Effects of Lateral Variation in Vegetation and Basin ‘Dome’ Shape on Tropical Lowland Peat Stabilisation in the Kota Samarahan-Asajaya Area, West Sarawak, Malaysia

Field surveys indicate lateral variation in peat humification levels （von Post） in dominantly occurring fibric,fibric to hemic,sapric and hemie to sapric peats across a gradient from the margin towards the centre of tropical lowland peat domes.Cement-peat stabilisation can be enhanced by adding mineral soil fillers （silt,clays and fine sands） obtained from Quaternary floodplain deposits and residual soil （weathered schist）.The unconfined compressive strength （UCS） of the stabilised cement-mineral soil fifler-peat mix increases with the increased addition of selected mineral soil filler.Lateral variation in the stabilised peat strength （UCS） in the top 0 to 0.5 m layer was found from the margin towards the centre of the tropical lowland peat dome.The variations in the UCS of stabilised tropical lowland peats along a gradient from the periphery towards the centre of the peat dome are most likely caused by a combination of factors due to variations in the mineral soil or ash content of the peat and horizontal zonation or lateral variation in the dominant species of the plant assemblages （due to successive vegetation zonation of the peat swamp forest from the periphery towards the centre of the tropical lowland peat dome）.     

Coversand and Pleistocene palaeosols in the Landes region,southwestern France

New sections in the coversand of the Landes region, southwestern France, show at least two main depositional phases corresponding to the Upper Pleniglacial and the Lateglacial, which are separated by palaeosols. The lower palaeosol, a gleyic to histic cryosol overlying a net of sand wedges and dated to ca. 23 ¹⁴C ka BP, testifies to a short occurrence of permafrost. Impeded drainage due to the frozen subsoil is assumed to be the main factor involved in lowered aeolian transport and soil formation. Pollen analysis indicates a shrub tundra‐type environment. The overlying coversand unit is associated with small transverse ridges or sheet‐like deposits, and corresponds to the maximal extension of the sands, Upper Pleniglacial in age. An incipient podzol developed on the dunes under a boreal pine forest, and has been dated to 11.5–12 ¹⁴C ka BP, i.e. to the Allerød period. This has been buried by the second coversand unit during the Younger Dryas, typified by abundant denivation features and root imprints. Although preliminary, the chronology of sand deposition in the Landes region appears thus to be roughly similar to that found for the other European coversands, showing that all were the result of similar western European climatic changes, i.e. repeated episodes of increasing aridity related to the Upper Pleniglacial and the Younger Dryas episode. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of pollen assemblage zones in soil profiles in southeastern England

Four soil profiles within c. 4 ha of dry heathland on lping Common, southeastern England were studied. Two were podzols, one was a buried profile from beneath a Bronze-age barrow and one was a profile buried beneath sediment in a small pond. Loss on ignition, particle size analysis, iron concentration and pollen concentration were determined and a pollen diagram prepared for each profile. It is suggested that discrete soil pollen assemblage zones arise from their incorporation by successively shallower-burrowing earthworm populations as the soils and vegetation change from mull to mor types. The implications of this mode of incorporation to the interpretation of soil pollen diagrams are discussed. A sequence of vegetation and soils for this area is suggested as follows:(1) mixed deciduous woodland of Quercus. Tilia and Corylus with a fern-rich understorey growing in a mull soil, (2) scrub woodland of Betula and Corylus with Pteridium and some Callunu, (3) Calluna heathland on podzolised soils. ¹⁴C dates obtained from podzol Bh horizons and the buried soil beneath the pond were inconclusive.     

泥炭质土K0固结不同开挖路径应力-应变关系研究

基坑开挖过程中不同部位的土体会因不同的卸荷力学行为而表现出动态的破坏特性。为研究基坑土体开挖过程中复杂的卸荷应力路径,利用TSZ-1S应力控制式三轴仪分别对湖相沉积的泥炭质土进行固结不排水及K₀固结下的加、卸荷试验,并按侧向、轴向、轴侧向同时卸荷等不同卸荷条件制定试验方案,模拟基坑开挖过程中不同部位土体卸荷路径下的应力-应变曲线、卸荷剪切破坏时的强度及初始切线模量等的变化规律。试验结果表明：土体的应力-应变特性与应力路径密切相关,各路径下应力-应变曲线都近似呈双曲线型;卸荷剪切破坏时强度明显低于加荷破坏。对不同卸荷路径下初始切线模量(E_i)的研究发现,E_i受侧向卸荷影响较大,卸荷后E_i有所提高,轴向卸荷对其影响较小。对各应力-应变曲线进行归一化处理,构建了考虑不同归一化因子的归一化方程,以该方程为基础对不同应力路径下的泥炭质土进行归一化处理,并对结果进行了验证,效果良好。本研究可为泥炭质土场地上基坑在不同卸荷路径下的变形参数和本构关系的研究提供参考。     

