Salinity of surface waters in the Aral Sea region

An overview of recent changes in salinity in the surface waters of the Aral sea basin is given. Total dissolved salts (salinity) in most waters are higher than admissible values for drinking water, and ionic composition has changed with time. Salinity of the ‘Big Sea’ of the Aral was 48 g L⁻¹ in 1998, but has decreased to below 21 g L⁻¹ in the ‘Small Sea’ due to the building of a new dam between the two parts of the Aral Sea.     

Macrozoobenthos in the inshore zone of the Northern Aral Sea

The macrozoobenthos was investigated at eight sites in the Aral Sea inshore zone and in the lower reaches of the Syrdaria river. In the sea, the benthos comprised bivalve molluscsSyndosmya segmentum Recluz andCerastoderma isthmicum Issel, gastropods fromCaspiohydrobia Starob., the polychaeteNereis diversicolor O.F. Müller and the crabRhithropanopeus harrisii tridentatus (Maitland). In the Syrdaria, MysidaeParamysis lacustris (Czern.) and GammaridaeDikerogammarus aralensis (Uljanin) were found. These taxa have not been recorded from the Sea since the 1970s. The total zoobenthos biomass and density varied between the investigated Sea areas from 92 to 582 g/m² and from 1,600 to 39,000 ind./m², respectively. Spatial and temporal salinity changes within the range 20–41 g/L did not affect macrozoobenthos composition and structure. The conclusion is that the benthic ecosystem of the Aral Sea was in a state of comparative stability from the middle of the 1980s to the middle of the 1990s. Analysis of the zoobenthos in the inshore zone is proposed as a convenient and accessible method for monitoring the status of the zoobenthos of the entire Aral Sea.     

The salinity tolerance of benthic invertebrates of the Aral Sea

Experiments to determine the upper limits of potential salinity tolerance of four species of Aral Sea benthic macroinvertebrates were carried out. Invertebrates of marine origin tolerate salinity increases up to 70–90 g L^–1, and the gastropodCaspiohydrobia, up to 100–110 g L^–1. It was concluded that the express-method based on the estimation of salinity resistance of isolated tissues cannot be used to estimate the limits of tolerance. The prediction is made that bivalve molluscs and polychaetes will remain in the Aral Sea until the salinity increases to 60–70 g L^–1, but perhaps gastropods will tolerate salinity increases to 100–110 g L^–1.     

咸海流域社会经济用水分析与预测

1960年以来咸海流域大规模的水土资源开发使得社会经济用水激增,致使至1990年咸海面积萎缩50％,引发咸海生态危机.目前对引起咸海生态危机的社会经济用水的时空变化特征和趋势尚不清楚.本文在整合了多途径获取的1960-2016年咸海流域国家/州级水资源和社会经济数据的基础上,利用系统动力学模型,仿真模拟和分析了 196...     

The fauna of the Aral Sea in 1989. 2. The zooplankton

Data are presented on the composition and biomass of the Aral Sea zooplankton in August and October, 1989. As salinity gradually increased, a decrease in zooplankton species composition occurred at a salinity of 25–30 g L⁻¹. Because the Aral has now divided into two water-bodies, the zooplankton communities in these lakes have begun to conform with their individual hydrological and biological regimes.     

咸海地区粉尘气溶胶动态变化及潜在扩散特征

咸海水位不断下降导致湖滨荒漠化加剧,尘暴频发,区域环境恶化。利用臭氧观测仪（OMI）气溶胶数据和HYSPLIT（Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model）模型,对咸海地区近期粉尘气溶胶变化及其潜在扩散特征进行了研究。结果表明：2005年以来,咸海地区粉尘活动不断增强,OMI气溶胶指数年平均值、方差、中值和最大值均呈现快速增加趋势,2013年OMI气溶胶指数平均值已经上升至1.47;OMI气溶胶指数具有明显的季节变化特征,春季（3-5月）和秋末初冬（11月-次年1月）是两个气溶胶指数峰值区;在相同时间内,春季和冬季的粉尘潜在扩散范围最大,秋季次之,夏季最小,且粉尘潜在扩散表现出明显的经向和纬向扩散特征;受气流和地形影响,粉尘潜在扩散主要有东北和西南两个方向。     

