The distribution of silty soils in the Grayling Fingers region of Michigan: Evidence for loess deposition onto frozen ground

This paper presents textural, geochemical, mineralogical, soils, and geomorphic data on the sediments of the Grayling Fingers region of northern Lower Michigan. The Fingers are mainly comprised of glaciofluvial sediment, capped by sandy till. The focus of this research is a thin silty cap that overlies the till and outwash; data presented here suggest that it is local-source loess, derived from the Port Huron outwash plain and its down-river extension, the Mainstee River valley. The silt is geochemically and texturally unlike the glacial sediments that underlie it and is located only on the flattest parts of the Finger uplands and in the bottoms of upland, dry kettles. On sloping sites, the silty cap is absent. The silt was probably deposited on the Fingers during the Port Huron meltwater event; a loess deposit roughly 90 km down the Manistee River valley has a comparable origin. Data suggest that the loess was only able to persist on upland surfaces that were either closed depressions (currently, dry kettles) or flat because of erosion during and after loess deposition. Deep, low-order tributary gullies (almost ubiquitous on Finger sideslopes) could only have formed by runoff, and soil data from them confirm that the end of gully formation (and hence, the end of runoff) was contemporaneous with the stabilization of the outwash surfaces in the lowlands. Therefore, runoff from the Finger uplands during the loess depositional event is the likely reason for the absence of loess at sites in the Fingers. Because of the sandy nature and high permeability of the Fingers' sediments, runoff on this scale could only have occurred under frozen ground conditions. Frozen ground and windy conditions in the Fingers at the time of the Port Huron advance is likely because the area would have been surrounded by ice on roughly three sides. This research (1) shows that outwash plains and meltwater streams of only medium size can be significant loess sources and (2) is the first to present evidence for frozen ground conditions in this part of the upper Midwest.     

Soils and landscape evolution of eolian plains: the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico

Sheets of eolian sediment cover many areas of the earth's surface, sand seas, dune fields, and loess sheets being the best known examples of such features. Less well known are deposits of sandy, eolian sediment forming extensive plains. An excellent example of such a region is the semi-arid Southern High Plains (northwest Texas and eastern New Mexico). The level landscape of the area was created by deposition of multiple, extensive (≈ 80,000 km²) sheets of eolian sediment (Blackwater Draw Formation) over the past 1.4+ Ma. This deposit grades from sandy (southwest) to silty and clayey (northeast) and is up to 27 m thick. Surface soils (at least 30,000 and possibly 120,000 years old) are well developed (5YR hues, agrillic horizons, 1–2m thick with prismatic structure, Stage II–III calcic horizons) and are generally Paleustolls and Paleustalfs, with some Paleargids and Haplargids. Morphologic variation is due mainly to textural variation of the eolian parent material, although locally thickness of the parent material and wind erosion and cumulization are important factors, and locally slight variation in effective precipitation may be significant. The Blackwater Draw Formation contains as many as six well-developed buried soils, each formed in individual layers of eolian sediment, similar to or more strongly expressed (2.5YR hues, higher illuvial clay content) than the regional surface soils. The presence of the buried soils indicates that sedimentation was episodic and separated by long periods of relative landscape stability. Eolian processes also appear to have been important during the periods of stability and pedoenesis by providing clayey, calcareous dust that was added to the soil, promoting formation of the argillic and calcic horizons. The sedimentologic and pedologic uniformity of the deposit suggests that the regional environment has not varied significantly during the Quaternary except for periods of increased sedimentation or wind deflation. Underlying the Blackwater Draw Formation is an Upper Tertiary deposit (up to 36 m thick) of eolian sand, silt, and clay (Ogallala Formation). This deposit contains buried soils very similar to those in the Blackwater Draw Formation, suggesting that the geomorphic processes that created the Quaternary landscape of the Southern High Plains began to operate in the late Tertiary, perhaps as much as 11 million years ago.     