试论锗在煤层中分布的两种类型

关于锗在煤层中的分布已有较多研究,但各家见解殊多矛盾,目前尚未见有将锗在煤层中分布的复杂现象,统一于比较合理的、系统的解释中;这是需要不断地探索、总结以求解决的问题。本文试图根据笔者工作地区的资料,并参考其它成果,就锗在煤层中分布的某些特点提出几点看法,与同志们讨论。     

Estuarine sedimentation in the Eocene of southern England

A temporary section in the Cuisian Bagshot Beds, which has been mapped in detail, displayed estuarine sediments with interlayered sands and muds, fine sands, channel-fill sands and intraformational (mainly mud clast) conglomerates. The facies show rapid lateral and vertical changes in grain size and bed form and a restricted suite of trace fossils including Ophiomorpha nodosa and Arenicolites sp. The sequence is shown to have been deposited in a subtidal channel where tidal, wave and fluvial processes were dominant at different times. The following points are considered to be characteristic of sedimentation in this environment: (i) correlation is difficult and facies predictability is low; (ii) there are frequent lateral facies changes from the channel to the subtidal bank environment; (iii) pene-contemporaneous erosion removes considerable amounts of sediment; (iv) load structures may be exposed, eroded, buried and reactivated; and (v) muddy layers and bioturbated horizons offer similar resistance to penecontemporaneous erosion.     

Soil paludification and Sphagnum bog initiation: the influence of indurated podzolic soil and fire

The initiation and growth of boreal peatlands developed on well‐drained, sandy landforms are closely associated with podzolic soil paludification processes. The origin of Sphagnum bogs extending on large deltaic plains was examined to test the hypothesis of the dual impact of indurated (ortstein) podzols and fire on forest soil paludification and concurrent peatland initiation and expansion. Mineral soil, basal organic matter and peat monoliths were sampled for soil and macrofossil analyses along an 800‐m toposequence starting from a mixed‐wood boreal forest to a Sphagnum bog (Lebel bog, eastern Quebec, Canada), and ending at a peat dome in the thickest section of the peatland. Mineral soils along the toposequence are ortstein humo‐ferric podzols distributed in the forest environment and beneath Sphagnum peat in the bog, except at the peat dome. Initial peatland growth occurred c. 6000 cal. a BP. Soil paludification coincided with the cessation of fire occurrence as recorded in the organic and mineral layers preceding Sphagnum expansion. Unlike most temperate and boreal raised bogs, the Sphagnum bog developed directly from a forest environment without passing through a transitional fen stage. Conifer forests regenerated successively after several fires between 4200 and 1600 cal. a BP before bog expansion. Pre‐bog forests were composed of fire‐prone black spruce (Picea mariana) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) trees, and ericaceous species. Given the distribution and thickness of ortstein horizons progressively decreasing and disappearing towards the peatland dome, growth and expansion of the Sphagnum bog was not caused by soil induration processes, which could have potentially impeded vertical and horizontal drainage. The development of indurated podzols outside and several hundred metres inside the peatland preceded the initiation and expansion of the Sphagnum bog. Cessation of fire activity appears to be a key factor facilitating the lateral expansion of the Sphagnum bog under wet soil conditions.     

新密煤田翟沟井田山西组煤层特征及聚煤环境分析

以新密煤田翟沟井田勘探资料为基础,对井田区域特征、山西组煤层特征和沉积环境进行分析。研究表明：山西组下段为以泥坪＋泥炭沼泽＋泥坪沉积序列为主的潮坪沉积,山西组上段为以弱还原环境河流作用为主的三角洲沉积体系,山西组聚煤环境为滨岸潮坪环境;山西组二。煤层层位稳定,煤层结构简单,煤层厚度为0．82-12．20m,一般3—5m,平均厚度3．84m,煤层厚度的变化是受沉积环境、后期冲刷作用及构造作用综合作用的结果。     