Late Holocene paleoenvironmental changes in subtropical Taiwan inferred from pollen and diatoms in lake sediments

We analyzed pollen, spores, diatoms, organic carbon, nitrogen, and δ¹³C of organic matter in lake sediments to infer climate changes and reconstruct the paleo-environment of subtropical Taiwan over the past ∼1300 years. A 31.5-cm sediment core that represents deposition from 650 AD to present was taken from a mountain lake, Duck Pond, located 760 m a.s.l. We differentiated five zones using cluster analysis on pollen and spore assemblages. Fluctuations in the relative abundances of arboreal taxa, herbaceous plants, and ferns reflect changes in the relative amounts of woody versus grassland vegetation. Such shifts are associated with changes in temperature and humidity and are consistent with climatic periods reported for the temperate region of central China. Climate changes inferred from the pollen assemblages are also correlated well with changes in the ratios of fern spores to pollen, with organic carbon to nitrogen, and with the δ¹³C values in the sediments. Fluctuations in these data throughout the entire core were in good agreement with the changes in pH inferred from diatom assemblages. This study provides evidence of climate change in northern Taiwan over the past 1.3 millennia, assuming that climate can be inferred from the ratio of arboreal to non-arboreal pollen and from the pH of the aquatic environment.     

Inter-annual variability and interaction of remote-sensed vegetation index and atmospheric precipitation in the Aral Sea region

The remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (AVHRR NDVI) and precipitation data were analysed in the Aral Sea region in Central Asia during two recent decades. Both variables exhibited pronounced seasonal variation, with maximum precipitation in March and maximum NDVI in May–June. The regions of synchronous seasonal and inter-annual variability between the vegetation index and precipitation were distinguished using the Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) method and time-lagged correlations between EOF modes. At a seasonal scale, precipitation and the vegetation index were correlated with a time lag from 1 to 6 months in different regions with peak plant growth following precipitation maxima.     

孢粉指示鄂陵湖地区晚全新世以来植被与环境演化

通过对黄河源地区鄂陵湖地层剖面的研究,综合分析同一地区不同植被带孢粉代用指标,获得了晚全新世以来鄂陵湖流域植被及气候演变记录。1)1.90~1.60 ka BP,植被类型以高寒草原为主,区域气候干旱寒冷;2)1.60~0.80 ka BP,为高寒草甸景观,孢粉组合反映出次生植被具有垂直地带性,湖滨地区次生植被为十字花科及紫菀属,而阴坡和山顶区则为紫菀属及蒲公英属,干旱程度有所缓解;3)0.80 ka BP~,整体景观为莎草、十字花科、蒿属为主的高寒草甸景观,气候转向暖湿,但整体仍较为干旱。其中,0.66~0.84 ka BP出现一次湿润时期,植被丰富。     

中亚干旱区咸海的湖面变化及其环境效应

由于气候和人类活动的影响,近百年来成海水位出现了明显的波动,湖泊面积波动幅度近6×10<'4>km<'2>,由此产生了严重的区域生态环境问题.尤其是近50年来,随着流域人口增加、社会经济发展、工农业及生活用水造成的流域水资源匮乏,导致成海面积快速萎缩,引起一系列区域环境问题,威胁当地居民的生存.成海水位下降、面积萎缩主要引发了两个方面的生态环境效应:(1)绿洲的荒漠化.干涸的湖底直接成为荒地,形成新的沙源地;同时,区域地下水位下降,植被退化,草地沙化,加之风力从干涸湖底及临近沙漠区带来的风沙覆盖,形成新的沙漠带.改变的下垫面,影响湖泊对气候的调节功能,造成流域人居环境的恶化.(2)湖滨湿地的消失及湖水的成化,使得湿地资源与渔业资源等周围居民赖以生存的经济来源消失,同时由于来自裸露湖底的污染尘暴影响,使得流域原有土地功能退化.另外,污染的空气与饮用水直接威胁当地居民的健康.     