响水河中游右岸沙丘群粒度分布特征

在野外实地考察和测量的基础上,沿盛行风向,对西辽河平原西部响水河中游右岸普遍发育的新月形沙丘链进行样品采集。经室内激光粒度仪测定,研究了河岸沙丘粒度分布规律。结果表明：（1）响水河右岸沙丘及丘间地以中沙为主,而河谷谷底细沙含量最多,平沙地次之。（2）滨岸沙丘由迎风坡脚到丘顶平均粒径变小,远岸沙丘由迎风坡脚到丘顶平均粒径变大;多数沙丘分选性由两侧坡脚到丘顶变好;多数沙丘丘顶偏度值和峰态值大于两侧坡脚。（3）滨岸沙丘受风、水两相作用,能从较深地层获得沙源;其下风向沙丘主要受风力作用,沙源主要为丘间地沙及上风向风沙流携带的较细沙。     

早全新世石羊河流域沙尘暴活动记录

位于西北干旱区河西走廓东段石羊河流域尾闾地区湖泊沉积中记录到了多层快速风成沉积，通过剖面样品粒度、石英砂表面特征和磁化率、有机碳等多指标的分析表明为沙尘暴的堆积，推断在早全新世10000-6700aB.P.石头号河流域气候最湿润阶段仍存在周期性的沙尘暴活动。     

青海湖西岸风成沙丘特征及成因

沙漠化是青海湖周围生态环境恶化中一个非常突出的问题,尤其湖西岸沙丘是近十多年来才形成的风沙堆积,并逐年扩大,已成为青海湖区第二大风沙堆积区。通过对青海湖西岸沙丘的分布、形态、物源及粒度特征的分析,对其形成进行了研究,并对布哈河三角洲的形成发育与沙漠化之间的关系进行了初步探讨。认为河流的自然摆动和截直造成了该三角洲东北缘的停止发育,加之气候的持续干旱和严重的鼠害,是导致研究区土地沙化、沙漠面积不断扩大的一个主要因素。     

Limited change in dune mobility in response to a large decrease in wind power in semi-arid northern China since the 1970s

The climatic controls on dune mobility, especially the relative importance of wind strength, remain incompletely understood. This is a key research problem in semi-arid northern China, both for interpreting past dune activity as evidence of paleoclimate and for predicting future environmental change. Potential eolian sand transport, which is approximately proportional to wind power above the threshold for sand entrainment, has decreased across much of northern China since the 1970s. Over the same period, effective moisture (ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration) has not changed significantly. This “natural experiment” provides insight on the relative importance of wind power as a control on dune mobility in three dunefields of northern China (Mu Us, Otindag, and Horqin), although poorly understood and potentially large effects of human land use complicate interpretation. Dune forms in these three regions are consistent with sand transport vectors inferred from weather station data, suggesting that wind directions have remained stable and the stations adequately represent winds that shaped the dunes. The predicted effect of weaker winds since the 1970s would be dune stabilization, with lower sand transport rates allowing vegetation cover to expand. Large portions of all three dunefields remained stabilized by vegetation in the 1970s despite high wind power. Since the 1970s, trends in remotely sensed vegetation greenness and change in mobile dune area inferred from sequential Landsat images do indicate widespread dune stabilization in the eastern Mu Us region. On the other hand, expansion of active dunes took place farther west in the Mu Us dunefield and especially in the central Otindag dunefield, with little overall change in two parts of the Horqin dunes. Better ground truth is needed to validate the remote sensing analyses, but results presented here place limits on the relative importance of wind strength as a control on dune mobility in the study areas. High wind power alone does not completely destabilize these dunes. A large decrease in wind power either has little short-term effect on the dunes, or more likely its effect is sufficiently small that it is obscured by human impacts on dune stability in many parts of the study areas.     