Piles in fully liquefied soils with lateral spread

The paper provides a new analysis procedure for the assessment of the lateral response of isolated piles/drilled shafts in saturated sands as liquefaction and lateral soil spread develop in response to dynamic loading such as that generated by the earthquake shaking. The presented method accounts for: (1) the development of full liquefaction in the free-field soil that could trigger the lateral spread of the overlying crust layer; (2) the driving force exerted by the crust layer based on the interaction between the pile and the upper non-liquefied soil (crust) layer; and (3) the variation of the excess pore water pressure (i.e. post-liquefaction soil strength) in the near-field soil with the progressive pile deflection under lateral soil spread driving force. A constitutive model for fully liquefied sands under monotonic loading and undrained conditions is developed in order to predict the zone of post-liquefaction zero-strength of liquefied sand before it rebounds with the increasing soil strain in the near-field. The analytical and empirical concepts employed in the Strain Wedge (SW) model allow the modeling of such a sophisticated phenomenon of lateral soil spread that could accompany or follow the occurrence of seismic events without using modifying parameters or shape corrections to account for soil liquefaction.     

The Late Devensian-Flandrian transition depicted by serial insect faunas from West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England

A bed of peat resting on sands and gravels and reaching the present-day ground surface, was investigated for beetles, and seven radiocarbon dates were obtained. The beetles indicated that the lowest layers of the peat, dated around 12,000 B.P., were laid down in boggy conditions in a treeless landscape under a climatic regime which was rather cooler than present day. Two quite sudden changes in the aspect of the fauna then followed. The first was the incoming of an assemblage indicative of a climate of arctic severity. This layer was not dated but if the rate of deposition was constant during this period it must have been around 11,000 B. P. The second change was the equally rapid disappearance of this northern fauna about 1000 years later. Succeeding layers then contained beetles suggesting conditions as warm as those of the present day, with species indicating both coniferous and deciduous trees appearing before 9500 B.P.     

河南省陕县支建矿区铝土矿沉积特征研究

支建铝土矿位于三门峡—新安铝土矿成矿带。通过对支建铝土矿的结构要素及成因、构造特征、沉积层序、主要组分变化与埋深、沉积环境、迁移和沉积方式的研究,初步建立了该区铝土矿的沉积模式,指出进一步的找矿方向,即在古陆周围深部煤系地层之下,仍能形成具工业意义的铝土矿体,这对河南省铝土矿找矿工作和煤矿的资源转型有一定的借鉴意义。     

Podzol development, vegetation change and glacier variations at Haugabreen, southern Norway

¹⁴C dating and pollen analysis of the surface organic (LFH) horizons of several humo-ferric podzol profiles forming a soil catena close to the 'Little Ice Agc' outer moraine ridge of Haugabreen, southern Norway, are used to examine the timing and nature of podzol development at the low-/sub-alpine margin of the Jostedalsbreen area. Comparison with results from a palaeosol buried beneath the outer moraine shows that FH horizon development began as early as 5,265 ± 65 B.P., but that it was not synehronous across the profiles, the latest profile having a date of 3,590 ± 65 B.P. It is argued that surface organic horizons developed as a response to a deterioration of climate and possibly the recrudescence of the Myklebustbreen ice cap at c . 5,000 B.P., and that the dates for horizon initiation vary according to local topographic and soil-hydrologic conditions. It is still uncertain whether the hump-ferric podzols were preceded by brown earths or weakly podzolised sub-alpine podzolic soils, but at all sites where pollen evidence is available it appears that FH initiation took place beneath Betula woodland.     

Distribution, classification, petrological and related gochemical (SRA) characteristics of a tropical lowland peat dome in the Kota Samarahan-Asajaya area, West Sarawak, Malaysia

Petrographic studies indicate that lateral variations in the decomposition levels of peat are associated with the predominantly occurring peat macerals. Source Rock Analyzer (SRA) results indicate lateral variation in peat organic matter types from type II to III and back again to type II, occurring laterally within the top 0-m to 0.5-m layer at the basin margin to the midsection and further towards the near-center areas of the peat dome. This variation is most likely caused by a combination of factors: (a) Horizontal zonation and lateral variation of the dominant species of plant assemblages (b) Fibric (marginal) peats and hemic to sapric peats associated with type II organic matter (kerogen). Sample organic matter (coal-equivalent kerogen) typing indicates that the relative abundance of phytoclasts and palynomorphs generally supports the organic matter classification obtained by the SRA method. Lateral variations in the peat organic matter types may support the lateral vegetation variation concept. The classification of peat organic matter types (interpreted from visual analyses of palynological slides) occurring from the basin periphery to the mid-section and further towards the basin center yields organic matter of type II to type III and mixed types II to III (coal kerogen-equivalent), respectively.     

