On the history of the Late Devensian Lake Sparks in southern Fenland,Cambridgeshire, England

A section in a gravel quarry at Somersham, Cambridgeshire, has revealed evidence for a lake, named Lake Sparks, in Fenland during the Late Devensian substage of the Pleistocene. Varved sediments were deposited in this lake over a minimum period of ca. 65 yr. The varved clays contain red diamicton clasts, interpreted as dump, delivered to the area by icebergs or floes from the ice-front in the Wash that deposited the Hunstanton Till. The lake is therefore considered a result of impounding by the Late Devensian ice advance on the east coast. A small number of pale varves have a characteristic structure indicating increased calcite deposition in the summer. They are interpreted as a result of cooler summers with reduced gelifluction from the surrounding Jurassic (Ampthill) Clay. Such gelifluction introduced a mudflow into the varved sequence at the southern end of the section. Pollen analysis confirms the derivation of the clays from the surrounding Ampthill Clay. The varved clays are succeeded by fluviatile sediments related to a delta building into the lake from the north. The delta sediments show periodic influx of sand into the lake interrupted by quiet periods with the development of Chara meadows. A thin spread of fluviatile gravels succeed the delta sediments, indicating the development of a braided river plain as the lake drained on the melting of the Late Devensian ice. This was followed by permafrost development, with the formation of thin thermal contraction cracks and coversand deposition. Later, degradation of the permafrost was associated with the formation of diapirs and a solifluction mantle, and incision of the fluviatile and lacustrine sediments took place. Flandrian peat and marl later filled the valley so formed. A radiocarbon date of 18310 yr BP from Salix leaves in a drift mud at the top of channel sands preceding lake sediment, in a neighbouring section, confirms the relation of the lake to the Late Devensian ice advance. The significance of the Late Devensian sediments at Somersham lies in the information they give on the timing and variety of processes related to drainage and ice movement in the period before, during and after the ice advance to the Wash. A period of low deposition rate in the lake was followed by rapid delta sedimentation and lake drainage, with implications for climatic change.     

北极斯瓦尔巴德群岛中部海域表层海水水质研究

掌握北极海水水质特征及地域分布等第一手数据对北极科考意义重大。该项研究工作是全国青少年北极科考子任务,于2017年夏季在北极斯瓦尔巴德群岛中部海域对表层海水水质特征、地域差异及相关控制因素进行了研究。选取了6个区域共40个采样点采集表层海水样本,从温度、酸碱度、电导率、溶解性总固体量、实际盐度和溶解氧饱和度等方面进行了水质特征测量分析,发现该海域6个区域在海水温度、电导率、溶解性总固体量、实际盐度及溶解氧饱和度等方面均有较大差异,而酸碱度差异不大: 北部冰区水温最低,溶解性总固体量最低,溶解氧含量较高; 西北部海湾溶解氧饱和度最高; 中部海峡溶解性总固体量最高,盐度和电导率最低; 南部海域水温最高,实际盐度和电导率最高,溶解氧饱和度最低; 东部沿海水温偏低。采样点地理位置、洋流情况、地形地貌等因素对表层海水水质均有影响。这些研究成果对补充我国在北极地区的第一手科考数据和进行深入的科考研究具有重要意义。     

北极斯瓦尔巴德群岛中部海域表层海水水质研究

掌握北极海水水质特征及地域分布等第一手数据对北极科考意义重大。该项研究工作是全国青少年北极科考子任务,于2017年夏季在北极斯瓦尔巴德群岛中部海域对表层海水水质特征、地域差异及相关控制因素进行了研究。选取了6个区域共40个采样点采集表层海水样本,从温度、酸碱度、电导率、溶解性总固体量、实际盐度和溶解氧饱和度等方面进行了水质特征测量分析,发现该海域6个区域在海水温度、电导率、溶解性总固体量、实际盐度及溶解氧饱和度等方面均有较大差异,而酸碱度差异不大: 北部冰区水温最低,溶解性总固体量最低,溶解氧含量较高; 西北部海湾溶解氧饱和度最高; 中部海峡溶解性总固体量最高,盐度和电导率最低; 南部海域水温最高,实际盐度和电导率最高,溶解氧饱和度最低; 东部沿海水温偏低。采样点地理位置、洋流情况、地形地貌等因素对表层海水水质均有影响。这些研究成果对补充我国在北极地区的第一手科考数据和进行深入的科考研究具有重要意义。     