青海湖东岸的风沙堆积

风沙堆积和风成沙丘的发育在分布上服从于两条规律, 一条是地带性规律, 即绝大多数沙漠均分布于干旱地区, 或在副热带高压带及其产生的信风带, 或在温带干旱大陆中心, 另一条是非地带性规律, 即在某些非干旱区域如河流、海岸或湖泊的沙质滨岸地带, 只要有一定的风力条件也可形成风沙堆积。     

Late Pleistocene dune construction in the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin, USA

Wisconsin's Central Sand Plain east of the Wisconsin River is composed of eolian sand forming high-relief dunes surrounded by sand sheets and scattered low-relief dunes. To establish a maximum age for dune formation, three samples for optical dating were taken from glacial Lake Wisconsin lacustrine sediment that underlies eolian sand. These age estimates range from 19.3 to 13.6ka. Age estimates taken from within or at the base of the dunes range from 14.0 to 10.6ka. Samples taken from < 2m of the ground surface were slightly younger, indicating dunes were stabilized between 11.8 and 5.5ka. The younger ages near the surface of some dunes were most likely the result of pedoturbation or localized problems with applying the optical dating method. The majority of the optical age estimates from dunes (18 of 21) indicated that most of the dunes were active between 14 and 10ka and that most dune activity ended by 10ka. These ages suggest that localized activity on dune crests may have occurred in the Holocene but would have been limited to < 1m of sand accumulation. The timing of dune activity and the lack of any significant Holocene reactivation suggest that dune activation in this setting cannot be attributed solely to changes in aridity. Instead, we attribute dune formation to changes in sediment availability from either sand inputs from the Wisconsin River or the melting of permafrost.     

Luminescence-dating zeroing tests in Lake Hoare, Taylor Valley, Antarctica

In two of the perennially ice-covered lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, lakes Hoare and Bonney in the Taylor Valley, bottom water has ¹⁴C ages of 2.7 ka and 10 ka (respectively), rendering ¹⁴C ages of bottom sediments highly problematic. Consequently, we tested the effectiveness of thermoluminescence (TL) zeroing in polymineral fine silt material from several depositional environments around and on the lake (stream suspensions, ice-surface sand dune, and silty sand from near the top of the more-than-3m-thick ice). We also conducted TL and infrared-stimulated-luminescence (IRSL) dating tests on material from three box cores recovered from the bottom of Lake Hoare, in a transect away from the abutting Canada Glacier. We observed effective zeroing of light-sensitive TL in suspended silt from one input stream and less effective zeroing from another stream. We observed effective zeroing of light-sensitive TL also in silt from a glacier-proximal eolian ice-surface dune and from sand from within the upper 5 cm of ice. In contrast, in box-core 1, the bottom sediment yielded minimum TL apparent ages of 1500-2600 yrs, with no discernable stratigraphic depth trend. IRSL dating applied to the same box-core samples produced significantly lower age estimates, ranging from ~600 ± 200 yrs to 1440 ± 270 yrs top-to-bottom, an improvement over the depth-constant ~2200 yrs TL ages. In two other cores closer to the Canada Glacier, IRSL ages from ~600 ± 200 yrs (top) to ~ 2900± 300 yrs (at depth) were measured. Not only are the IRSL ages a significant improvement over the TL results, but the near-core-top IRSL ages are also a dramatic improvement over the ¹⁴C results (~2.7 ka). IRSL dating has a demonstrated potential to supplant ¹⁴C dating for such antarctic lacustrine deposits.     

福建海岸的风成沉积

福建沿岸多处发育现代海岸风成沉积, 采用现代风砂所总结的特征作为识别标志, 研究了3000-4000年前产生的某些生物碎屑岩和3-4万年前开始形成并广泛分布的老红砂, 证明它们皆为风成, 因此晚更新世以来这里就具有风成沉积发育的条件。海岸风成沉积大规模发育出现在高海面之时, 分布也不遵循地带性规律, 这些均与沙漠地区的风砂不同。     

福建平潭岛晚第四纪沉积序列 及MIS 5海侵旋回特征

选择位于福建平潭岛北部芦洋埔海积平原的PT01钻孔,岩芯长度28.3 m,采用加速器碳同位素（AMS 14C）和光释光（OSL）测年建立地层年代框架,认为晚更新世富含有孔虫等海相生物化石的地层应归属于MIS 5高海面期,即MIS 5e的潮下带滨海相沉积。结合岩性特征、古生物化石、沉积物色度、粒度分析及其参数等指标,进行了沉积单元的划分,重建了MIS 6末期以来的沉积相变化过程,揭示出MIS 5期间的多次海平面波动变化,即MIS 5高海面期沉积环境仍存在滨海、潮坪、潟湖、风成砂等沉积相之间的转换,并可能存在短暂的陆相或风化过程。而该区整个末次冰期的沉积缺失或较薄,上部全新世沉积也不发育,厚度仅为3.79 m,以沼泽相―风成砂相为主。     

