transport in saltation mode. The ratio shows strong correlation with elevation (R² = 0.77). Thus, it indicates a relatively higher far‐traveled dust supply in mountainous areas (>3000 m above sea level [a.s.l.]) compared to the foreland. The contribution of westerlies to high mountain loess deposits is considered likely. Hereby, the influence of the geomorphological setting on grain size composition of aeolian sediments becomes apparent: the contribution from distant dust sources is ubiquitous in the study area. However, the far‐distance contribution may be reduced by the availability of fine sand provided in low topography settings. Plain foreland areas support fine sand deflation from supplying river beds, allowing the formation of sandy loess in foreland areas and intramontane basins. In contrast, high mountain topography inhibits strong sand deflation into loess deposits. Eastern parts of the Hexi Corridor show higher aeolian sand occurrence. In contrast, the western parts are dominated by gravel gobi surfaces. This is attributed to higher sand supply in eastern parts provided by the Badain Jaran Desert and fluvial storages as sand sources. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrological system analysis and modelling of the Kara River basin (West Africa) using a lumped metric conceptual model

This paper discusses the analysis and modelling of the hydrological system of the basin of the Kara River, a transboundary river in Togo and Benin, as a necessary step towards sustainable water resources management. The methodological approach integrates the use of discharge parameters, flow duration curves and the lumped conceptual model IHACRES. A Sobol sensitivity analysis is performed and the model is calibrated by applying the shuffled complex evolution algorithm. Results show that discharge generation in three nested catchments of the basin is affected by landscape physical characteristics. The IHACRES model adequately simulates the rainfall–runoff dynamics in the basin with a mean modified Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency measure of 0.6. Modelling results indicate that parameters controlling rainfall transformation to effective rainfall are more sensitive than those routing the streamflow. This study provides insights into understanding the catchment’s hydrological system. Nevertheless, further investigations are required to better understand detailed runoff generation processes.

EDITOR M.C. Acreman; ASSOCIATE EDITOR N Verhoest     

Defining a chronological framework for the Middle Stone Age in West Africa: Comparison of methods and models for OSL ages at Ounjougou (Mali)

Ounjougou is the name of a large complex of archaeological sites, that were extensively studied between 1997 and 2008 by the international team of the “Human settlement and palaeoenvironment in West Africa” project. This complex is important because well stratified Palaeolithic sites in West Africa are rare, and because it covers a long period of time (most of the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene) and exhibits a wide set of technical cultures. Therefore, for the first time it is possible to propose a chronological framework for the human settlement in this region that can be related to other technical cultures in Africa and to palaeoenvironmental data.The purpose of this paper is to present the OSL dating results obtained from 57 sediment samples that led to this framework. Measurements were first performed between 2004 and 2006 in Oxford (School of Geography), using micro-aliquots (2–10 grains) OSL and ICP-MS for determination of equivalent doses and beta-dose rates, respectively (gamma dose rates being deduced from field gamma spectrometry). More recently, new measurements were done on 28 samples of this former set at the IRAMAT-CRP2A laboratory in Bordeaux, where “true” single quartz grain OSL and high resolution gamma spectrometry measurements were performed. Both sets of results are, for all but two samples, statistically consistent with each other. A consistent chrono-stratigraphic framework can thus be deduced, covering the Upper Pleistocene. It suggests that the region was regularly visited during this time interval and more particularly during Marine Isotope Stage 3, when groups with different technical cultures followed each other relatively rapidly.     

Comparison analysis of the summer monsoon precipitation between northern and southern slopes of Tanggula Mountains,Qinghai–Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau: a case study in summer 1998

Based on the precipitation data obtained through GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment–Tibet fieldwork from May to September 1998, this study investigated the features of the summer monsoon precipitation on the northern and southern slopes of the huge Tanggula Mountains in the Qinghai–Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau. The results show that the precipitation on the southern slope is about 50% higher than on the northern slope, whereas the frequency and diurnal pattern of the precipitation are very similar. The mean precipitation intensity on the southern slope is larger than on the northern slope. In most cases, the daily precipitation showed similar variation on both slopes, demonstrating that the precipitation processes might be similar. In the summer monsoon period, the local convective precipitation contributed to the total precipitation on both slopes and such a contribution on the southern slope is larger. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