Moraine development at a small High‐Arctic valley glacier: Rieperbreen,Svalbard

Ice‐cored lateral and frontal moraine complexes, formed at the margin of the small, land‐based Rieperbreen glacier, central Svalbard, have been investigated through field observations and interpretations of aerial photographs (1936, 1961 and 1990). The main focus has been on the stratigraphical and dynamic development of these moraines as well as the disintegration processes. The glacier has been wasting down since the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA) maximum, and between 1936 and 1990 the glacier surface was lowered by 50–60 m and the front retreated by approximately 900 m. As the glacier wasted, three moraine ridges developed at the front, mainly as melting out of sediments from debris‐rich foliation and debris‐bands formed when the glacier was polythermal, probably during the LIA maximum. The disintegration of the moraines is dominated by wastage of buried ice, sediment gravity‐flows, meltwater activity and some frost weathering. A transverse glacier profile with a northward sloping surface has developed owing to the higher insolation along the south‐facing ice margin. This asymmetric geometry also strongly affects the supraglacial drainage pattern. Lateral moraines have formed along both sides of the glacier, although the insolation aspect of the glacier has resulted in the development of a moraine 60 m high along its northern margin. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Luminescence chronology of non‐glacial sediments in Changeable Lake,Russian High Arctic,and implications for limited Eurasian ice‐sheet extent during the LGM

A 10.5 m core from Changeable Lake in the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago just north of the Taymyr Peninsula intersects ca. 30 cm of diamicton at its base, interpreted as a basal till. Because the upper 10.13 m of this core consists of non‐glacial sediments, a maximum numeric age for these non‐glacial sediments would provide a clear lower limit to the timing of the last glaciation in the area of Changeable Lake. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating of several materials from this core yielded widely scattered results. Consequently we applied photonic dating to sediments above the diamicton. The experimental single‐aliquot‐regenerative (SAR) dose fine‐grain method was applied to two samples, using the ‘double SAR’ approach. With one exception, these fine‐grain SAR results and the results of application of the SAR method to sand‐sized quartz grains from two samples, at ca. 9.95 m and ca. 10.05 m depth, are discrepant with age estimates from the multi‐aliquot infrared‐photon‐stimulated luminescence (IR‐PSL) method applied to fine grains. Multi‐aliquot IR‐PSL dating of 10 samples produces ages increasing monotonically from ca. 4 ka at 2 m to 53 ± 4 ka at 9.97 m. These self‐consistent multi‐aliquot IR‐PSL ages, along with limiting ¹⁴C ages of >47 ka at ca. 10 m, provide direct evidence that glacial ice did not advance over this lake basin during the Last Glacial Maximum, and thus delimit the northeastern margin of the Barents–Kara Sea ice‐sheet to somewhere west of this archipelago. The last regional glaciation probably occurred during marine isotope stage (MIS) 4 or earlier. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