毛里塔尼亚努瓦克肖特沙丘粒度分布特征及其环境意义

毛里塔尼亚努瓦克肖特地区位于撒哈拉沙漠西部,基本被沙漠包围且常年遭受沙漠侵蚀,进行该地区沙漠粒度特征的研究,将对判别沙漠物质来源和沉积过程等具有重要参考意义。对努瓦克肖特周边纵向沙丘不同部位采集的50个沙样粒度进行分析。结果表明：沙丘沉积物的粒度以细沙和极细沙为主,两者所占比例超过60%;总体粒度要细于国内典型沙漠线性沙丘。沙丘东南坡、丘顶和西北坡整体上以细沙为主,其次为极细沙,二者含量依次递减,粉沙含量依次增加。沙丘沙粒径最细者为西北坡（5.13 φ）,最粗者为东南坡（3.07 φ）,分选性随粒径增加而变好。3个部位峰态存在明显差异,东南坡以中等和尖窄峰态为主,丘顶以尖窄峰态为主,西北坡为以宽平峰态为主,但三者均以正偏偏态为主。丘间地粒级级配趋势一致性最好,均以细沙为主,平均粒径大于沙丘各部位,平均粒径为2.76 φ,分选性优于沙丘,全为近对称中等峰态。该地区地表沙粒沉积环境和成因复杂,超过70%的沙样为风成沉积造成,其余为沿岸沉积造成。     

The dune systems of the Konya Plain (Turkey): their relation to environmental changes in Central Anatolia during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene

Several sand flats located on the northern shores of the Late Pleistocene palaeolake of the Konya plain (inner Anatolia, Turkey), are related to changes in lake levels. In this paper, the two main dune systems are mapped according to their geomorphological, sedimentological and dynamic characteristics, and their significance is discussed with regard to the environmental changes since the Late Pleistocene, both at time of the former lake and during the drier periods of the Holocene. Cross-sections show the relationship of the dunes to the topography of the basement. Analyses of the sand fraction show distinct characteristics in size distribution, quartz and shell contents, wind erosion effects on the quartz grains and petrographic composition. Interpretation of the results, coupled with information provided by the geomorphology of the dune systems studied in the field and from aerial photographs and satellite images, highlights the importance and variations in time of local factors such as prevailing winds, sand sources, changes in lake levels and vegetation. A chronology of the main sand fields is proposed, based on the evidence of three main droughts during the Upper Pleistocene. The older one, much eroded (maximum height=3 m), covers a limestone surface at +50 m above the bottom of the dried lake. An Optical Scanning Luminescence (OSL) date shows a last period of accumulation at 14,328±3220 years. The younger one (maximum height=12 m) has moved over the emerged Late Pleistocene lacustrine marls. An OSL date gives an age of 5674±988 years for the last accumulation period. Evidence of very recent activation of this younger dune system is apparent as a result of overgrazing and excessive land reclamation. A third period of dominant wind action and dune construction is responsible for the installation of a younger and thin dune field over the Mid-Holocene lacustrine deposits of the Karapinar lake. The success of the stabilization programme of the dunes over the last 30 years shows that the last period of dune movement is not related to climate change but to overpressure on the land due to the needs and activities of an increasing population.     

毛乌素沙地北缘泊江海子剖面粒度特征及环境意义

通过毛乌素沙地现代风成沙的粒度与泊江海子剖面沉积物粒度特征对比分析,确定了剖面中4个层位（290—210 cm、190—160 cm 、153.5—123.5 cm、50—40 cm）基本属于风成砂沉积,并且这些风成砂中间夹杂着三次湖相沉积,结合14C年代测定,我们认为此区域在4 000—5 000 a BP存在以下沉积（气候）旋回:至(4 958±84)a BP,沉积风成砂,反映该时期风沙活动强烈,气候干燥,冬季风强盛;(4 958±84)a BP前后,沉积物为灰绿色湖相层,表明这一时期存在短暂的湖面扩展,沙漠退缩;(4 958±84)—(4 793±74)a BP,沉积风成砂,反映了湖泊的退缩和沙漠的扩展;(4 793±74)—(4 536±70)a BP,湖相沉积物,反映了流域降水量的增多;(4 536±70)—(4 085±67)a BP沉积风成砂后,(4 085±67)a BP前后又出现了短暂的湖相沉积,之后又是风成砂沙沉积。     