第二深度空间(5000～10000 m)油、气成藏和潜力分析

近半个世纪以来,我国的油、气勘探和开发实践主要集中在中、新生代以来的陆相沉积盆地中,即第一深度空间(5000 m).对第二深度空间(5000~10000 m)陆相和海相,即双相沉积建造中的油、气能源未能给予切实关注,仅为在近年来才得以重视和践行.通过对国内外诸多油、气田中的油、气成藏、储存、运移与深层过程的分析和研究发现,我国广泛陆相沉积建造的深处尚分布着丰富的海相沉积建造;且我国古生代的沉积地层确属变质很浅或不变质的层系;以往的油、气形成温度、压力和孔隙度的门限已逐被国内、外油气勘探与开发的实践所突破;第二深度空间的油、气成藏具有很大潜力.以上理念的提出与实施不仅大为扩展了勘查油、气的深部空间,更为重要的是揭示了第二深度空间将必是21世纪上、中叶在深处发现大型、超大型油、气藏的必然轨迹.     

Earthquake migration in East Asia mainland (I)—The migration of huge earthquakes and volcanic activity from West Pacific Trench to the Chinese mainland

The researches in this paper disclose a huge earthquake migration series that lasted more than one century—from the 17th century to the early day of the 18th, transverse migration of huge earthquake from West Pacific trench to the Chinese mainland, lasted about 134 a, the distance is about 2600 km, the velocity is about 19 km/a, and the direction of migration agrees with the direction of plate subduction and vertical to the strike of plate boundary. The migration has two branches. One extends westwards and terminates at the central longitude belt (Helanshan—Liupanshan fault zone) of the Chinese mainland, triggered the strongest seismicity episode in North China, including 4 earthquakes withM ⩾8.0. The other extends northwards, passing through Korea Peninsula, terminates at the north part of Heilongjian Province, and triggered the volcanic eruption activity in Changbaishan and Wudalianchi. The time-space linearity of migration is good. Its velocity is stable and its activity attenuates gradually. It is estimated that it is related with the disturbance of asthenosphere matters caused by the sudden acceleration of the subduction of the trench plate. There are two similar transverse migration series from 1498 to 1556 and from 1843 to 1927, and the velocities are 36.2 and 33.7 km/a respectively.     

鄱阳湖流域1955-2002年径流系数变化趋势及其与气候因子的关系

近些年来,由于人类活动的影响,湖泊普遍出现了萎缩、水位下降、水量锐减、水质污染等问题,研究湖泊最低生态水位,确保湖泊所必须的最小水量,对于解决我国湖泊生态退化问题具有重要意义.本文提出综合指标法来计算湖泊最低生态水位.根据博斯腾湖具体情况选取天然水位资料、湖泊形态和芦苇3种指标为依据分别计算博斯腾湖的最低生态水位,计算结果分别为1047.06 m,1047.41 m和1047.20 m,然后通过综合分析以上这3种指标所占权重,进行加权计算,最终确定博斯腾湖最低生态水位为1047.16 m,通过分析表明1047.16 m作为博斯腾湖最低生态水位是合理的,综合指标法作为湖泊最低生态水位的计算方法切实可行.     

山东南四湖上级湖水质变化评价(2008-2014年)及成因分析

基于南四湖上级湖6个监测点2008-2014年42个奇数月份的水质资料,选取溶解氧、化学需氧量(COD)、高锰酸盐指数(COD_Mn)、五日生化需氧量(BOD₅)、氨氮、总磷和氟化物作为水质评价的指标.对水质指标的归一化方法进行了改进,采用主成分分析法对6个监测点的水质综合状况进行评价,根据得出的各月综合得分序列分析水质变化趋势.与2000-2007年南四湖上级湖的水质综合状况进行比较,2008-2014年水质明显变好.评价结果表明,同一监测点的水质在不同时间点上有明显变化,同一时间序列不同监测点的水质状况也有不同变化.此外,分析得出南四湖上级湖的主要水质影响指标为COD、COD_Mn和BOD₅.结合评价结果,分析水质变化原因,入湖河流水质状况和湖区底泥是其重要影响因素.