Late Holocene lake level dynamics inferred from magnetic susceptibility and stable oxygen isotope data: Lake Elsinore, southern California (USA)

Southern California faces an imminent freshwater shortage. To better assess the future impact of this water crisis, it is essential that we develop continental archives of past hydrological variability. Using four sediment cores from Lake Elsinore in Southern California, we reconstruct late Holocene (3800 calendar years B.P.) hydrological change using a twentieth-century calibrated, proxy methodology. We compared magnetic susceptibility from Lake Elsinore deep basin sediments, lake level from Lake Elsinore, and regional winter precipitation data over the twentieth century to calibrate the late Holocene lake sediment record. The comparison revealed a strong positive, first-order relationship between the three variables. As a working hypothesis, we suggest that periods of greater precipitation produce higher lake levels. Greater precipitation also increases the supply of detritus (i.e., magnetic-rich minerals) from the lake's surrounding drainage basin into the lake environment. As a result, magnetic susceptibility values increase during periods of high lake level. We apply this modern calibration to late Holocene sediments from the lake's littoral zone. As an independent verification of this hypothesis, we analyzed ¹⁸O_(calcite), interpreted as a proxy for variations in the precipitation:evaporation ratio, which reflect first order hydrological variability. The results of this verification support our hypothesis that magnetic susceptibility records regional hydrological change as related to precipitation and lake level. Using both proxy data, we analyzed the past 3800 calendar years of hydrological variability. Our analyses indicate a long period of dry, less variable climate between 3800 and 2000 calendar years B.P. followed by a wet, more variable climate to the present. These results suggest that droughts of greater magnitude and duration than those observed in the modern record have occurred in the recent geological past. This conclusion presents insight to the potential impact of future droughts on the over-populated, water-poor region of Southern California.     

Late Devensian and Holocene landscape change in the uplands of the Isle of Man

The Late Glacial and Holocene geomorphology of the Manx uplands has received scant attention in previous researches. Solifluction deposits and terraces provide the earliest evidence for geomorphic activity after deglaciation. Fluvial incision into drift-choked valleys is correlated with the formation of the large mountain front alluvial fans that flank the Manx uplands. Formation of these alluvial fans is constrained to 15,000–10,500 cal. years BP by ¹⁴C dates on organic deposits beneath and above the alluvial fan gravels. Alluvial fan and river terraces along four valleys postdate this incision. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and ¹⁴C dating provide a tentative chronology for these landforms. The higher terraces are Late Glacial fluvial surfaces that were probably occupied by rivers into the Holocene. Incision during the Late Holocene led to the abandonment of the higher surfaces, producing a suite of younger river terraces and alluvial fan surfaces. Independent dating constrains this fluvial activity to post-Bronze Age (3500–2800 cal. years BP). Increased human activity and climatic change during the Late Holocene are possible causes for this increased geomorphic activity.     

Paleolimnological evidence of Holocene climatic changes in Lake Blanca, southern Uruguay

Paleolimnological data are presented on Holocene climatic changes in Lake Blanca, a small (0.6 km²), coastal fresh waterbody in southern Uruguay. Using a sediment core that extended to 7,300 year BP, analyses of pooid, panicoid and chloridoid phytoliths (Poaceae) allowed us to identify 16 Opal Phytoliths Association Zones (OPAZ). Both temperature and humidity indices were calculated from relative percentages of opal phytoliths and the climatic trends were inferred. During the early Holocene, prior to the first Holocene marine transgression (∼ ∼8,000–7,000 yr BP), cool-arid climatic conditions were inferred. After the first Holocene transgression, predominance of cool-humid conditions was registered until about 4,000 yr BP. A transition from cool-semiarid/arid to alternate warm-temperate and humid-very-humid conditions was detected for ∼∼4,000–1,000 yr BP. Increases in trophic state were observed because of such a climatic amelioration. After ∼ ∼1,000 yr BP, a shift from warm to temperate and cool temperatures was inferred. Such a cooling episode was assigned to a “LIA” which took place by the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. A decrease in trophic state was observed during this climatic deterioration. After such a little ice age, present temperate humid conditions were established. The humidity indices calculated from relative percentages of opal phytoliths for the last ∼ ∼70 years were compared to annual rainfall data. Such a comparison showed that opal phytoliths are reliable indicators of humidity.     