A wind tunnel simulation of the dynamic processes involved in sand dune formation on the western coast of Hainan Island

The western coast of Hainan Island exhibits a savanna landscape. Many types of sand dunes, including transverse dune ridges, longitudinal dune ridges, elliptical dunes, coppice dunes, and climbing dunes, are widely distributed in the coastal zone. In winter, high-frequency and high-energy NE winds (dominant winds) are prevalent, with a resultant drift direction (RDD) of S35.6°W. In spring, low-frequency and low-energy SW secondary winds prevail, with a RDD of N25.1°E. Wind tunnel simulations revealed that the airflow over the dune surface is the main factor controlling the erosion and deposition patterns of dune surfaces and the morphological development of dunes. In the region's bidirectional wind en-vironment, with two seasonally distinct energy levels, the airflow over the surface of elliptical dunes, barchan dunes, and transverse dune ridges will exhibit a transverse pattern, whereas the airflow over longitudinal dunes ridges exhibits a lateral pattern and that over climbing dunes exhibits a climbing-circumfluent pattern. These patterns represent different dynamic processes. The coastal dunes on the western coast of Hainan Island are influenced by factors such as onshore winds, sand sources, coastal slopes, rivers, and forest shelter belts. The source of the sand that supplements these dunes particularly influences the development pattern: when there is more sand, the pattern shows positive equilibrium deposition between dune ridges and dunes; otherwise, it shows negative equilibrium deposition. The presence or absence of forest shelter belts also influences deposition and dune development patterns and transformation of dune forms. Coastal dunes and inland desert dunes experience similar dynamic processes, but the former have more diversified shapes and more complex forma-tion mechanisms.     

柴达木盆地察尔汗盐湖北侧沙丘黏性沉积物特征

柴达木盆地察尔汗盐湖周边黏性沉积物被认为是单风向风况条件下线形沙丘和新月形沙丘两类沙丘共存的主要原因。为进一步探究察尔汗盐湖周边沙丘黏性沉积物特征,实地调查采集并测量了察尔汗盐湖北侧新月形沙丘/线形沙丘和丘间地沉积物的粒度特征、盐分含量和纵剖面水分含量变化,以期为明确黏性沉积物对沙丘地貌形成演化影响的研究提供参考。结果表明:丘间地沉积物平均粒径最大约为2.39Φ,新月形沙丘沉积物(2.41Φ)略粗于线形沙丘(2.54Φ)。沉积物以细沙为主(84%),中沙和极细沙含量都很少,丘间地中沙含量略高(18%)。区内沉积物都表现出极好的分选性,线形沙丘沉积物略优于新月形沙丘;丘间地沉积物的可溶性盐含量最高平均约为6.88%,线形沙丘(平均2.78%)明显高于新月形沙丘(平均0.80%);丘间地沉积物水分含量最高,在30cm深垂直范围内约为1.93%。新月形沙丘沉积物水分含量(平均0.12%)在1m深垂直范围内明显低于线形沙丘(平均0.55%)。除黏性沉积物(盐、粉沙和黏土)外,沉积物水分含量的空间差异也是引起沙丘形态发生变化的重要环境要素。     

内蒙古额济纳盆地沉积物粒度特征及沉积环境

沉积物的粒度特征对于分析区域沉积动力环境有着重要意义。本文以额济纳盆地为研究区,以戈壁、河床和沙丘3个主要地貌单元采集的表层沉积物样本的粒度测量结果为数据源,基于粒度参数分析和端元建模分析,研究了沉积物的粒度特征、端元构成和反映的沉积动力环境。结果表明：（1）额济纳盆地表层沉积物粒度曲线具有单峰和多峰分布,其中戈壁和沙丘沉积物组成上以砂质为主,河床沉积物组成上以砂质和粉砂质为主。（2）表层沉积物可分解出4个主要端元,端元1到端元4的主要物质依次为粗粉砂、细砂、中砂和细砂混合物以及粗砂和中砂混合物。（3）区域环境特点分析表明,表层沉积物端元1主要代表了以流水为主的动力过程,端元2主要代表了风力作用和局部地形环境复合的过程,端元3和端元4主要是风力主导下的多外营力复合以及局部环境共同作用的结果。     