近50年来北极斯瓦尔巴地区冰川物质平衡变化特征

利用长时间序列的冰川物质平衡资料,详细分析了北极斯瓦尔巴地区冰川的物质平衡变化特征以及气候因子对物质平衡的影响。结果表明：近50年来斯瓦尔巴地区冰川物质平衡变化主要呈负平衡、零平衡/略微增长两种状态。冰川净平衡一般为负值,年际变化波动幅度较大且呈负平衡趋势,累积物质平衡表现出长期稳定的负平衡增长态势。除Kongsvegen冰川外,其他冰川不存在短期内的平衡波动。季节变化表现为夏季消融、冬季积累,且夏季消融比冬季积累波动更大,冰川净平衡与夏季消融保持同步变化趋势。冰川净平衡与平衡线高度（ELA）呈负相关（平均相关系数为-0.89）,与积累区面积比率（AAR）呈正相关（平均相关系数为0.84）,该地区大多数冰川AAR减小,说明冰川物质补给处于劣势,冰川物质平衡向负平衡发展。夏季气温升高是斯瓦尔巴地区冰川表面物质加速亏损的直接原因。     

从第三极到北极： 湖冰研究进展

在全球气候变暖背景下, 第三极和北极地区的增温尤其明显, 冰冻圈对气候变化有着更为敏感的响应。湖冰作为冰冻圈的重要组成部分, 其变化不仅是气候的指示器, 同时也通过改变能量平衡、 大气环流、 辐射平衡等影响区域气候。通过对比不同观测手段及主要模型模拟方法在湖冰研究中的优缺点及适用性, 总结了第三极和北极湖冰变化的时空特征, 结果表明：第三极和北极地区湖冰均显示初冰日推迟、 消融日提前、 封冻期缩短的趋势; 第三极和北极地区湖冰厚度呈持续减少趋势; 未来湖冰的这些变化将更加显著。第三极和北极地区湖冰的变化主要受到气温的影响, 同时也受到风速、 湖泊理化性质的限制。在系统梳理第三极和北极地区湖冰变化的基础上, 总结了湖冰研究面临的问题和挑战, 为未来湖冰研究提供科学依据。     

北极斯瓦尔巴特群岛及邻区天然气水合物分解对气候、海洋环境和生物的影响

天然气水合物是一种潜在的巨量能源,但其分解释放的甲烷可能对全球气候与海洋环境产生巨大影响。然而,人们目前对天然气水合物分解产生的环境和生物效应的了解还不够全面。北极地区的斯瓦尔巴特群岛及邻区的海底和冻土层中蕴含大量甲烷,对气候变化十分敏感,是人们研究天然气水合物对气候变化的响应机制和其分解对生态环境影响的绝佳场所。系统总结了斯瓦尔巴特群岛及邻区水合物分解的气候与环境效应,发现目前研究区水合物分解产生的甲烷进入大气的年际通量不大,对全球气候的影响可能有限;水合物分解对海底滑坡起到催化剂的作用,但不是首要因素;海底水合物分解释放的甲烷能打破原有的化学平衡、生产力分布规律与输送机制、生物耦合关系甚至不同栖息地间的连通性,进而影响底栖生物群落。这些认识对研究天然气水合物开采对生态环境可能造成的影响和采取相应防治措施具有一定的借鉴意义。     

Long-Term Temperature Trends and Tree Growth in the Taymir Region of Northern Siberia

The northernmost conifers in the world are located well above the Arctic Circle in the Taymir region of northern Siberia and have been recording the thermal environment for centuries to millennia. The trees respond to temperatures beyond the narrow season of actual cambial cell division by means of root growth, photosynthesis, lignification of cell walls, and other biochemical processes. Data from annual tree-ring widths are used to reconstruct May–September mean temperatures for the past four centuries. These warm-season temperatures correlate with annual temperatures and indicate unusual warming in the 20th century. However, there is a loss of thermal response in ring widths since about 1970. Previously the warmer temperatures induced wider rings. Most major warming and cooling trends are in agreement with other high-latitude temperature reconstructions based on tree-ring analyses with some regional differences in timing of cooling in the late 18th century and of warming in the late 19th century.     