气候变化下新疆及咸海流域河川径流演变及适应性对策分析

 中亚咸海流域地处全球气候变化的敏感中心,生态环境脆弱、水资源紧缺,过去百年来中亚咸海流域气候、人类活动、生态环境均经历了较为显著的变化,分析中亚咸海流域气候-水-生态-人类活动的关系,对自然与人文相近的新疆可持续发展具有重要的借鉴意义。以最新收集的资料为基础,对比研究近50 a来新疆及近80 a来中亚咸海流域的气温、降水和主要河流的径流变化情况,结合二者水资源开发利用的演变历程,分析气候变化与人类活动对研究区生态环境与持续发展的影响,最后借鉴中亚咸海流域气候变化、人类活动、生态环境的综合关系,讨论气候变化下新疆水资源开发利用的适应性对策。结果表明：近80 a来,新疆与中亚咸海流域气候呈现较为一致的变暖趋势,尤其是20世纪80年代以来,二者绝大部分地区气候呈现“暖干”向“暖湿”转型迹象,河川径流也有不同程度的增加,但由于人类活动规模与强度的迅速、持续增强,研究区生态环境呈现尚未得到有效遏制的恶化趋势。立足于有利的气候时期,强化水资源开发利用管理,提高水资源利用效率和效益,加快关键水源工程建设,完善水资源配置网络体系的建设,是未来一段时期内应对气候变化下新疆水资源开发利用的主要适应性对策。     

Primary production and decomposition in the coastal zone of the northern part of the Aral Sea near the delta of the Syr Dar'ya

Data are given on the concentration of suspended organic carbon and chlorophylla in seston, the quantity of organic carbon in bottom sediments, and other environmental characteristics. The results of experiments determining daily quantitites of total and net primary production and aerobic decomposition in plantonic and bottom communities are discussed.     

中亚五国咸海流域水资源策略的博弈分析

中亚五国在咸海流域水资源分配与利用上的矛盾,随着社会经济发展对水资源需求的增加而变得日益突出,探寻各国对咸海流域水资源利用的策略,对中亚地区水资源合理分配、可持续发展和地区安全至关重要。运用博弈论方法,分析中亚各国对咸海流域水资源的分配诉求及水政策,梳理各国在咸海流域水资源问题上的合作历程,探讨中亚各国在水资源问题上采取不同策略的利弊得失。认为目前咸海流域利益得不到协调使中亚各国深陷水资源分配困局,“协调博弈”是当前令咸海流域水资源问题走出“囚徒困境”的首选,将会获得最佳报酬。各国相互信任、转变观念,以利益分配取代水量分配,实现真正意义上的国家间合作,才能从根本上解决流域水资源分配与利用的困局。     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene lake fluctuations in the Sevier Lake basin,Utah, USA

Sevier Lake is the modern lake in the topographically closed Sevier Lake basin, and is fed primarily by the Sevier River. During the last 12 000 years, the Beaver River also was a major tributary to the lake. Lake Bonneville occupied the Sevier Desert until late in its regressive phase when it dropped to the Old River Bed threshold, which is the low point on the drainage divide between the Sevier Lake basin and the Great Salt Lake basin. Lake Gunnison, a shallow freshwater lake at 1390 m in the Sevier Desert, overflowed continuously from about 12 000 to 10 000 yr B.P., into the saline lake in the Great Salt Lake basin, which continued to contract. This contrast in hydrologic histories between the two basins may have been caused by a northward shift of monsoon circulation into the Sevier Lake basin, but not as far north as the Great Salt Lake basin. Increased summer precipitation and cloudiness could have kept the Sevier Lake basin relatively wet.By shortly after 10 000 yr B.P. Lake Gunnison had stopped overflowing and the Sevier and Beaver Rivers had begun depositing fine-grained alluvium across the lake bed. Sevier Lake remained at an altitude below 1381 m during the early and middle Holocene. Between 3000 and 2000 yr B.P. the lake expanded slightly to an altitude of about 1382.3 m. A second expansion, probably in the last 500 years, culminated at about 1379.8 m. In the mid 1800s the lake had a surface altitude of 1379.5 m. Sevier Lake was essentially dry (1376 m) from 1880 until 1982. In 1984–1985 the lake expanded to a 20th-century high of 1378.9 m in response to abnormally high snow-melt runoff in the Sevier River. The late Holocene high stands of Sevier Lake were most likely related to increased precipitation derived from westerly air masses.This is the first of a series of papers to be published by this journal that was presented in the paleolimnology sessions organized by R. B. Davis and H. Löffler for the XIIth Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), which took place in Ottawa, Canada in August 1987. Drs. Davis and Löffler are serving as guest editors of this series.     