Quaternary buried paleosols: A critical review

A review of work on buried paleosols in the disciplines of pedology, Quaternary geology, and archaeology is presented under the headings of (1) the problems of identification, (2) techniques of study, (3) buried paleosols and Quaternary stratigraphy, (4) archaeological stratigraphy and dating, (5) layered soils, and (6) past environment from buried paleosols. It is suggested that future pedological research of interest to Quaternary studies should concentrate on clarifying what is a soil as opposed to a weathered sediment, what processes and features are peculiar to pedogenesis as opposed to diagenesis, and what are the relationships between soil-site conditions and soil characteristics.     

Palaeoenvironmental control on coal formation, distribution and quality in the Permian Vryheid Formation, East Witbank Coalfield, South Africa

The No. 1 and No. 2 coal seams from the Permian Vryheid Formation in the east Witbank Coalfield, South Africa are described with respect to their distribution, thickness and quality. These two coal seams accumulated in a postglacial climatic environment and peat accumulation was closely associated with and influenced by deposition in a braided river system. The fluvial channels that were syndepositional with peat accumulation have resulted in thinning of coal below and above channel axes and pinch-out of coal adjacent to channel margins. Low-ash coal originated from peat which accumulated in areas away from the influence of clastic sedimentation. In contrast, higher-ash coals are situated adjacent and parallel to channel margins where interbedded channel sand and silt contaminated the peat.The lower No. 1 seam peat originated under near-optimum conditions in a lacustrine swamp which blanketed an underlying platform of glaciofluvial braided river sediment. This peat swamp was not subjected to syndepositional clastic contamination and as a result is of superior quality (lower ash/higher calorific value and volatile matter) than the overlying No. 2 coal seam. The No. 2 seam is split by a clastic parting produced by a braided fluvial channel which transected the swamp midway through peat accumulation. This fluvial clastic parting deleteriously affected coal thickness and quality.A comparison of the Gondwanan Permian peat-forming conditions with those from Carboniferous northern hemisphere counterparts suggests that the differences in coal characteristics between these two regions are probably related to different palaeoclimatic conditions and basin tectonics. Cool-temperate climatic conditions which prevailed over the Permian peat swamps resulted in less species diversification of vegetation at these high-latitude settings than the diverse floral assemblages of the Carboniferous swamps. A stable intracronic basin platform caused lateral dispersion of sedimentary facies rather than the stacking of vertical facies which occurred in rapidly subsiding depositories. Partial exposure of the Permian peat swamps during peat accumulation may account for the relatively higher inertinite content of the coals.     

Alluvial records of medieval and prehistoric tin mining on Dartmoor,southwest England

The role of tin mining in the society of prehistoric Dartmoor and its impact on the local landscape have long been discussed despite equivocal evidence for prehistoric mine sites. A fluvial geomorphological approach, using floodplain stratigraphy, combined with sediment geochemistry and mineralogy, was employed to identify prehistoric tin mining at the catchment scale. Waste sediment, released during hydraulic mining of alluvial tin deposits, caused downstream floodplain aggradation of sands with a diagnostic signature of elevated Sn concentration within the silt fraction. At a palaeochannel site in the Erme Valley, sediment aggradation buried datable peat deposits. A period of aggradation postdating cal. A.D. 1288–1389 is consistent with the 13th century peak in tin production identified in the documentary record. An earlier phase of aggradation, however, occurred between the 4th and 7th centuries A.D., providing evidence of late Roman or early Post Roman tin mining activity on Dartmoor. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Brown earth and podzol: soil genesis illuminated by microfossil analysis

Andersen, S. Th. 1979 03 01: Brown earth and podzol: soil genesis illuminated by microfossil analysis. Boreas , Vol. 8, pp. 59–73. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Pollen and other plant microfossils were studied in soil profiles from a Fagus-Quercus petraea woodland in eastern Jutland, Denmark. Fungal hypha fragments in the soil show characteristic length frequency distributions, which indicate comminution by large arthropods and microarthropods (Oribatei) during the burial. Distribution of the hypha fragments within the podzol indicates development from a former brown earth. The pollen sequence in a humus deposit reflects recent vegetational development. Modification of pollen assemblages in the mineral soils can be explained by mixing during burial by soil fauna. Development from brown earth to podzoloid and podzol follows the models assumed by pedologists. The various stages are related to vegetational changes and the processes were completed within a few hundred years.     