GDGTs揭示的西宁盆地中中新世环境变化

西宁盆地关家山剖面微生物细胞膜脂的生物标志化合物甘油二烷基甘油四醚类脂物（Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers,简称GDGTs）古温度指标MAT_mr记录了从16.8 Ma到13.4 Ma的持续降温过程（下降约5.1℃）,与全球深海氧同位素记录的中中新世气候适宜期（MMCO）及其后的中中新世气候转型（MMCT）事件一致,揭示了西宁盆地古温度在此期间受全球温度变化控制。其环化参数CBT'重建的古pH值（CBT'-pH）平均为6.56±0.50,且80%样点的干旱指标R_i/b（古菌类异戊二烯型isoprenoid GDGTs（简称iGDGTs）与细菌支链型branched GDGTs（简称bGDGTs）相对含量比值）小于0.5,表明西宁盆地在此期间整体上处于较为湿润的环境,但是在14.0 Ma和14.8 Ma,R_i/b值记录了两次干旱事件。总之,虽然在古温度绝对值计算等问题上仍存在一定困难,GDGTs展现了在西宁盆地乃至青藏高原东北部在新近系甚至更老地层中应用的潜力。

     

Mineralogy and chemistry of bentonite (?) deposits at Minjingu, Lake Manyara, North Tanzania

Olive green clays likely to be bentonitic in composition have been mineralogically and chemically studied. They occur in association with other lacustrine sediments at Lake Manyara. Radiocarbon dates from four diatom horizons indicate ages ranging from 12 Ka to 135 Ka suggesting a Mid-Holocene age. Middle Pleistocene age have been assigned to the ridged oncolites of Lake Manyara. The olive green coloured clays in the Manyara basin are known to occur in association with other lake beds including phosphorite deposits, stromatolites, bioturbated silty clays, partly silicified marls, conglomerates and olive green coloured opal beds. The results presented herein are from the olive green coloured clays. The olive green clays (bentonite?) are a result of devitrification or alteration of volcanic ashes and/or pyroclasts. The green clays occur in different forms as they are separated from each other by other lacustrine sediments. The alteration might have taken place in slightly different environments in terms of salinity and alkalinity. One of the top layer is friable and shows conchoidal fractures when dry. The other beds below in the lacustrine sequence are cemented with calcite and some dolomite as well as zeolites. The lowermost layer in the sequence is friable and shows cracks filled with coarse crystalline calcite. Mineralogically the bentonite is composed of the clay minerals illite, illite-smectite mixed layer clays, and chlorite. Other authigenic minerals include various zeolites (analcime, clinoptilolite, erionite and some traces of mordenite), opal, and fluorapatite. The clays have magnesium contents varying from 3.01% to 7.43%. The calcium contents vary widely due to presence or absence of one of the two minerals calcite or apatite. Trace elements like Ba, Ce, Sr, Zr are equally attributed to the presence of calcite and apatite. The formation of the illite-smectite mixed layer clays in an alternating manner with other lake sediments depicts different episodes of volcanic eruptions in the area. The mineralogical composition of smectites, zeolites, and opal in the green clays suggests a deposition of pyroclasts and volcanic ashes in a closed lake system with fluctuating levels. Due to evaporation alkalinity and salinity levels were fluctuating. The clays might have been bentonite which have undergone illitisation, a phenomena noted in other neighbouring rift basins.     

Validation of a chrysophyte stomatocyst‐based cold‐season climate reconstruction from high‐Alpine Lake Silvaplana,Switzerland

For the reliable assessment of past climate variability, quantitative reconstructions of seasonal temperatures are required. Currently, reconstructions of cold‐season temperatures are scarce, because most biological proxies are biased towards the growing season. Here we test the potential of chrysophyte stomatocysts (or simply ‘cysts’; siliceous resting stages of the golden‐brown algae) as a proxy for cold‐season temperature. Climate reconstructions based on biological proxies are commonly constructed using transfer functions derived from calibration in space. However, the performance of these reconstructions is rarely tested by direct comparison with meteorological data due to limitations of sample resolution or chronological control. We compare a cyst‐based near‐annual reconstruction of ‘date of spring mixing’ from the varved sediments of Lake Silvaplana (Swiss Alps) spanning AD 1870–2004 with climate variables from the same period measured at the lake shore. The high correlation between cyst‐based ‘date of spring mixing’ and cold‐season temperature demonstrates the ability of chrysophyte cysts to archive cold‐season temperature variability. Lake eutrophication, which was extensive during the last 50 years, had no obvious effect on the cyst‐based reconstruction. This study underlines the high potential of chrysophyte cysts as a quantitative proxy for cold‐season climate reconstructions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