Changes in the structure and function of biological communities in the Aral Sea, with particular reference to the northern part (Small Aral Sea), 1985--1994: A review

The construction of a dam between the Small and Large Aral Sea in 1993 has had an effect on biological communities. From field and laboratory investigations and analysis of the literature, the structure and function of the main plant and animal communities in the northern (Small) Aral Sea are described and discussed, first, for the period before 1985, and, second, between 1985 and 1994. A prognosis for future changes is provided.     

The dynamics and characteristics of aeolian dust in dryland Central Asia: possible impacts on human exposure and respiratory health in the Aral Sea basin

The drying up of the Aral Sea has been described as one of the most staggering environmental disasters of the twentieth century. Over the last 40 years over 36 000 km² of the former seabed have been exposed, creating a potentially significant aeolian dust source. It is widely believed, but little researched, that increased dust storm activity in the region has had a major impact on human health. In this paper we report the findings of a study into the link between dust exposure and respiratory health amongst children in the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan located on the southern shore of the Aral Sea. The findings indicate that dust deposition rates across the region are high, with sites located near the former shore of the sea being the worst affected. For these northerly regions the former bed of the Aral Sea is the most likely source of dust. The situation for the rest of the country appears to be far more complex. In these regions it appears that local sources and more distant sources to the south and south-west represent significant sediment providers, particularly in the early summer. Provisional analysis of the respiratory health data suggests that children living in the north of the country, where aeolian dust deposition rates are greater, show a lower frequency of respiratory problems. This inverse relationship requires further investigation, but highlights the complexities of environmental and human health inter-relationships.     

Climatic and environmental change in Yanchi Lake, Northwest China since the Late Glacial: A comprehensive analysis of lake sediments

Modern climate research has shown that the Asian summer monsoon water vapor transport is limited to the eastern part of the Qilian Mountains. On the Holocene millennial-scale, whether the northwest boundary of the summer monsoon varies according to climate change is a key scientific issue. Yanchi Lake is located in the northern Qilian Mountains and the middle of the Hexi Corridor, where the modern climate is less affected by the Asian summer monsoon. It is a key research area for examining the long-term variations of the Asian summer monsoon. Paleoclimatic data, including AMS ^14C dates of pollen concentrates and bulk organic carbon, lithology, grain-size, mineral composition and geochemical proxies were acquired from sediments of Yanchi Lake. The chronological results show that the lower part of the lacustrine section is formed mainly in the Late Glacial and early Holocene period, while the proxies＇ data indicate the lake expansion is associated with high content of mineral salts. The middle part of this section is formed during the transitional period of the early and middle Holocene. Affected by the reworking effect, the pollen concentrates AMS^14C dates from the middle part of the section are generally older than those from the lower part. Since the mid-Holocene, Yanchi Lake retreated significantly and the deposition rate dropped obvi- ously. The Yanchi Lake record is consistent with the Late Glacial and Holocene lake records in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the climatic records in typical monsoon domain, which indicate the lake expansion and the strong Asian summer monsoon during the Late Glacial and early Holocene. The long-term monsoonal pattern is different from the lake evolution in Central Asia on the Holocene millennial-scale. This study proves the monsoon impacts on the northwestern margin of the summer monsoon, and also proves the fact that the northern boundary of the summer monsoon moves according to millennial-scale climate change.