毛乌素沙地不同下垫面的风沙运动特征

 基于野外实地观测,研究了毛乌素沙地不同下垫面的风沙运动特征。平坦流沙地上的风速随高度呈对数分布; 沙丘上的风速梯度在高度上的变化随植被盖度增大而增强; 相近风速下,0~60 cm高度范围内的输沙强度从大到小依次为流动沙丘丘顶＞平坦流沙地＞半流动沙丘丘顶＞裸露黄土梁地＞黄土梁翻耕地＞玉米留茬地＞半固定沙丘丘顶。同一植被盖度下,沙丘顶部输沙率随风速增加而增大,粗糙度随风速增加而减小。当风速小于起沙风速时,粗糙度随植被盖度的增加而增大; 当风速大于起沙风速时,平坦流沙地和沙丘顶部的粗糙度随风速增大有增加趋势,产生这种现象的可能原因是跃移层沙物质对气流的阻力随风速增大而增大。根据各类沙源地的起沙强度和总面积,风沙灾害防治的重点是植被盖度较小的沙地和黄土梁地。     

Constraining Holocene lake levels and coastal dune activity in the Lake Michigan basin

Sediment cores collected from embayed lakes along the east-central coast of Lake Michigan are used to construct aeolian sand records of past coastal dune mobility, and to constrain former lake levels in the Lake Michigan basin. Time series analysis of sand cycles based on the weight-percent aeolian sand within lacustrine sediment, reveals statistically significant spectral peaks that coincide with established lake level cycles in Lake Michigan and the Gleissberg sunspot cycle of minima. Longer cycles of ~ 800 and ~ 2200 years were also identified that correspond to solar cycles. Shorter cycles between 80 and 220 years suggest a link between coastal dune mobility, climate, and lake levels in the Lake Michigan basin. Radiocarbon-dated sedimentary contacts of lacustrine sediment overlying wetland sediment record the Nipissing transgression in the Lake Michigan basin. Lake level rise closely mimics the predicted uplift of the North Bay outlet, with lake level rise slowing when outflow was transferred to the Port Huron/Sarnia outlet. The Nipissing highstand was reached after 5000 cal (4.4 ka) BP.     

黑河流域中游沙漠风能环境与风沙地貌

在黑河流域中游,沙漠分布在绿洲附近或绿洲之间。近年来,由于气候变化和人类活动的影响,该地区的生态与环境恶化。目前,虽然对该地区的生态与环境等问题进行了大量的研究,但关于绿洲及沙漠风能环境的研究较少。本文利用自动气象站的风资料、环境减灾卫星影像（HJ-1A/B）和Google Earth高清影像,对黑河流域中游沙漠的风能环境与风沙地貌进行探讨。结果表明：黑河流域中游沙漠的北部为高风能环境（>400）,中部为中风能环境（200～400）,南部为低风能环境（<200）;合成输沙势方向总体为东南方向,但在不同区域有所差异;方向变率在北部和中部属于中等变率,南部属于低变率。内陆河流域下游的冲积-洪积物是该地区沙漠形成的物质基础。风能环境与风况对风沙地貌沙丘的形成起着重要作用,但沙源供应对沙丘形态特征的作用不可忽略,在相同的风况下,新月形沙丘（链）、格状沙丘和金字塔沙丘可能共同存在,造成这种格局的主要原因在于沙源的供应程度,按新月形沙丘（链）—格状沙丘—金字塔沙丘顺序,沙源供应逐渐增加。研究区的沙丘类型包括新月形沙丘链、格状沙丘、灌丛沙丘、沙垄、金字塔沙丘、线形沙丘等。