西北冰洋加拿大海盆MIS 8期以来的物源变化及其指示的北极冰盖和洋流的演化

基于对中国第七次北极考察在西北冰洋获得的ARC7-LIC岩芯上部1 m（加拿大海盆近阿尔法脊一侧）自MIS 8期（约300 ka）以来的粘土矿物和全样Sr-Nd-Pb同位素的分析,判断北冰洋中心沉积物源的变化及其所反映的冰盖和表层洋流的演化。结果显示：在MIS 8、MIS5.4、MIS5.1、MIS3期中期冰筏事件以及末次冰消期,北美劳伦冰盖生长规模较大,研究区域的沉积被北美物源主导;相对地,MIS 6、MIS4期的沉积由西伯利亚物源-穿极流模式主导,反映了欧亚大陆冰盖的大规模发育。同时,研究区域在MIS 7、MIS5期的间冰期/间冰阶的沉积也与MIS 3、MIS1期的沉积有所区别。MIS 7、MIS5期的间冰期/间冰阶表现为西伯利亚物源以及穿极流控制下的沉积,而MIS 3期和全新世则表现为北美物源以及波弗特环流作用下的沉积特征,这一差异说明中-晚第四纪间冰阶段北冰洋表层洋流的位置在晚更新世前后发生了变迁。

     

中国北极黄河站首次科学考察队冰川考察

2004年7～8月中国首次北极黄河站科学考察队在Svalbard群岛新奥尔松(Ny-Alesund)地区开展了多学科联合考察, 冰川课题组对附近冰川的基本特征、过去的研究状况和目前正在进行的研究工作等进行了考察和调研, 为中国今后在该地区的冰川学研究工作提出了初步建议.     

中国首次北极科学考察沿线气溶胶可溶性成分的分析

中国首次北极科学考察沿线采集的大气气溶胶样品可溶性成分分析表明,大气气溶胶的平均载量为195neq·m^-3,Na⁺和Cl^-的贡献为0%,NH₄⁺和SO₄^2-的贡献为27%,nssSO₄^2-对SO₄^2-的贡献为8%.气溶胶中阴、阳离子总量基本相当,大气环境呈中性.气溶胶中可溶性成分具有较强的纬度变化特征.根据离子的变化态势可将离子分为3大类,即1)Na⁺,Cl^-,SO₄^2-,K⁺,Mg²⁺,Ca²⁺;2)NH₄⁺,NO₃^-;3)MSA.Na⁺和Cl^-具有较好的线性关系,Cl^-/Na⁺的当量浓度比为1.01,小于其在海水中的比值1.1.NH₄⁺和NO₃^-的浓度随纬度的增加呈现减少的趋势,说明在低纬度近海岸地区人类活动的污染相当强烈.MSA的浓度在白令海区出现高值,与Shemya(52°N,174°E)站夏季浓度1.79±0.83neq·m^-3(170±79ng·m^-3)相当.通过与不同海区夏季释放DMS的通量对比,进一步证明了低温有利于DMS向MSA的转化.     