The lignin component of humic substances: Distribution among soil and sedimentary humic,fulvic, and base-insoluble fractions

Vanillyl, syringyl and cinnamyl phenols occur as CuO oxidation products of humic, fulvic and base-insoluble residual fractions from soils, peat and nearshore marine sediments. However, none of these lignin-derived phenols were released by CuO oxidation of deepsea sediment or its base-extractable organic fractions. Lignin analysis indicated that peat and coastal marine sediments contained significantly higher levels of recognizable vascular plant carbon (20–50%) than soils and offshore marine sediments (0–10%).Although accounting for less than 20% of the total sedimentary (bulk) lignin, lignin components of humic acid fractions compositionally and quantitatively resembled the corresponding bulk samples and baseinsoluble residues. Recognizable lignin, presumably present as intact phenylpropanoid units, accounted for up to 5% of the carbon in peat and coastal humic acids but less than 1% in soil humic acids. Fulvic acid fractions uniformly yielded less lignin-derived phenols in mixtures that were depleted in syringyl and cinnamyl phenols relative to the corresponding humic acid fractions.Within the vanillyl and syringyl families the relative distribution of acidic and aldehydic phenols is a sensitive measure of the degree of oxidative alteration of the lignin component The high acid/aldehyde ratios and the low phenol yields of soils and their humic fractions compared to peat and coastal sediments indicate extensive degradation of the lignin source material. Likewise, the progressively higher acid/aldehyde ratios and lower phenol yields along the sequence: plant tissues (plant debris)-humic acids-fulvic acids suggest that this pattern represents the diagenetic sequence for the aerobic degradation of lignin biopolymers.     

Genesis of variegated redbeds in the fluvial Aztec Siltstone (late devonian), southern victoria land,Antarctica

The Aztec Siltstone (Late Devonian) formed in a meandering fluviatile environment and is a variegated redbed sequence consisting of red or drab overbank mudstones and drab channel sandstones, commonly arranged in fining-upwards cycles. The pigmentation in the red mudstones is caused by euhedral cryptocrystalline haematite which is dispersed throughout the matrix, masking the green colour of the underlying illitic and chloritic clays. Textural, mineralogical and chemical analyses suggest that the pigment formed in situ by dehydration and crystallization of a detrital, amorphous or poorly crystalline, yellow-brown ferric oxide precursor. The hydrated precursor apparently was derived from the weathering of iron silicates in a source area regolith, and transported in suspension with the Aztec alluvium, commonly by attachment onto surfaces of clay platelets. The association of the precursor with the clays is a contributing reason for the absence of red sandstones in the formation.Dehydration and crystallization of the yellow-brown ferric oxide to form the red haematite pigment occurred prior to deep burial of the host sediment. At least part of it occurred before burial, in an oxidising environment in well-drained and well-aerated overbank soils which were exposed for prolonged periods of time (4,000–10,000 years) under a hot and at least seasonally arid climate. Crystallization of the red pigment may have been completed during early diagenesis.Reducing conditions, induced by the presence of organic debris in the sediment and a relatively high water table, affected much of the deposit by removing the “free” hydrated ferric oxide, either partially or completely, from the in-channel sands, the low-lying and poorly drained overbank sediments, and the lacustrine sediments. This reduction was both a syndepositional and an early post-depositional process.Iron analyses indicate that, on average, the red mudstones are enriched in total iron (Fe) and Fe³⁺ by 2%, all of which is attributable to the inherited “free” ferric oxide. There is no other significant difference in whole-rock mineralogy or major-element chemistry between the red and non-red mudstones.     

Cryostratigraphy of late Pleistocene syngenetic permafrost (yedoma) in northern Alaska, Itkillik River exposure

Extremely ice-rich syngenetic permafrost, or yedoma, developed extensively under the cold climate of the Pleistocene in unglaciated regions of Eurasia and North America. In Alaska, yedoma occurs in the Arctic Foothills, the northern part of the Seward Peninsula, and in interior Alaska. A remarkable 33-m-high exposure along the lower Itkillik River in northern Alaska opened an opportunity to study the unmodified yedoma, including stratigraphy, particle-size distribution, soil carbon contents, morphology and quantity of segregated, wedge, and thermokarst-cave ice. The exposed permafrost sequence comprised seven cryostratigraphic units, which formed over a period from > 48,000 to 5,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, including: 1) active layer; 2) intermediate layer of the upper permafrost; 3–4) two yedoma silt units with different thicknesses of syngenetic ice wedges; 5) buried peat layer; 6) buried intermediate layer beneath the peat; and 7) silt layer with short ice wedges. This exposure is comparable to the well known Mus-Khaya and Duvanny Yar yedoma exposures in Russia. Based on our field observations, literature sources, and interpretation of satellite images and aerial photography, we have developed a preliminary map of yedoma distribution in Alaska.