A 750-yr record of autumn snowfall and temperature variability and winter storminess recorded in the varved sediments of Bear Lake, Devon Island, Arctic Canada

The varve record from High Arctic, proglacial Bear Lake reveals a regionally coherent hydroclimatic signal as well as complexities due to changing hydroclimatic and limnologic conditions. Varve formation is strongly dependent on underflows that exhibit variability in strength during the past 750 yr. Periods with reduced underflow sedimentation and accumulation rates fail to produce varves in the distal part of the lake. Isolated coarse silt and sand grains occur in 80% of the varves and are interpreted to be niveo-aeolian in origin. Coarse (>500 μm) sand grains deposited on the lake ice by strong winter winds are notably less common since A.D. 1850, likely due to reduced storminess. Regression of the varve thickness record with meteorological records indicates high correlations with autumn (September and October) temperatures and total monthly snowfall. These correlations are best at times when underflow activity is sufficiently strong to produce varves throughout the lake. The close association with warmer temperatures and snow-bearing synoptic systems moving north in Baffin Bay suggests that the primary climate signal in the varves is varying autumn snow pack that controls nival discharge in the following year. The similarity between the other records of melt season temperature and sea-ice cover and the Bear Lake record suggests that summer and autumn conditions were generally similar across the Baffin Bay region through much of the last millennium.     

天目山泥炭有机碳同位素特征及其古环境意义

通过对浙江天目山泥炭剖面的高密度采样和有机碳同位素分析,重建了该地区4 ka BP以来的古植被特征和古环境演化历史.天目山3200 a BP之前,气候温和适度,晚期变冷变干,为中全新世末气候波动的过渡时期.3200~700 a BP,有机碳δ13Corg值在波动中降低,气候出现多次急剧冷暖变化,指示了几次温暖与寒冷事件.700 aBP以来,有机碳同位素迅速正偏,表明又一暖期的出现,到了后期气温又有所降低,植被转化为草原草甸景观.天目山地区近4 ka以来的气候变化与国内外不同区域的研究资料相一致,但又有区域的差异性.     

中国图们江河口湖沼沉积中植硅体古气候变化特征

通过对中国图们江河口湖沼沉积剖面的植硅体组合的分析,划分出该剖面自17.1～2.247 kaB.P.期间的6个植硅体组合带,分别对应冷干-凉湿-冷干-凉湿-温暖-温湿的气候阶段.将分析结果与本剖面Na、K、Ba、Cu、Pb、Fe、Mn分析相对比,发现植硅体对气候湿润程度的反映不如Na、K、Fe敏感,但是比其它指标,如泥炭地发育程度对湿润度的反映,要灵敏得多.区域对比发现,本剖面的植硅体古气候过程存在着区域上的良好响应,对全球变化与区域响应研究起着积极作用.     

Holocene Paleohydrology and Paleoclimate at Treeline, North-Central Russia, Inferred from Oxygen Isotope Records in Lake Sediment Cellulose

Lake-water oxygen-isotope histories for three lakes in northern Russia, derived from the cellulose oxygen-isotope stratigraphies of sediment cores, provide the basis for preliminary reconstruction of Holocene paleohydrology in two regions along the boreal treeline. Deconvolution of shifting precipitation δ¹⁸O from secondary evaporative isotopic enrichment is aided by knowledge of the distribution of isotopes in modern precipitation, the isotopic composition of paleo-waters preserved in frozen peat deposits, as well as other supporting paleoclimatic information. These data indicate that during the early Holocene, when the boreal treeline advanced to the current arctic coastline, conditions in the lower Yenisey River region were moist compared to the present, whereas greater aridity prevailed to the east near the lower Lena River. This longitudinal moisture gradient is consistent with the suggestion that oceanic forcing (increased sea-surface temperatures in the Nordic Seas and reduced sea-ice cover) was a major contributor to the development of a more maritime climate in western Eurasia, in addition to increased summer insolation. East of the Taimyr Peninsula, large tracts of the continental shelf exposed by glacial sea-level drawdown may have suppressed maritime climatic influence in what are now coastal areas. In contrast, during the late Holocene the two regions have apparently experienced coherent shifts in effective moisture. The similarity of the records may primarily reflect reduced North Atlantic influence in the Nordic Seas and southward retreat of coastline in eastern Siberia, coupled with declining summer insolation.